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The water supply for communities in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is threatened by an oil spill that dumped an estimated 66,000 gallons of heavy oil, along with natural gas used to dilute it, into a major river.

The pipeline that broke is owned by Husky Energy Inc. The site of last Thursday's leak is within 1,000 feet of the North Saskatchewan River.


The central Saskatchewan town of North Battleford, which gets its water from the river, shut off its river intake last week and switched to groundwater, 

.

By far the largest community affected so far is the city of Prince Albert, which has a population of about 35,000 people. On Monday, officials there 

 they had shut down the city's water treatment plant after the oil slick arrived in town. The CBC 

 the city has enough water stored to last 48 hours, and officials are urging residents to limit water use to stretch that until the end of the week, which will buy time to get a backup system running.
Managers for the province's public works department 

 to lay an 18-mile temporary water pipeline to supply the city with water from another source, the South Saskatchewan River.


 reports authorities say they have recovered 40 percent of the spilled liquid so far.
The paper 


Despite the severity of the spill, and its widespread effects on people living downstream, the premier of Saskatchewan defended pipelines as the safest way to move oil over land, 

Premier Brad Wall told the wire service, "The facts remain that if we're not moving by a pipeline, it's going to move ... (by rail). We know that rail is actually more susceptible to spills and spills are often more intense."

 pipeline options to bring crude oil from its tar sands to ocean ports, after a cross-border proposal that would have run through the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico was shut down by the U.S. government.  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Environmental News

Water

Rebecca Hersher

Author

An oil slick has forced the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, to shut down its water treatment plant, after a pipeline dumped tens of thousands of gallons into the North Saskatchewan River.

Canadian oil spill threatens drinking water

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