Concerns linger 1 year after Etobicoke chemical spill

Some Etobicoke residents say they are still searching for answers more than a year after runoff from a major industrial fire polluted two creeks in the west Toronto suburb, devastating wildlife in the area.

The sludgy runoff from the blaze at Brenntag Canada — a chemical distribution company in north Etobicoke — flowed into Mimico Creek and Humber Creek. It was followed by reports of dead fish, birds and mammals, while dozens of surviving waterfowl needed to be cleaned of a thick, oily residue.

Clean-up efforts took months to complete, but Rozhen Asrani, president of the Mimico Residents Association, said people living in the community have lingering concerns about how much the runoff affected local ecology.

"The creek looks to have gone mostly back to normal, but there continues to be a lot of unanswered questions about the level of contamination, the status of the restoration and the long-term impacts to the aquatic habitat, to the watershed and to wildlife in this area," Asrani told CBC Toronto.

"So while we don't see the thick brown sludge that was visible on the water last August, we don't know what is not visible to the naked eye."

Firefighters said the six-alarm blaze on Aug. 11, 2023, was "one of the more significant fires" the city had seen in years. It tore through the chemical wholesaler's facility on Vulcan Avenue and poured thick black smoke into the air for nearly 12 hours. More than 100 firefighters were needed to put it out.  

Brenntag Canada deals in oil and vehicle fluids, such as lubricants and solvents. These substances, along with fire-retardant chemicals, made their way into the creeks.

In an email, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said the "major portion" of the oil spill cleanup was completed by Aug. 21, 2023. Meanwhile, a comprehensive shoreline cleanup was finished last December.

"The ministry continues to maintain oversight of the company's ongoing monitoring of the impacted areas, which will continue into 2025, to ensure Ontario's strict environmental standards continue to be met," Lindsay Davidson said.

According to Davidson, Brenntag Canada estimated that roughly 6.5 million litres of "emulsified oil slurry" was removed from Mimico and Humber creeks during the initial containment and clean-up phase after the fire. The slurry was transported to ministry-approved waste sites for disposal, Davidson said.

In the aftermath of the spill, the ministry collected water samples to "characterize and document contamination downstream of the discharge points and assess the extent of environmental impacts in Mimico and Humber creeks," she said.

Brenntag Canada similarly installed water monitoring stations in five spots along Mimico Creek and three in Humber Creek downstream of containment booms, as well as several more monitoring stations closer to Lake Ontario.

"The results indicated that the main sources of contaminants were petroleum hydrocarbons and fire suppression materials," Davidson said.

Residents have been told by the ministry there was no ongoing hazard to human health, Asrani said, but some in the area feel they're in the dark about the current state of the creeks.