Part of the parking area at Harrison Park in Owen Sound is closed temporarily due to a diesel spill located Monday morning.
Owen Sound’s Manager of Parks and Open Space Adam Parsons says city staff working at Harrison Park yesterday smelled diesel and then located some small spills in the main parking lot near the Harrison Park Inn, approaching the bridge crossing towards the forested area of the Mile Drive Trail.
City staff and Owen Sound firefighters deployed spill response materials in the parking area and across the nearby watercourse on the west side of the Island section of Harrison Park, a statement from the city explains.
“It looks like a small amount of diesel came from a vehicle somehow,” Parsons says.
Owen Sound city staff notified the Ontario Spills Action Centre immediately and are working in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to carry out water and soil testing and to support City staff in the cleanup effort.
Parsons says soil and water sampling was conducted yesterday afternoon, and results are expected sometime today to guide next steps. A contractor licensed by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has been engaged by the City and is actively working with staff on cleanup efforts.
“This is the procedure that occurs when a spill happens to determine the extent of the release although we do believe it was quite a small amount,” he says.
The city advises the parking area north and east of the Harrison Park Inn, and access to the Ski Hill Parking area remain closed to vehicles.
Residents and visitors are asked to stay clear of the area until such time as the barricades are removed, and to respect road closed signs placed in Harrison Park while cleanup efforts are ongoing.
“Staff are working to re-open all of Harrison Park as soon as possible,” a city release says. “There is no timeline for re-opening at this time.”