See also:

Fuel Spills in NWT

Fuel Spills Near the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge

Development Permits

Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Co-op

What is happening?

• There have been relatively few spills of petroleum (e.g. diesel fuel, gasoline, aviation fuel or hydraulic oil) in the northern Yukon and, in many years, there have been no reported spills. The largest spill occurred in 1972 at the Cranswick wellsite near the Snake River and was estimated to include 300,000 litres of diesel fuel.
• Most spills have occurred inland although there are records of 6 spills that have occurred along the Beaufort Sea coast of the Yukon and at Pauline Cove on Herschel Island.

Why is it happening?

• Large amounts of petroleum products are transported for use by local residents as well as industry. Spills often occur during transport or during storage as a result of accidents, negligence (poor maintenance of tanks or supply lines) or operator error (overfilling storage tanks).

Why is it important?

• Spills of petroleum products can have a great impact on both marine and fresh water environments while spills on land can also cause problems when they seep into groundwater or join waterways through runnoff.

Technical Notes

• These data were obtained from Environment Canada. The Yukon Goverment took over responsibility for monitoring spills in 2003.