Cleanup of Mimico Creek nearly complete after spill from industrial fire, ministry says

Cleanup of an Etobicoke creek is nearly complete after a spill of toxic sludge into the water from runoff following a massive industrial fire in August, according to Ontario's environment ministry.

The sludge that entered Mimico Creek after the Aug. 11 fire at Brenntag Canada, a chemical distribution company, killed fish, birds and mammals. Spill containment berms, however, were still visible on the creek on Tuesday, more than two months after the spill.

In an Oct. 7 Facebook post, the Toronto Wildlife Centre said the spill affected 112 birds that were "admitted, bathed and treated for ingested chemicals and cared for while they recovered." Volunteers drove more than 80 of the birds to London, Ont. to release them safely away from the spill.

A Great Blue Heron was among the birds that were saved. "He was a priority rescue," the centre says in an October YouTube video. 

In a statement on Monday, the Ontario environment ministry says it is monitoring cleanup efforts.

"Large scale cleanup work is almost complete at the site and the response is transitioning to the restoration phase," Gary Wheeler, spokesperson for the ministry, said in the statement.

Wheeler added that the ministry is still verifying the status of the cleanup before beginning restoration and will continue to "monitor the situation to ensure that Brenntag Canada takes all necessary actions if further cleanup work is required."

Wheeler said Brenntag Canada is continuing to take responsibility for the cleanup and restoration. He said the company has made a donation to the centre to help cover the costs of saving the lives of the affected birds, but the amount was not disclosed.

In September, the ministry had said that cleanup efforts were expected to take until the end of October. Toronto Fire Services has said petroleum products burned in the fire. No one was injured. 

Kelly Duffin, the founder of the Mute Swan Society, a group of volunteers that protects and monitors mute swans in Ontario, said the spill displaced a family of swans that lived in a wetland that is now off limits to them. She said the swans lost their nesting grounds. 

Duffin said swan parents are careful about picking safe nesting grounds and being displaced has been disruptive. One cygnet has died. The mother swan disappeared and the father swan disappeared for 10 days then returned recently to look after the three remaining cygnets, she said.

"We're in front of the remaining family," she said on Tuesday. "This started in the summer as a family of eight. We are looking at the father swan. He's the only parent remaining. There are only three cygnets remaining. There were six originally. Two died early on, which is fairly normal, but one died literally in the oil spill."

Duffin said chunks of sludge, an inch or two deep, floated on the water in August after the fire and rainbow streaks of oil could be seen on the creek. She described it as a crisis. 

The Mute Swan Society remains concerned about the impact of the spill, she added.