Hazardous Waste Facility Wildfire Fort St. John
Last updated on May 19, 2023Disclaimer:
- Information provided is based on reports received by Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR).
- Information provided is considered to be current at the time of posting, but is subject to change
Incident description
| Incident Date | May 15, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Name | DGIR: 231745 |
| Source | Wildfire impacting hazardous waste facility |
| Nearest Community | Fort St. John, BC |
| Spilled Content | N/A |
| Who is involved | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (ENV), Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR), BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) |
Response phase details
The responsible person or spiller is legally required to clean-up or manage the clean-up of a spill.
In incidents where the responsible person is unknown, unable or unwilling to manage the cleanup, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (ENV) may assume the role.
The updates below reflect the ministry’s oversight of the spillers’ actions. Details describe the spill response phase only and not the complete lifecycle of the spill. Visit the 'More information' page for other reports.
Updates are in reverse chronological order with the most recent at the top.
Industry-specific language may be explained in the Glossary of Terms (PDF, 106KB).
Most recent updates
May 18, 2023
Wildfire activity surrounding this site is still very active, however, the threat to this site has subsided and situation has now stabilized.
May 16, 2023
On May 15th, the Environmental Emergency Program (EEP) Response Section was informed that a hazardous waste facility approximately 55 km North of Fort St. John has been evacuated and their Emergency Response Plan was activated due to the proximity of wildfires. The facility has no apparent damage and contains mainly Oil and Gas related hazardous waste including naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM's).
As of May 16th at 11:15, weather conditions have caused the fire to move away from the facility. An exclusion zone surrounding the site has been implemented for public safety due to the ongoing wildfire risk. The closest First Nations community is 7 km away and has been evacuated due to potential wildfire danger.
EEP will continue to update the public as the response progresses.