The Wallaceburg Advisory Team for a Cleaner Habitat (WATCH) has raised concerns about gaps in public notifications following a spill from Sarnia Suncor into the St. Clair River on March 27.
While the company promptly reported the incident and response efforts were swift, some Wallaceburg residents were left in the dark, the group says.
WATCH officials say they received multiple calls from community members who had not been informed about the spill or were unsure where to find more details.
The group contacted the Wallaceburg Water Filtration plant and learned that officials had been notified and that drinking water remained unaffected due to the town’s water storage redundancy.
However, WATCH noted that many residents who were not subscribed to the Spills Action Centre or Sarnia Alerts were unaware of the situation.
“Although direct users along the watershed and those registered with Sarnia Alerts or Aamjiwnaang Everbridge receive notifications, a significant portion of the community falls outside these groups,” said WATCH Chair Joel Johnson, in a media release.
“We asked the CK Water Filtration Department about their communication plan for potentially impacted residents but have yet to receive a response.”
WATCH has offered to assist CK Public Utilities in addressing this communication gap but cautioned that reliance on volunteer organizations for critical public notifications is not a sustainable long-term solution.
For more information, visit www.biowatch.ca or contact WATCH at watchrrr@gmail.com.
