EDMONTON - While cleanup continues at the site of Alberta’s worst oil spill in 35 years, some of those living in the nearby community of Little Buffalo say they are being made sick by a noxious smell.

The strong, propane-like odour was first noticed in the community on Friday morning, not long after thousands of barrels of crude oil began spewing from a large crack in a 44-year-old pipeline about 30 kilometres away.

“I am thinking they should get us all out of here ASAP,” Brian Alexander, principal of the Little Buffalo school, said Wednesday.

The oil leak was discovered early Friday after a drop in pressure was detected along the Rainbow pipeline, which runs about 770 kilometres from Zama to Edmonton. The leak was stopped later that day, but not before 4.5 million litres of oil, or 28,000 barrels, had already spilled into a wetland area outside Little Buffalo.

The spill was contained by a beaver dam, which prevented it from spreading further. An Alberta Environment spokesman said six beavers and 10 ducks died or had to be euthanized.

Most of the people that live in the area are members of the Lubicon Cree Nation, a community which remains deeply divided after an election dispute in 2009.

Garrett Tomlinson, a spokesman for one of the men claiming to be the band’s chief, said residents are worried about the potential impact of the spill.

“The biggest concern that’s been identified is the aftermath that’s going to be left behind by this environmental catastrophe. What the long-term environmental and health impacts are going to be for the people here ... and how we’re going to move forward to mitigate those negative impacts,” Tomlinson said.

The pipeline is owned by Plains Midstream Canada, the Canadian arm of Rainbow All American Pipeline, L.P. The company controls about three million barrels of crude oil a day around the continent. The Rainbow pipeline carried about 187,000 barrels of oil a day in Alberta last year. The same line leaked about 200,000 litres of oil near Slave Lake in 2006.

Company spokesman Roy Lamoreaux said monitoring at the site for hydrocarbons did not find any levels above Alberta ambient air quality guidelines. Air monitoring done at the school failed to find any hydrocarbon levels, he said.

Energy Resources Conservation Board spokesman Davis Sheremata said the board is “certain” the odour is not related to the oil spill, but added that its source remains under investigation.

Little Buffalo students were sent home from school on Friday because of the smell. Classes have been cancelled ever since.

Alexander said he believes the smell has to be coming from the spill site, especially since the odour began around the same time he spill occurred.

“This has never happened before, and it only happens when the wind is from the east,” he said. “The spill is in the east. How can it not be from that?”

Steve Noskey, the other man claiming leadership of the First Nation, said he is unhappy with the response from both the oil company and the ERCB, which he says has left residents with many unanswered questions about the impact of the spill on humans and wildlife.

He said a community meeting had been planned for Tuesday but was cancelled by the ERCB, which instead sent a one-page fact sheet with information about the spill.

Most of the Rainbow pipeline is 44-years-old, but some areas have been upgraded. Sheremata said the entire line has been inspected at least once a year since 2004.

He said the ERCB continues to investigate what caused the pipe to crack. Some possibilities include an unusual amount of heaving from the ground, problems with the pipe’s coating or corrosion, or the pipe being operated outside provincial regulations.

Lamoreaux said the company has repaired the line and is waiting for regulatory approval to restart operations.

Plains Midstream also has ambitions to build a sister pipeline next to the existing one. Lamoreaux said the company filed an application with the ERCB for Rainbow Pipeline II last Friday.

Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner said Wednesday that he was “disappointed” by the oil spill. He described such leaks as “unfortunate” but rare, and said he stood by the province’s rigorous process for inspecting and maintaining pipelines, and dealing with incidents when they do occur.

Alberta NDP environment critic Rachel Notley issued a news release calling for public investigations.

“On Friday we had a pipeline leak so significant it shuttered a nearby school. Yet we didn’t learn about the scale of the spill for five days, until the day after the federal election,” she said.

“Either there was political interference or there are serious questions about environmental oversight in this province.

“We need an independent assessment of this government’s inspection regimes and staffing levels, and full disclosure of all the facts about the current leak.”

Renner said that “given the huge number of pipelines that are in the ground, our safety record is one that we can be proud of,” Renner said. “Sure, there are incidents from time to time, but I would put our record up against any others.”

But that is little comfort for Noskey, who said he has concerns about the pipeline and the potential for further leaks in the future.

“It’s more than an oil spill,” he said. “It’s our community.”

jpruden@edmontonjournal.com

hbrooymans@edmontonjournal.com