Public Notification of Bypass, Overflow and Spill Events - May 12 2023

***UPDATE*** May 18, 2023

• We are happy to report that this event has been resolved.
• All walking trails are open as of 12 noon today - enjoy!

UPDATE: May 16, 2023

• Wasaga Beach takes the protection of human health and our environment seriously.
• On May 12 an incident occurred involving a sewage leak at the Wasaga Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant on Woodland Drive.
• We thank the concerned citizen who reported the incident; immediately following this call teams were notified and action was taken on-site.
• All respective agencies, including the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) Spills Action Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources and Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit were notified as required by the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA).
• A public notice was posted to the town website as soon as we were made aware.

CORRECTION - This was covered yesterday by simcoe.com online and on Twitter and included factual errors.  We have reached out to simcoe.com to request a correction and offer the following information:

• In fact, the spill was contained to town owned property and the caution tape was used, in an abundance of caution, to help keep people out of the area while cleanup was underway and remediation equipment is still in the area.
• It is important to note that the type of solids involved in the spill are Non-Agricultural Source Materials (NASM) certified for land application to fertilize crops – essentially, it’s treated fertilizer.
• There is no threat to drinking water or human or pet health. It’s a low-odour type of material as well. While residents shouldn’t be concerned, we ask that they stay off the closed trails while the remaining material is being removed.
• The spill is not near or in any way impacting Wasaga Beach Provincial Park or the beachfront. It occurred at the Wasaga Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant located on Woodland Drive.

KEY FACTS

What caused the spill? It’s important to note that the type of solids involved in the spill are Non-Agricultural Source Materials (NASM) certified for land application to fertilize crops –essentially, it’s treated fertilizer. It’s a low-odour type of solid as well. A root cause analysis is still underway however, it is believed that a check valve failed at the biosolids complex building (beside the domed building in Image 1).

What is NASM? Examples of NASM include: culled vegetables, food processing by-products, pulp and paper biosolids, and treated sewage biosolids.

Should local residents and citizens using the trails be concerned? No. There is no threat to drinking water or human or pet health. It’s important to note that the type of solids involved in the spill are NASM-certified safe for land application and to fertilize crops. Essentially, it’s fertilizer that was being prepared to be transferred and applied to nearby agricultural land. While residents shouldn’t be concerned, we are asking that they stay off the closed trails until the remaining material is removed this week.

Did the spill enter provincial park lands? No, as soon as the spill was reported, action was taken to protect the environment, isolate the valve to contain the spill to town property and clean it up. The location of the spill is a wooded area near the Wasaga Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant on Woodland Drive – not the provincial park or beach area.  However, the town did reach out to Ontario Parks for permission to access provincial land to help get remediation equipment to the spill site on town property, as much of it is a wooded area.

What is the status of the cleanup? Most of the cleanup has been completed. Because the spill occurred in a largely wooded area and was 100% NASM-certified material for agricultural land application (essentially, its fertilizer for crops), some of the material has already dried and is quickly being absorbed by the soil and vegetation. However, for esthetic reasons, not health related concerns, additional work is being done this morning on the trails so we can get those opened shortly – hopefully by end of week. The Town will issue an update on our website and through Twitter once it is reopened.

Next steps: Through the Ontario Clean Water Agency, an assessment is ongoing to confirm the source of the spill, which is believed to be a failed check valve within the plant. In the meantime, contingencies are in place and a new alarm has been set up to alert staff and prevent this situation from occurring again.

Image 1: Yellow dots depict impacted areas and where remediation work is taking place on town property.  The red line is the Town’s property and the green line depicts the start of the provincial park boundary.

Image 2: A section of the trail where clean-up has been completed on Friday May 12, 2023.

Image 3: Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) grounds immediately adjacent to the biosolids complex where the spill occurred.

This notification has been prepared in accordance with Environmental Compliance Approval 5669-BWJPYC issued May 12, 2023 for the Wasaga Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant.  The purpose of the procedure is to notify the Public and Downstream Users that may be impacted by an overflow, bypass or spill event.

Read the full notice