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Residents of a Fredericton neighbourhood are worried about the smell of diesel that has been lingering in their homes for several days after a diesel fuel spill at a nearby construction site.
The City of Fredericton posted on social media Saturday to say the diesel spill happened at a private construction site and is “affecting a limited number of residents” on Glengarry Place and Golf Club Road. The post goes on to say that the spill has also affected the city’s stormwater management system.
Meagan Henheffer lives near the spill and said she first noticed a paint-like smell in her home on Wednesday evening and by the following morning, she discovered it was coming from a pipe in her basement.
“I put a Facebook post on our local community Facebook page just to ask if any of our neighbours were going through the same thing,” she said.
“Several people responded quite quickly that they were.”
Meagan Henheffer says she first noticed the smell on Wednesday evening and it quickly spread throughout her home. She says she wants answers about how the spill happened. (Ian Curran/CBC)
Henheffer said on Thursday morning, one of her neighbours called the fire department.
“They came in all of our homes to check it out and kind of confirmed that they believed it was diesel,” she said.
“It was so strong, you could almost taste the smell of diesel in the air.”
For the last few days, Henheffer said she has left her windows and doors open, which isn’t ideal in February. She said she also put air purifiers throughout her home.
“I’ve got a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old that have been breathing this in now since Wednesday evening.”
Henheffer said she wants answers about what caused the spill.
Residents say many questions left unanswered
Janet Moser also lives in the area and said a community meeting should be held so people who live in the area can ask questions about what happened.
Janet Moser would like the city to host a community meeting so residents of the area can ask questions and officials can address their concerns. (Ian Curran/CBC)
“There’s a lot of speculation right now and just trying to determine what the safety level is,” Moser said.
In an emailed statement, the City of Fredericton said the cause of the leak is still under investigation. It said there is no risk to its drinking water system, which is separate from the city’s stormwater system.
City spokesperson Marley McLellan also said the environmental consulting company GEMTEC was hired by the contractor of the site to clean up the spill with the help of the city and provincial government.
“The environmental remediation contractor has continued working through the weekend to clean contamination in the storm sewer system and decrease fuel oil odours in the area,” McLellan said.
According to the city, work to clean up the spill is being monitored by the provincial Department of Environment and remediation efforts will continue into next week.