A pickup truck that's been sitting on the bottom of a bay in Lake Wanapitei has prompted officials to deliver notices to residents in the area with private water intakes.
A resident of the area informed Sudbury.com last week about the truck, which went through the ice 40 feet from the Skead Bay shoreline sometime around Jan. 30.
The truck, which may also have a snowplow and trailer attached, isn't considered to pose a risk to the environment or human health, officials told Sudbury.com this week.
Gary Wheeler, a spokeperson with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), said the owner of the vehicle is making arrangments to have the vehicle removed.
"Ministry staff advised the owner that he is responsible for cleaning up any spill that might originate from the truck," said Wheeler in an email. "The owner is making arrangements through his insurance company to remove the truck.
"The ministry has confirmed that Public Health Sudbury & Districts is aware of the incident and considers the risk to any local private water intakes to be low."
A survey of the site by the MECP found no evidence the truck is leaking any fluids, Sudbury.com was told. Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas said her understanding after speaking with ministry staff is the owner reported having only a quarter tank of gas in the truck at the time it went through the ice. The truck is in good working order, the MPP said the owner reported, and wasn't leaking any fluids.
Despite assurances the truck is intact, as a precaution, Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) has advised residents in the area who take their water directly from Lake Wanapitei of the truck. It is up to individual home owners to have their water tested for safety and potability.
Burgess Hawkins, manager of protection services with the health unit, said advisory notices were hand-delivered to residents in the area this week when PHSD was notified of the truck, after Sudbury.com began calling officials about the situation. PHSD does not offer water testing and Public Health Ontario, which has an office in the health unit building on Paris Street, only offers free bacterialogical testing, said Hawkins, not petrochemical testing.
A drinking water advisory has not been issued. Residents with private water intakes on Wanapitei who are concerned the truck may be leaking chemicals into their drinking water can have their water tested themselves through a private lab.
Hawkins said residents should be able to taste, smell or see if there is significant contamination in their water. Those that do notice a difference are asked to contact PHSD right away.
The Skead resident who notified Sudbury.com of the truck said he is concerned that it has taken more than a month for any action to be taken by officials. Gasoline is just one chemical that can leak from the vehicle along with transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and battery acid, he said.
“It doesn’t matter if it's in six feet or 60 feet of water, it still needs to be removed,” he said.
The area where the truck went through the ice has been marked off with a line of tree branches to warn anyone heading onto the lake that the ice is likely thin in that area.
Sudbury.com will continue to follow this story.
