Fuel from a tanker involved in an accident on Highway 99 last month has leached into Browning Lake, provincial Ministry of Environment officials confirmed this week.The discovery of more contaminated soil than anticipated means cleanup of the fuel spill near Murrin Provincial Park will stretch well beyond the March 9 target date, leaving climbers and park visitors with the treacherous task of parking their cars on the edge of the highway.The problem began over a month ago on Feb. 6, when a dump truck pulling out of the park collided with a fuel truck, spewing 2,200 litres of fuel and hundreds of litres of diesel along the highway. The contaminated soil posed a serious threat to aquatic life in Browning Lake, a popular fishing spot in the park stocked annually with about 4,000 rainbow trout.To prevent the fuel-soaked soil from leaching into the lake, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) ordered a clean up of the site, including the removal of soil under the asphalt and along the side of Highway 99.On Monday (March 10) the clean-up company HAZCO removed contaminated soil from the highway's edge, creating a shallow ditch. According to Keystone Environmental consultant Raminder Grewal, the company has moved on to its second phase of the clean up where contaminated materials under the ashphalt are removed pinching three lanes of traffic down to two."Our biggest issue is that they actually get the stuff out because it was getting under the road and it was getting into the water," said MOE spokesperson Kate Thompson.HAZCO is staging its work from the Murrin Provincial Park, leaving the parking lot closed to the public. Although the park's website said it would be closed from Feb. 21 to March 9, Thomson said the job ended up being bigger than expected. "They are going to be onsite for extra days," she said. "They are hoping to be out of there before the long weekend. If not, then there will be accommodations made around parking so people will be able to use the parking lot at the park."Climbers have been blogging about the issue online at www.gripped.com where Tyrone Brett of the Squamish Access Society described the situation as a "pain" and said one safe shoulder seems to be in front of Nightmare Rock."Some spots along the highway can most likely be used by those who really want to access the park's climbs. Might be best to wait until the end of the cleanup though," he wrote.In a later interview, Brett said he understood the why onsite crews needed to be thorough with their remediation. "We recognize the need for a thorough clean-up and hope that there will be no lingering negative effects on the park due to the spill. The lake after all is enjoyed by so many."Squamish Environmental Conservation Society member John Buchanan has visited the site and said the contaminated pile of soil appears to be well contained but criticized the fact that Squamish has no HAZMAT team to deal with spills promptly."We really have no local response to that," he said. "When a spill does happen everyone stands around and waits and calls MOE."Squamish Fire Rescue Chief Ray Saurette said a local HAZMAT team would be good for the community but doubted it would have helped with this incident."By the time we got there most of the product had already escaped," Saurette said adding a HAZMAT team would be " a very expensive undertaking."Not only would staff members need regular advanced training but the department would also have to acquire specialty equipment, which often needs to be replaced after being used in a spill, he said."At this point this district is not in a position financially to do that kind of set up."
