WATERLOO REGION — Concerns about the environmental toll from 50,000 litres of jet fuel spilled on Highway 401 are growing.

On Thursday, Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks told officials in North Dumfries the contamination had spread further downstream than first thought.

That includes into the Shade's Mill Conservation Area in Cambridge, which officials had previously thought had been spared. That prompted cleanup crews to place more oil-absorbent floating booms further west on Mill Creek, at Franklin Boulevard and Clyde Road.

"It does not appear that contaminants are exiting the reservoir at this time as there continue to be no visible impacts at the outfall from Shade's Mill. However, it appears that contaminants have migrated further than originally understood," reads an email from the ministry's Stefanie Ferraro, area supervisor with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

The spill has prompted calls to the township and ministry from local homeowners worried about the impact on private wells. But the province says it has no evidence wells are at risk.

The Region of Waterloo also says municipal water supplies are also safe, but has closed off five supply wells around Shade's Mill as a precaution. Still, people are worried.

"We're very concerned," said Sue Foxton, mayor of North Dumfries.

"Any spill near a private well is always a concern. So far, it sounds as if it's contained, but we'll have to wait and see."

The Grand River Conservation Authority says Shade's Mill will remain closed and ice fishing will be off-limits for the season as a result of the spill.

Meanwhile, wildlife rescuer Joy Huggins and a team of volunteers say they're responding to calls to help animals believed to have been affected by the spill.

Huggins, who runs Wildlife Haven Waterloo, said Environment and Climate Change Canada asked her to be ready to take in animals in distress as a result of the contamination.

She said a resident in the area contacted her about some black ducks and minks that he believes may have been affected. One of her volunteers used a drone to scan the area near where cleanup crews were working on Concession 2 in Puslinch, looking for wildlife.

John Johnston, who has lived for two decades on a nearby rural property that Mill Creek runs through, is worried about the spill and its impact on fish populations.

"It's very upsetting, this is why I got this place and this is what I've been trying to protect for years," he said.

"That creek is so important to me and if it kills it all, it's very sad."

An official from Environment and Climate Change Canada said an enforcement officer was dispatched to validate reports about people pulling "oiled migratory birds from Mill Creek," but could not substantiate those claims.

Environmental cleanup crews, meanwhile, are still working around the clock to deal with contamination from the spill.

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Soil is being removed from ditches at the spill site along Highway 401, while vacuum trucks are stationed at a bridge on Mill Creek further downstream in Puslinch Township.

Workers are suctioning the fuel from the surface of the water, and using neon green barriers to soak up the oil as it flows down the creek.

Floating booms have been placed along the creek as it winds through Puslinch, North Dumfries Township and into Cambridge.

The Ministry of the Environment is monitoring the cleanup, which is being paid for by the trucking company, and sent inspectors back to the spill site Thursday to do more testing.

"Environmental officers and ministry technical support staff are at the site today to co-ordinate sampling and oversee containment and cleanup efforts," said Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

He added that the ministry doesn't have any first-hand evidence of wildlife being impacted. Stantec, one of the companies involved in the cleanup effort, has hired biologists to help access environmental impacts from the spill, he said.

gmercer@therecord.com

Twitter: @MercerRecord

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- Water wells closed in Cambridge following jet fuel spill on Hwy. 401