CANMORE – Drivers along Bow Valley Trail were in a bit of a stink on the weekend after splashing through treated sewage that had spilled from a truck onto the busy road.
According to the Town of Canmore, the municipality’s contractor for hauling and processing biosolids was leaving the wastewater treatment plant onto Bow Valley Trail around 3 p.m. Saturday (July 22) when about 20-25 kilograms of biosolids was released.
“Some of the contents of the tractor-trailer exited the trailer, landing on the roadway surface,” said Andreas Comeau, manager of public works for the Town of Canmore.
Scores of Bow Valley residents were quick to take to social media sites to warn drivers to avoid Bow Valley Trail.
“I drove through it thinking it was mud and now my car stinks,” said one.
Another wrote: “I just drove through that, thought it was mud. Got home and have been trying to find the dead animal I can smell around our driveway until I saw this post. It’s awful.”
Comeau said the incident stems from the new centrifuge system – essentially the dewatering equipment that removes moisture from the biosolids – and how at times it does not produce a homogenous product.
“This means that sometimes the material can have a higher percentage of moisture than other portions of the biosolids when loading the trailer,” he said.
“When the truck was attempting to access Bow Valley Trail, some of the biosolids with higher moisture concentrations at the front of the trailer slid over the drier material at the back of the trailer, and then up and over the trailer top.”
Comeau said at no time did biosolid material enter the watershed.
He said EPCOR and the municipality’s streets and roads department cleaned it up as soon as possible with the vactor truck and street sweeper.
“EPCOR and the contractor are working together to ensure a similar incident does not occur in the future,” he said.
