Highway 20 & 39 road closure

[Au revoir, Gopher]

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/oilfield...burg-1.6743390

Looks like quite the mess. Saw a message from the Village of Breton, they are worried about this getting into their sewer.

ARG

[chris762]

Saw that earlier bit can't find it now. Something to do with vacuum drilling fluid???

[curtz]

Talked to a chemical guy today, he said it's going to be a mess to clean up. From what he said it's 38km of highway

[32-40win]

That'll be a bad day for some driver, and the company he works for. Kind of stuff that can put a decent sized company out of business.

[Grizzly Adams1]

Mounties did not say exactly what kind of material spilled.

So, what was it ? Sounds stupid, one should know what you are dealing with.

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

Mounties did not say exactly what kind of material spilled.

So, what was it ? Sounds stupid, one should know what you are dealing with.

I have trucks, albeit not tankers up there, but sounds like invert?.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

Mounties did not say exactly what kind of material spilled.

So, what was it ? Sounds stupid, one should know what you are dealing with.

According to https://www.bigwestcountry.ca/2024/01/26/spill-draft/ it was Vacuum Gas Oil.

38 km and 3 counties involved. Ouch.

ARG

[Au revoir, Gopher]

According to 511, highway 39 is single lane alternating traffic and highway 20 is still closed. The people who live along that stretch of road must be really impressed.

ARG

[Sooner]

Crazy he went that long before he noticed or someone flagged him what was happening. That's going to be one huge Ins claim.

[Cement Bench]

Originally Posted by Sooner

Crazy he went that long before he noticed or someone flagged him what was happening. That's going to be one huge Ins claim.

agreed
38 kms
might have been hard to pass but 911 in 38 kms maybe who knows
sad for,the vehicles having to get power washed

[Dmay]

News feeds tell nothing it seems like......what exactly is the product leaked? (I'm from heavy oil, never heard of vacuum gas oil????)
And what was the trailer or tank that leaked?

[Cement Bench]

thought on the village of breton they said but i cannot find it in my photos today

[Cement Bench]

VGO

village says that is it

[Ebrand]

One lane only.

Follow the pilot truck. Less than 10 minutes waiting.

A dozen steamer/vac trucks washing the closed lane over about a 6 mile stretch. From Range rd 42 east to about Range rd 33

Hwy 20 from Alsike to Winfield was closed.

[Dick284]

The product that was spilled was Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil.

It’s the feedstock used to produce lubricating base oil.

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/fsc4...acuum-gas-oils

[Shooty]

driving yesterday morning from Sylvan Lake to Entwistle and back in pm. 20 was still closed for going through traffic from Winfield to Alsike. Drove 39 from DV to Warburg and saw workers pressure washing road. They say it is heavy crude oil leak.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by Shooty

driving yesterday morning from Sylvan Lake to Entwistle and back in pm. 20 was still closed for going through traffic from Winfield to Alsike. Drove 39 from DV to Warburg and saw workers pressure washing road. They say it is heavy crude oil leak.

Not Heavy Crude!

It’s Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil, check what I linked above.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Not Heavy Crude!

It’s Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil, check what I linked above.

C35+ out of most likely a thin film evaporator. apples to apples

[fishnguy]

The article cited in the original post says it is vacuum gas oil that was spilled.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by fishnguy

The article cited in the original post says it is vacuum gas oil that was spilled.

Yeah. Pretty heavy oil. Would have been hauled pretty warm. Start getting over C26+ gets pretty thick. At least a 900 density. No suppressant added it would have a pour point of at least 35c. Would definitely turn to goo when it hit the cold pavement so would take steam to vac it up

[fishnguy]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Yeah. Pretty heavy oil. Would have been hauled pretty warm. Start getting over C26+ gets pretty thick. At least a 900 density. No suppressant added it would have a pour point of at least 35c. Would definitely turn to goo when it hit the cold pavement so would take steam to vac it up

Looks like some nasty stuff in the article’s pic:



Say a few vehicles hit the ditch before they shut down the highways.

[David Henry]

Any word when Hwy 20 will reopen, Winfield through Alsike. D.H.

[Cement Bench]

will check the village of breton Facebook
they have updates at least once a day if not twice
doing a great job at letting people know

[Cement Bench]

20 minutes ago

**SPILL UPDATE #11**

Not a lot of new news transpired today. Tomorrow's appointments are full for car cleaning. Wednesday has a couple open at the moment and we are booking for Thursday as well.

Great news on the Breton car wash reopening tomorrow. Please be understanding that employees at the car wash will be turning away vehicles impacted by the spill. Those vehicles tirned away can make an appointment to come to the wash station and have their vehicle washed. A huge thank you to them for being so cooperative and helping us keep the VGO out of the sewer lines.

The snow windrow clean up starts tomorrow. It had been delayed simply because of lack of equipment availability. Instead of trucking it out it will be put into containment bins, melted and removed by a vac truck. If you have any material from your driveway, garage etc please call 587-842-1271 and we will work out a way to help you remove the material.

As for highway updates, Hwy 20 is still the same...still closed unfortunately. You can see the crews working tirelessly to get everything cleaned up but there is still no estimated time of opening. To the best of our knowledge Hwy 39 is still one lane open with escort vehicles leading traffic.

All the residents are doing so wonderful with showing compassion and empathy in this event. Great job to you all!

[David Henry]

Thanks for the update C.B.

[FredF2]

Safety data sheet for high sulpher vacuum gas oil:

http://cdn.vitol.com/pdfs/e94a019263...go-generic.pdf

Edit: After some more digging it appears that there are different grades... high and low sulpher, the high sulpher being more toxic. Sulpher content is hsvho 2% and lsvho 1%. The data sheet I posted is for high sulpher vho.

[Cement Bench]

**SPILL UPDATE #12** There are parts B and C as well. Too long winded this morning for Facebook's likings apparently lol.

Grab a beverage...this is gonna be a long post...The wash station is booked again today. Crews are getting vehicles cleaned up and looking great.

Highway clean up crews are working diligently to get the highways cleaned up. The hydro vacs on 39 are a sight to see. One worker is pressure washing the road (same as we would pressure wash a driveway or garage floor) and the other is holding the vac hose (that looks to be 8" in diameter ... it's pretty big!). This hose sucks up the water and VGO as it is being pressure washed. The crews are working east to west in the west bound land and as of Tuesday afternoon they had approximately 5 to 6 more kilometers left to wash. So traffic is still down to one lane and is still being escorted for everyone's safety.

Highway 20 has had the sanding done and last night they were trying to find more hydro vacs to start the cleaning. Needing that many hydrovacs in "oil country" definitely creates a supply and demand issue in January. But the coordinators are working hard to make it happen.

Many residents on Highway 20 have refrained from leaving their properties since the spill. After talking to the lead on the clean up he has advised that those residents can use Hwy 20 to the nearest grid road to gain access to other highways. This DOES NOT mean that you can travel Highway 20 from end to end. This doesn't mean your 3rd cousin twice removed can come for a random coffee either. This is strictly for residents only to gain access to grid roads. Please do not abuse this. Safety is key. Put your hazard lights on...drive slowly, watch for equipment and workers. When you come upon equipment stop and make eye contact with the operator so he/she sees you. These workers want to go home to their families when this job is done. Let's help make sure that they can do that.

Check update #12B and #12C as well for more information.

[Cement Bench]

**SPILL UPDATE #12B (watch for part C too)

Another common question we are being asked is "what do I do with the goo in my driveway?". This is not a toxic substance. It is essentially boiled crude oil. VGO is crude oil that is distilled to lower the boiling point. By lowering the boiling point they can extract the compounds required for various products at a higher quality. Oil viscosity breaks down at high heat over time (hence why we have to change oil in our vehicles. The operating temperature of the engines degrades the viscosity of the engine oil requiring fresh oil to be added for maximum lubrication and protection of the engine). The substance being dealt with in this spill is heavy VGO, basically the remenants after the light VGO is removed. This heavy VGO can then be processed in a hydro cracker to make diesel and if they process it longer it makes gasoline. Soooooo...(if you are still reading after all of that, thank you!) anything in your driveway/garage/parking pad etc can be handled in the exact same manner as you would if your vehicle had an oil leak. Saw dust, kitty litter, stall dry or sand can be used to absorb it. If it is thicker because it is sitting in snow, you can just shovel it up. The materials to be disposed of can be brought to the wash station and put in the containment bins. Please call 587-842-1271 and we can arrange a time for you to drop it off.

[Cement Bench]

**SPILL UPDATE #12C**

Some people are also asking "why hasn't a state of local emergency been declared?" There are many steps and qualifications that have to be present before a state of local emergency can be declared. And this incident doesn't qualify for that. Had Alberta Environment felt there was an evironemental threat to life or land then there may have been one called. This isn't the case. There have been many posts targeting the County's lack of action but what many don't know is the County has had their employees (that usually work a typical day shift, Mon to Fri) doing road patrol on night shifts to help out. We just washed 10 of the 13 vehicles used to do this. They are definitely helping out in this as well. I am sure everyone is sick of me saying this but please just try to be understanding of the situation. I know it can be frustrating being the ones at home but I promise you it has been all hands on deck doing whatever they can do to help. In relation to the communication from the County...why reinvent the wheel? In general the public has been content with the Village updates so why shouldn't the County be efficient and share them as opposed to rewriting them? The news outlets have. Global, CBC and Big West Country have quoted the Village posts word for word in some cases. And to be honest, the Village would do the same if the tables were reversed and it made more efficient use of someones time. Let's give the County a break. This is an unprecedented event for both municipalities and we are just trying to work our way through it.

Hopefully this helps to clarify some items for everyone and what we have on our roads, vehicles and properties.

Lastly please watch for Village crews grading 51Ave today and hopefully the remainder of side streets. And thank you so much for being patient with us💜

[Cement Bench]

quite frankly that is the way you do Communication

the brazeau county and the stupid town of dv could learn from this

in dv we had to reply on a rogue guy doing videos to get our information

the really stupid town of dv did not even publish a photo or video of the huge water lines from the north Sask river to surround the town and help with water cannon's

the really stupid mayor watched fortis out in 1 pole an seaside she did not know how much time and complicated it was

and she is a woke mayor

sheesh