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SPILLS ACTION CENTRE
SUMMARY REPORT OF 1992 SPILLS
NOVEMBER
1993
®
Ministryof
Ontario Environment
and Energy
ISSN 1192-5078
SPILLS ACTION CENTRE
SUMMARY REPORT OF 1992 SPILLS
NOVEMBER
1993
Cette publication technique
n'est disponible qu'en anglais.
Copyright: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1993
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes
with appropriate attribution.
PIBS 2744
SPILLS ACTION CENTRE
SUMMARY REPORT OF 1992 SPILLS
Report prepared by:
Spills Action Centre
Regional Operations Division
1992SpillSummary
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVESUMMARY
i
INTRODUCTION
1
Ontario's Spills Legislation 1
The Spills Action Centre 2
The OccurrenceReportInformation System 2
SPILLS-- 1992 SUMMARY 5
Yearly SpillTotals 5
SpillsToLand, WaterAnd Air 6
LocationOfSpills 7
Types And Volumes OfMaterials Spilled 8
Environmental Impact 12
Spill Cleanup 15
Spills By Sector And Source 17
Spills By Cause And Reason 21
SPILLS TO THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM. 23
Spill Cleanup In The Great Lakes 26
PLANNING FOR SPILL CONTINGENCIES 27
The Canada/U.S. WaterQuality Agreement 27
The Canada/U.S JointMarinePollution Contingency Plan 27
.
The Canadian Marine Contingency Plan 27
TheProvinceofOntario ContingencyPlan
ForSpillsofOil and otherHazardous Materials 27
TheProvinceofOntario NuclearPlan 28
TheSpillsPrevention Strategy 28
APPENDIX I ~ SampleOccurrenceReport
APPENDIX II -- Spills By Material Groupand Volume
APPENDIX III - Sectorand SourceMatrix
APPENDIX IV - Causeand Reason Matrix
APPENDIX V ~ SpUls By Municipal Location
..
SpillsActionCentre
LIST OF TABLES
1. spillsBy Receiving Medium -- 1988 to 1992 6
2. SpillsByMunicipalLocation 7
3. SpillsByMaterial Group -- 1988 to 1992 8
4. SpillsBy Material Groupand Volume 9
5. SpillsBy NatureofEnvironmentalImpact 13
6. Spill CleanupBy Medium 15
7. SpillsBy Sector-- 1988 to 1992 17
8. SpillsBy Source- 1988 to 1992 18
9. Spills By Sectorand Source 18
10. SpiUsBy Cause " 1988 to 1992 21
11. Spills By Reason -- 1988 to 1992 21
12. Spills By Causeand Reason 22
13 GreatLakes SpillsofOils and ChemicalsbyWatercourseand Sector 25
14. GreatLakes Spills ofOilsand ChemicalsbyWatercourseand Volume 26
15. GreatLakes Spill Cleanupby MaterialType 26
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Reported Spills -- 1988 to 1992 5
2. SpillsBy Receiving Medium 6
3. SpillsBy Material Group 8
4. Spill VolumesBy MaterialType 9
5 EnvironmentalImpact 12
6. NatureofEnvironmentalImpact 12
7. Spill Cleanup 14
8. Spill CleanupBy Medium 14
9. SpillsBy Sector 16
10. SpillsBy Source 16
11. SpillsBy Cause 20
12. Spills By Reason 20
13. Spills ofOilsand Chemicals tothe GreatLakes System .....23
14. GreatLakes SpillVolumesBy Material 25
1992SpillSummary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Ontario Ministry ofEnvironment and Energy's Spills Action Centre receives and initiates
responsesto reports ofspills and otherurgent environmental incidents on a24-hourperdaybasis.
The Centre documented 14,588 occurrences in 1992. Spills accounted for 5,014 of these
occurrences; the remainder included a combination ofMinistry-required notifications other than
spills, and environmental complaints from the general public. This report provides a summarized
review of spills reported to the Ministry during the calendar year of 1992, and compares this
informationtothatobtainedinpreviousyears.
ThenumberofspillsreportedtotheMinistryin 1992 declinedbyabout 5% fi-om 1991. Thisisthe
second consecutive yearly decrease in reported spills. Fewer spills to air accounted for this
decreasewhilethenumberofspillstolandandwaterremainedvirtuallyunchanged.
Oils and fuels represented 59% ofspilled materials. Chemicals and chemical solutions accounted
for 15%,wastesandwastewaters 18%, gaseousemissions6%, whileotherandunknownmaterials
accounted for the remainder. A large proportion ofthe reported spills involved small volumes:
cumulatively, 20% ofthe spilled materials involvedvolumes lessthan 10 litres, 57% less than 100
litresand 86% lessthan 1000litres.
About28% ofthespillshad aconfirmed environmentalimpactidentified. Morethantwo-thirdsof
theseinvolved soil contamination, and approximately one-fifth involved water pollution. Twenty-
threespillswerereportedtohaveresultedinhumanhealthand safetyconcerns.
Spill cleanup information fi-om 1992 indicates that 45% ofthe spills were completely cleaned up
and anadditional 22% were partially cleanedup. The majority ofthe remainderinvolved spills to
water where cleanup was more difficult, and some spills to the atmosphere which could not be
cleanedupatall.
The industrial sectors with the largest proportions ofreported spills were: transportation - 16%;
petroleum - 13%; metallurgical - 6%; general manufacturing - 5%; and chemical - 5%. Public
sectorspills, includingspillsfi-omelectricutilitiesandsewagesystems, accountedforabout 18% of
reportedspills.
Motor vehicles were the largest source ofspills, accounting for more than 28% ofall reported
spills. Spillsfi-ommanufacturingandprocessingfacilitiesaccountedforanadditional 19%.
In 1992, 1,453 ofthe spills reported to theMinistrywere either entirely orpartially dischargedto
water courses. Ofthese, 203 involved oil or chemical spills to the Great Lakes system including:
65 toLakeOntario, 41 to the St. ClairRiver, 36tothe St. LawrenceRiver, 18 to LakeHuron, 12
toLakeErie, and 12toLake Superior. TheremainderweretotheDetroitRiver, St. MarysRiver,
Lake St. ClairandtheNiagaraRiver. Overalltherewere85 fewerspillstotheGreatLakes system
in 1992 ascomparedto 1991.
SpillsActionCentre
All occurrences reported to the Ministry, including spills, are recorded on a computerized data
management system calledtheOccurrenceReportInformation System. Theinformation stored on
this system is used to assist the Ministry and others, such as Environment Canada and the
International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes, in identifying and evaluating environmental
problems.
Ministrypollutionabatement programsand spill reduction initiatives are developed or modified as
trends or concerns are identified using this type ofinformation. The Ministry has implemented a
province-wide Spills Prevention Strategy requiring repeat dischargers to submit spill prevention
and response plans to the Ministry and to incorporate better management practices. About 30
companies currently involved in this process are submitting comprehensive work plans for review
bytheMinistry.
The Ministry is actively involved in planning for spill contingencies. The Ministry's Contingency
Planning Program provides advice and assistance to industry and other government agencies that
respond to spills. The Ministry is also responsible fortheProvince ofOntario ContingencyPlan
for Spills ofOilandHazardousMaterialswhich provides a mechanism to deal with major spills
underprovincialjurisdiction.
