Imperial Oil tank farm was contaminated before large gasoline spill in July

The spokeswoman for a group of residents in Sydney's North End says she is disappointed — but not surprised — to learn the nearby Imperial Oil petroleum storage facility was contaminated with hydrocarbons even before a large gasoline spill in the summer.

Nova Scotia's Environment Department says Imperial Oil discovered the historical contamination after investigating a spill that included 600,000 litres of gas in July.

Grace Arsenault, the organizer of a concerned citizens' group, said the company told residents it wants to be transparent and be a good neighbour, but its actions don't match its words.

"This company claims to be our neighbours and they wanted to work with us, and when they don't give us the right information and they hide the facts, that makes it pretty hard to have good faith in them," she said.

"It's hard to not suspect them of covering it up, because that's what they've done all along — cover it up."

For two months, Imperial Oil insisted the spilled fuel was contained inside an earthen berm after a piece of heavy equipment accidentally rolled down the containment wall and punctured one of the tanks.

Terminal superintendent Adam MacDonald said the same thing at a public meeting in September, but later under questioning from the audience, Imperial's environmental and regulatory adviser Nadine Morton said about 3,000 litres of gas had escaped the containment berm through a faulty seal around a pipe.

Last week, the province said in an email its investigation into the July 8 spill is complete and only resulted in a warning to the company for failing to notify the department of planned maintenance to the containment berm.

The department said the spill has been cleaned up and no further action is needed.

However, the department said the company's internal investigation also revealed "historical hydrocarbon contamination."

The province did not provide any details, except to say that the discovery triggered a separate process under contaminated sites regulations.

Under those regulations, the company has two years to clean up the contamination and is working on a remediation plan, the department said.

Imperial Oil would not make anyone available for an interview.

In an email, the company said it is premature to comment on the historical contamination because it is still under investigation. However, it said there is no indication of risk to public health or safety.

Arsenault said Imperial Oil has been given several opportunities to tell residents what happened, but its only recent communication with residents was a letter listing a number of donations the company made after post-tropical storm Fiona knocked down trees and knocked out power to the community.

"It was great that they did those things, but a neighbour, anybody that cares, is not going to let you live or sit next to all these contaminants and not tell you," she said. "They could have been honest from the get-go."

Arsenault said the community will likely hold a meeting next week to discuss the latest news and the group's next steps.

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