Dear Editor,

In late winter, there was a spill of diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid on the snowmobile trail that uses Yach Road in Thorne. That part of Yach Road is normally not plowed for wheeled vehicles in winter. The spill was not reported for several days, probably allowing the pollution to sink in and spread more than it would have. 

Was it a serious environmental threat? Somebody thinks so, because the Klondike remediation company has been involved for more than a month now, first driving piles to contain the spill, then hauling out many truckloads of contaminated water and snow, and then many truckloads of contaminated soil. I understand the soil and water are being transported and deposited at the site of the former pulp mill just upstream from Portage-du-Fort. 

The remediation efforts began just as the snow was melting, a time when log trucks are restricted to half-loading due to the damage to the gravel roads. Mountain Road was a sloppy mess for weeks. It still is very rough, in spite of having been graded repeatedly.  

I wonder who will pay for the damage to roads, and potential damage to the water table at the top of the mountain, and downstream from there? If you’ve ever paid to have a big truck haul something to or from the backroads, you know that is not cheap.

Robert Wills, Shawville and Thorne