A piece of heavy equipment being used at the Bala Falls Hydro Project fell into the Moon River.
It happened late Monday evening. An excavator was moving rock and began to slide into the water. The operator managed to stop the unit from going in completely, sticking the front shovel underwater to stabilize it.
A large tow unit was brought in to put an anchor cable onto the excavator to prevent it from sliding further.
A second piece of equipment was moved into place to help secure the trapped excavator.
The larger equipment was able to lift the first excavator’s bucket from the floor of the river and allow it to get on to more stable ground.
A protective boom was placed around the area, in case of a fuel spill.
The Township of Muskoka Lakes put out a media advisory alerting the public of the situation. Town officials have notified the Spills Action Centre of the incident.
“Though this is technically out of the jurisdiction of the Township, in conjunction with the District, we will continue to request CRT and Swift River Energy Limited do everything in their power to avoid incidents of this nature going forward as construction activities on the power plant shift from the water to land,” says Muskoka Lakes Mayor Phil Harding.
The Bala Hydro project has seen many protests over the years but is nearing completion in 2019.
