Linda Canfield and her husband Robin of Fenwood, Sask., weren’t that surprised when the old electrical transformer on a pole in their farmyard exploded on the Labour Day weekend last fall.
“We had asked Sask Power to replace it two years earlier because it appeared so old, but they didn’t do anything about it,” she said.
“We thought it might quit, but when it rained oil all over the place, that was a shock,” she said.
The couple contacted the provincial environment department to report the oil spill and called their electrical utility to report the failure.
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“There was oil all over the ground, the tractor, the swather, the loader. It was everywhere. We were worried it might contain (polychlorinated biphenyl),” she said.
She said the utility replaced the transformer and tested the oil for PCBs.
“They found PCBs, but said the level was below a point where they said it formed a health risk.
“We asked (Sask Power) to clean up the oil but they still haven’t to our satisfaction and have told us that it really isn’t their responsibility,” she said.
The Canfields say they repeatedly asked the company to clean the farm equipment and remove the soil. Two months after the incident the utility sent someone to wash the farm machinery.
“The company told us they were only doing it out of the goodness of their heart and that they didn’t have to. The job was poorly done. The equipment is still covered with oil,” Linda said.
The Canfields have refused to use the machinery until the oil is fully removed. They also contacted the environment department and asked it to enforce petroleum spill legislation.
“They, too, have been slow to act,” she said.
The couple hired Saskatoon lawyer Julian Bodnar, to represent them after the delays.
“The province requires farmers to file environmental plans and comes down hard on them if they spill something. There seems to be a double standard for Sask Power,” said Bodnar.
Sask Power has told the couple it will remove the soil and lay new sod in the spring.
The Canfields says the spring runoff will carry the oil elsewhere on their property before that is completed.
Bodnar said the delays in cleanup make little sense.
“Why wouldn’t they just clean it up in the first place?”
Larry Christie of Sask Power said the company’s policy is to test the oil for PCB contamination and to clean up any spill appropriately, whether or not it contains hazardous material beyond the petroleum.
“It’s our policy to return any situation to its original condition and to work with landowners to satisfy their concerns,” he said.
The province is investigating the spill and has requested a mitigation plan from the utility, but did not provide any further details before Western Producer deadlines.
The utility had no comment on the Canfield’s concerns.
