OLDS — Fourteen Olds firefighters, along with Bowden firefighters, RCMP and Mountain View County patrol officers responded to unknown chemicals found by the side of the road at three locations on Sunday.
Two were on Rge. Rd. 14. One of those locations was north of Twp. Rd. 334 and another was in Red Deer County, near the border with Mountain View County. The third location was on Twp. Rd. 334 near Rge. Rd. 15.
The Olds Fire Department was notified of the sites at about 9:33 a.m. April 11. All those involved were on scene for about seven hours. Alberta Environment officials were also notified in order to provide guidance to local officials and to track the incident further.
Soon afterward, they had the sites cordoned off and were waiting for a chemical disposal company to do its work and to remove any danger to the environment and the public.
No injuries to first responders or the public were reported and "environmental testing and remediation work was completed to remove the danger to the environment," a news release from the Olds Fire Department says.
“We were notified that there were some unidentified containers containing an unknown substance left on the roadway in three locations in rural Mountain View County, so we are investigating,” Olds Fire Department Chief Justin Andrew said during an interview.
He described the containers as small pails.
“There’s containment within them,” he said.
"Some of the contents of the containers had leaded from containment but did not reach local water sources or drainage dtiches," the release says.
"Due to the fact that we do not know what the chemicals are, we have isolated the area and we have contacted a hazardous materials remediation company to come in and contain and clean up the sites,” Andrew said.
“It’s hurry up and wait for us right now.”
When interviewed, Andrew said no injuries had been reported as a result of the containers.
Andrew said he expected the investigation to continue for several more hours on Sunday.
"The circumstances of this incident are currently being investigated by the Olds RCMP and the public is requested to report any known suspicious activity relating to this matter to Crime Stoppers or the local RCMP detachment," the release says.
