Three months after hundreds of thousands of litres of sour crude oil poured into the Red Deer River from a ruptured Plains Midstream pipeline just outside Sundre, the Johnston family continues the struggle to come to grips with the fallout.
Bonnie and Gord Johnston own a riverside property on the west bank of the Red Deer about 10 kilometres north of Sundre.
The entire shoreline on their property, including all along a large offshoot pond only metres from their home, was filled with oil during the June 7 leak.
The family was forced to leave the property soon after the leak because of the very strong hydrocarbon odour. After staying in a hotel until mid-July, they are now staying at a relative's house in Red Deer.
Last week the family returned to the property, but only for a day, to conduct much needed lawn and other maintenance.
During a brief tour of the property, Bonnie and Gord explained that Plains Midstream told them on July 15 that the cleanup of their property was completed.
However, the Johnstons say there is still a lot of oil in the soil under the water along the pond and shoreline, oil that quickly comes to the surface if the ground is even slightly disturbed.
As well, they say they have noticed a heavy hydrocarbon smell around the property, particularly whenever it rains.
Gord is calling on Plains to construct a rock berm on the south end of the property, “because they have another pipeline bordering that and it's an older and bigger line and if it breaks it will be the same thing all over again,” he said.
Gord also expressed concerns that the remediation work has involved the removal of lots of vegetation from along the shorelines.
“When you take away all the logs and everything else that jams up these little overflow channels, what it does is it allows the water to rush through, and when it rushes through at great volume and speed, it just cuts the banks to pieces and it erodes.
“The water would have been slowed by brush piles left in there, and that's what I wanted left in there. If the water goes away slowly it might make a mess with mud and sticks, but it doesn't do the erosion and that was my biggest concern from the start. From living down here all these years that is what we've seen.”
The property is now in increased danger of being flooded out during a future high water event.
The Johnstons say they have seen far fewer birds and other wildlife around their property since the spill.
While they are happy that the company has cleaned up some of the mess, the Johnstons say much more needs to be done.
As well as being less than totally satisfied with the cleanup to date, the Johnstons say they are not happy with the way Plains Midstream personnel have treated them.
“We want it cleaned up and put back as best as they can, but what I'm concerned with is the interaction with the (Plains Midstream) people,” said Gord. “There has been no stakeholder engagement whatever. We are part of the ecosystem too and it seems we don't exist. They bully right over top of you and that is what is concerning.”
Bonnie added: “They don't have to tell you what they've done and they won't tell us what they've done. We want to be part of the process because it's really important what happens right here. There was no engagement whatsoever.”
The Johnstons say although they were told by the company on July 15 that the property was cleaned up, crews have since returned to the property to continue work.
“They were back here just last week,” said Bonnie.
