Kotaneelee spill no cause for concern, Yukon official says

A spill at Yukon's Kotaneelee natural-gas plantis not likely to cause any lasting environmental problems, territorial government engineer Richard Corbet says.

Staff arrived at Devon Energy'splant in the southeastern corner of the territory last Tuesday to find a broken pressure gauge spewing water, Corbet told CBC News Monday.

The water is pumped into different rock zones about 1,000 metres down for safe storage, he said.

About 5,000 litres of water spilled on to the ground before the leak was discovered, Corbet said. A plugged pipe and a valve left in the wrong position prevented a holding tank from catching the water, he added.

Thewater collected in a nearby ditch, he said.Crews sucked up most of the water with a vacuum truck.

Snow in the area was scooped up and melted, and the frozen ground was washed down with heated water. All the melted snow and wash water was collected andpumped underground into the well, he said.

None of the contaminated water appeared to have been absorbed into the ground, Corbet said.

Since the spill, Devon Energy haschanged its procedures to include regular inspections of the valves and the holding tank pipes that were partially responsible for the spill, he said.