Government emails obtained through a right to information request suggest Irving Oil Ltd. was not aware of discrepancies in fuel numbers until after a spill was detected at its Woodstock gas station.
In a Jan. 7 email, Mallory Gilliss, a manager of contaminated sites with the Department of Environment and Local Government, updated colleagues following a “high level update” meeting with Irving and the contractor the company hired to manage the spill, Dillon Consulting Limited.
“Irving’s Operations Group is investigating the cause of the leak. There was a crack in the remote fill elbow and they are evaluating the cause of the crack. They have already identified some discrepancies in product inventory in the week leading up to the incident and they will continue to investigate if this was a process or software failure,” Gilliss wrote.
“They will be looking at other Irving sites to see if they have the same vulnerability.”
What that vulnerability was — that led to thousands of litres of diesel leaking into the environment without being detected immediately — is unclear.
Interview requests were also sent to Irving Oil Ltd. via email and phone calls. The company did not respond to the requests. In fact, Irving Oil has never responded to CBC requests regarding this diesel leak dating back to its discovery.
Roughly 180,000 litres have been recovered from a Woodstock Irving diesel leak as the investigation into what happened continues.
In the days following the initial discovery of the diesel leak in mid-December of 2024, several locals told CBC News they had already reported diesel in the water supply at the neighbouring Tim Hortons — in some cases several weeks prior to any action being taken.
The amount of diesel recovered from the spill has recently been increased to 180,000 litres.
Highway officials caught off guard
Those same documents also show a series of confused emails from a variety of organizations, including government agencies, who were in the dark about the leak and its potential impacts.
Staff at the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure were surprised at the extent of the cleanup operations. It appears efforts to capture the leaked diesel encroached onto the Trans-Canada Highway — and impeded traffic — without officials knowing or approving those operations.
“The clean-up at [Beardsley] Road has extended on to NBHC [New Brunswick Highway Corporation] property. We have not been notified by anybody,” wrote Kyle Wright, an operation, maintenance and rehabilitation manager for DTI, to a colleague on Feb. 12.
An email to Wright from Craig Gallant of AtkinsRéalis, previously called SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., the company that manages that stretch of highway under contract by the province, replied that they too had no idea about the encroaching operations.
“It seems like the contractor for the clean up at the Irving at [Beardsley] Road is now excavating within the Highway ROW [right of way]. Are you aware? We have not been advised of any plans in this regard. Any information the province has for this clean up would be appreciated,” wrote Gallant.
Groups in the dark
Following a CBC News publication about the initial estimate of at least 100,000 litres of leaked diesel, several organizations began contacting the province for details about the spill.
Those emails were included in the right to information request. Some came from an enforcement officer from Environment and Climate Change Canada, as well as the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick. Both requested information about the leak and its possible impact on fish habitats.
The department also received calls from nearby property owners worried about their land and water being contaminated.
The day after the initial CBC News report, the Town of Woodstock also requested more information about the spill directly from Environment Minister Gilles LePage and deputy minister Charbel Awad after expressing frustration with a lack of updates from Irving Oil.
“I trust that Irving is following all requirements from the Department of Environment in their remediation work, and we understand an environmental assessment is being done, but given the media reports of fuel found in surface water in wetlands a fair distance away, I think it is time that I better understand the possible gravity of the situation,” wrote Mayor Trina Jones.
“As you can appreciate, the media will continue to reach out to myself and my Council to look for more information and although I continue to divert their questions, as recent as yesterday, our community members will expect us to have more information than the press,” Jones wrote.
Investigation continues
On May 5, the Environment Department issued a news release stating that an investigation launched into gas station safety compliance — a direct result of the leak in Woodstock — revealed issues at nearly half of the inspected locations.
“The department has completed 30 inspections around New Brunswick since launching the exercise in April,” stated the release. “Non-compliances were observed at 14 sites. These findings prompted enforcement actions by the department, including issuance of tickets and compliance plans.”
The province has since updated those numbers from 14 sites to 15 sites.
Minister responds
According to LePage, tickets for “minor infractions” at those 15 gas stations total around $6,000. He said stations were selected across different regions at random and included both Irving and non-Irving stations.
He said he can’t say what led to the leak and why it wasn’t immediately detected.
“The investigation is still going on, ours and also Irving’s investigation,” said LePage. “We’ll combine both and we’ll find recommendations, solutions, and more actions probably, after we get those reports.”
LePage said he’s not sure when they’ll be completed, but “hopefully within the next month.” He said they’ll be made public.
“Everything that I can make public, yes, I will make public,” LePage said.
When asked why the Department of Environment did not immediately inform the public about the leak, LePage said its detection on Dec. 15 was close to Christmas break and the priority at the time was collecting the leaked fuel and enforcing department rules governing cleanup.
“We’re answering every citizen that requests an answer. Our staff is there to answer questions, the consultant staff is there to answer questions, and of course the company is also there, and also responsible to answer those questions,” LePage said.
