Residents angry about slow response time to diesel spill near Foleyet

Some people who live near the Town of Foleyet are questioning why a diesel fuel spill from a transport collision wasn't contained before it began leaching into a nearby lake.

The transport landed in the ditch on Sept. 9 and 13 days later, a waste management team from Timmins was dispatched to respond.

Kevin Gagnon lives in Foleyet and travels to Timmins daily for work. He noticed the transport truck had gone into the ditch, next to Boulder Lake, where it remained for five days.

"After the truck was pulled out, I went back to look and you could see puddles of diesel," Gagnon said.

"It was water at first and it was all blue and then there were areas where it was all oil."

Remnants of the collision remain at the scene, where a film of diesel fuel remains on the surface of the water. Gagnon said sending someone to try to contain it now is a little too late.

"My main question is just why there was so many levels of incompetence as far as the truck driver, the tow truck, OPP, MOE," said Gagnon.

"No matter what their roles are, someone should have been worried about it."

The owner of White Pine Lodge in the area called it a "dangerous" situation.

"Like this area, from there to my place, it connects four lakes and it's one of the best fishing grounds around for walleye, pike, perch and whitefish," said Tony Godin.

In an email to CTV News, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment said:

"During a Sept. 16 visit to the site, the ministry observed the ponding of fuel and coolant near the spill site but that it had not migrated to Boulder Lake. On Sept. 21, the ministry received reports from the public that fuel had migrated to the lake with recent rainfall."

The Ministry also wrote that "it takes spills and threats to the environment very seriously."

Gagnon and Godin would beg to differ.