BARRY’S BAY – Gasoline contaminated soil has been found at the former Shell property, now owned by the Township of Madawaska Valley.
Pembroke-based company Geo-Logic first tested the soil as the tanks were being removed on September 26. Sheldon Thoms, the company’s laboratory manager, said samples were taken from the undisturbed soil surrounding the tanks.
“We found some elevated vapours,” he told the Gazette on October 7. “Those samples went to a lab in Ottawa for the analysis which gives the actual concentration.”
The results concluded that contamination levels exceeded the provincial standards.
“Each site you work on, there are a different set of standards depending on the zoning,” he said.
Although such contamination can be typical for such an old site, the tanks were only 20 years old. Thoms explained the tanks were in good shape, but the contamination could have occurred from the previous ones.
He and other representatives from Geo-Logic were called to speak at a special council meeting on September 30, to address the emergency issue.
See more in the October 9, 2013 issue of The Valley Gazette.