On May 27, there was a crude oil spill that occurred at a Kinder Morgan facility at Darfield, near Kamloops.
Originally thought to be around 100 litres, CBC is now reporting that the spill was closer to 4,800 litres, or 48 times the original estimate.
At the time of the spill, Ministry of Environment Spokesperson David Karn commented that “It appears that one of their flow metres had a leak and the oil went to ground. That means it just went onto the ground. No waterways were affected and it was all contained within the station property,” he says. “They responded with vacuum trucks on site.”
In an emailed statement, Trans Mountain said the company temporarily shut down its pipeline as a precaution in response to the spill.
Sharon Halliwell, a neighbour to the pump station, says a man from Kinder Morgan came over to her property the morning the spill happened to tell her “there had been a release.”
“About 20 minutes later I could really smell it,” she says. “It stinks, it’s giving me a headache.”
-- With files from Kamloops Matters
