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    • Wastewater from ruptured sewer line still flowing into Bow River: Town of Cochrane

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    After initially saying that wastewater was no longer flowing into the Bow River, the Town of Cochrane said actually it still is.

    At 7:35 a.m. Sunday, the town said workers had stopped the flow of wastewater into the Bow following a Saturday sewage line rupture.

    However, at 12:20 p.m., they issued a statement to the contrary.

    "Our onsite incident response team has advised that this information was inaccurate," it said. "Although the discharge has been significantly reduced, wastewater is continuing to flow into the Bow River at this time."

    SEWER LINE BREAK

    A sewer line broke in the town of Cochrane late Saturday evening, causing an overland sewage discharge into the Bow River at the Highway 22 Bridge.

    In a Sunday release, the town said it learned at around 6 p.m. Saturday evening that a contractor doing work for the town "impacted our wastewater and water pipelines as they were setting up for drilling operations."

    In a Sunday interview with CTV News, Cochrane mayor Jeff Genung confirmed the source of the rupture.

    "This was a capital project that we had scheduled, it was an upgrade to an existing line," Genung said. "It was just meant to increase capacities for our wastewater infrastructure system and this contractor was there doing that work and struck one of our other lines."

    Genung said it was unclear how much wastewater has spilled into the Bow.

    "Until we can assess anything, it's just really too early in the game to really tell you how much wastewater has been spilled," he said. "What the impacts to the river, if any are and then,  what are the next steps really.

    "We're focusing now on  just getting the leak stopped and getting the procedures in place to bypass that breach, so that we can get our wastewater flows back to normal here in our community."

    Genung added that he's been in close contact with representatives from Calgary and Rocky View County to keep them up-to-date on the situation.

    SAFE TO DRINK

    The town sent out advisories on social media late Saturday.

    "Cochrane drinking water is not impacted and remains safe to drink," it said. "We are working with all relevant agencies, including the City of Calgary, Rocky View County and Alberta Environment and Parks."

    The City of Calgary also issued a statement Sunday morning that the sewer line rupture has produced "no change in water quality at the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant.

    "Calgary's water remains safe to drink."

    Rocky View County issued a similar statement Sunday around 10:30 a.m.

    People are asked to avoid the area to allow crews space to respond to the incident.

    Eastbound Griffin Road has been reduced to a single lane of traffic, and all pathways adjacent to the Bow River have been closed, from Riverfront Park to Griffin Industrial Point, including Jim Uffelmann Memorial Park.

    The Town of Cochrane has activated its Emergency Coordination Centre and has also implemented Level 3 water restrictions, asking residents to conserve water.

    This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.

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