People in the County of Grande Prairie could soon be using the pond at the Crosslink County Sportsplex again.
County Parks and Recreation Manager Christine Rawlins says crews are almost finished cleaning up after oil poured down a curbside drain made its way to the pond.
“We are just having to rake the shoreline to remove any debris that has perhaps adhered to the shore itself. We’ve already completed skimming the surface and then we’ll also be trimming the cattails that might have some of the contaminant still attached to them.”
The pond has been closed since May 23rd. Officials say the oil was put down the drain at 85 Avenue and 105 Street in Clairmont.
Since then, county crews have been working with Alberta Environment and Parks, government officials and Provincial fisheries specialists to make sure the area is clean and no animals have been affected. So far, Rawlins says that seems to be the case.
“We haven’t seen any issues with the wildlife that were inhabiting the pond before the incident. In fact, we’ve seen a family of Canada Geese and 12 goslings return to the pond so we’re really happy to see that.”
While an official date has not been set Rawlins says they plan to have the pond reopened as soon as possible. RCMP is still investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the County’s Enhanced RCMP Unit at 780-532-9727.