Elora spill cleaned up quickly but some soap entered Grand River
Officials are saying there was little damage when a soap spill started making its way into the Grand River here on May 21.
Public Works Director Ken Elder said in an interview on Monday the company responsible “went to extra ends to clean everything up.”
The township had a truck at the site across the from the Little Folks parking lot off Metcalfe Street, and it sucked milk-coloured water from the small stream there. The culvert was mostly blocked, allowing only a small trickle to enter the river as the spill was collected into a tank.
Elder said the township got the call at about 11am on Thursday, and “by ten o’clock that night” the problem was solved.
The soap came from Polycorp Inc., a York Street soap company south of the small stream.
Elder said at the township’s committee of the whole meeting on Monday the work done by the township’s Quality Management Systems Leadership Team had created a plan for such an emergency and it was followed to the letter.
He stated on Thursday, shortly after the spill was reported, that all the agencies had been informed, including water users downstream of the Grand River.
A small portion of the river was slightly discoloured, but Elder added there were no problems downstream due to the spill.
Polycorp Operations Manager Ryan Beirnes said the spill was an accident and the non-hazardous material was cleaned up following all the regulations. He estimated just over two gallons of the soap got into the stream and apologized for that.
“It was an accident - and something we never want to happen again,” he said.
He added the company has taken steps to see to that.
