One of Canada’s largest oil companies, Imperial Oil Ltd., has been ordered by Ontario to pay $1.125 million for a slop oil spill at its Sarnia, Ont.
site in April 2021 that sickened nearby residents. The fine, levied by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, is the most substantial penalty under the Environmental Protection Act on public record since 2007. It is part of a recent push by the provincial and federal governments to crack down on petrochemical companies that pollute in Sarnia.
The area is known as Chemical Valley: there are 62 large facilities within a 25-kilometre radius. Many of those who live alongside it, particularly members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation to the south, which is surrounded by industry, have worried the emissions from these plants are making them sick. According to an agreed statement of facts filed in the Ontario Court of Justice in Sarnia, the April 15 Imperial Oil spill occurred as a result of a three-month-long leak in a steam line that eventually bored a hole in a nearby slop oil line, releasing 1,150 litres of slop oil on the ground.
Slop oil is a waste product that typically consists of a mixture of crude oil, water and waste solids. It contains various contaminants, which may include hydrogen sulphide. If leaked into the ground or air, it can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and lungs, as well as cause headaches and dizziness.
At 3:52 p.m. on that Thursday afternoon, a resident called the Ministry’s Spills Action Centre ho.