City, province investigate oil spill in Humber River, clean-up to begin Thursday

Officials from the city and province are investigating an oil spill into the Humber River in northwest Toronto this week and say efforts to clean up the spill by the company responsible are expected to begin on Thursday.

Toronto Water, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks and its Spill Action Centre are investigating the spill into the river southwest of Finch Avenue West and Weston Road. There's no word yet on the amount that was spilled, but the ministry said it is machine oil.

"Our role is to respond to spills, inspect the natural environment for potential impacts, and work with those responsible to make sure the effects are mitigated and appropriate actions are taken to protect human health and the natural environment," the ministry said in an email on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the city alerted the ministry's Spills Action Centre on Monday at 5 p.m. The ministry said the spill had been largely contained within a river catch basin. 

Crews installed absorbent booms and pads and used a hydro-vacuum truck to clean the water as part of initial efforts, the city said in an email on Wednesday.

According to the city, Toronto Water staff traced the spill back to a local company that manufactures small metal car parts for brakes and transmissions.

That company said a drum of machine oil spilled while it was being filled, the city said. The company has hired a contractor to clean up "impacts" from the spill, the city added.

"The source of the spill has been contained," the city said in an email on Wednesday.

A Toronto Water environment monitoring and protection officer has issued a spill report and outlined actions required by the company, which includes cleaning up the catch basin. That work is slated to begin on Thursday. The report has not been released.

Toronto Water, city staff and provincial officers will monitor the environmental cleanup efforts by the company to ensure it complies with the law, the city said.

Jonah Pahapill-Osostowicz, a Toronto resident, noticed the spill on Monday. He said he was walking in a Humber River ravine when he saw the oil on the surface of the river.

"There was a film of oil that was kind of flowing along," he said. "As I continued upstream, I was trying to figure where the source was coming from. I ended up at a bridge."

At the point, he said he ran into city staff investigating the spill.

Pahapill-Osostowicz said he thinks there will be a shock to local aquatic ecosystems because of the spill. The effects will be "quite detrimental," he said.