Stirling-Rawdon – There’s no word yet if environmental charges will be laid after 1,000 litres of diesel fuel were accidentally pumped into the Rawdon Creek Jan. 18.

Scott Integrated Environmental Service, along with the Ministry of the Environment, has been on the scene since Jan. 18, when the fuel was inadvertently pumped out of a tank at the Stirling Creamery.

MOE communications officer Michel Finn said the case is still being investigated by the ministry’s investigation enforcement branch.

Stirling Creamery manager Bill West said one fuel tank is being removed by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority to be inspected, but he hasn’t been given any further instruction from the ministry or had to take any other preventive measures.

West said the cost of the clean-up has not been determined, and the creamery is waiting to hear back from its insurance provider.

Finn said not all of the spilled fuel was removed from the creek. Heavy rainfall caused flooding on Jan. 25, and flood waters overflowed the booms in place to catch the fuel.

“Most of the product was removed before the flood, but the heavy rainfall definitely had an impact,” Finn said.

Scott Environmental is now in the process of calculating how much of the fuel was removed from the scene, but, Finn said, “there is no expectation that more (fuel) will be found.

“They have not seen any impact on the aquatic environment or on the municipal drinking water system.”

Scott Integrated Environmental Services was still onsite testing the water daily as of Feb. 2.

At the Feb. 1 meeting of Stirling-Rawdon council, Mayor Peter Kooistra said the municipality might contact the ministry for a report later. He commended the cleanup efforts.

“They were on site and everything was done the way it should have been. We think we did all the right things.”