Emterra Fire, June 6 (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Ministry of Environment monitoring potential hazards after Tuesday fire at Emterra Environmental

Jun 7, 2023 | 4:14 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops fire Rescue (KFR) crews rushed to a fire at a recycling plant in Valleyview Tuesday morning (June 6). Flames and black smoke could be seen throughout the city before KFR was able to contain the blaze shortly after 1:00 P.M.

When firefighters arrived on scene, they were tasked with fighting a pesky fire in a pile of compressed cardboard. Due to the nature of the fire being at a recycling plant and the proximity to the South Thompson River, the Ministry of Environment was called in.

“Berms, [vacuum] trucks and pumps have been implemented to contain the effluent water but an unknown amount has migrated off-site into the South Thompson River. The responsible contractor, Emterra, has hired an environmental contractor to mediate environmental impacts and start the clean-up,” said Environmental Emergency Response Officer Toby Gritten.

Gritten noted once the fire broke out and the fire department arrived on scene, Emterra did a good job of limiting the amount of runoff into the river.

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“When the fire happened, we asked Emterra Environmental to put in place a variety of things to prevent water from running into the river, although some did escape from site. We are not sure how much at this point,” stated Gritten.

With the fire now out and work back to normal at the plant, the ministry will be monitoring the situation to ensure no environmental hazards persist.

“We are working with Emterra to establish a sampling plan that will ensure we have a full understanding of the impacts of this situation,” said Gritten. “The ministry will continue to monitor the cleanup and ensure it’s appropriate and complete.”