- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

Following a report that two men were pouring something that appeared to be oil into an outside drain at the newly-opened Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen on the Canada Day weekend, the City of Owen Sound and Ontario Ministry of the Environment followed up.

The City's Director of Public Works Dennis Kefalas reported:

“City staff did inspection of the City’s storm water collect system both on 16th Street and 16th Ave that serve the mall property.  There was no evidence or presence of cooking oil in the City’s system.  It appears that any cooking oil , if it was dumped in the catch basin in the vicinity of Popeye’s, was contained on site. 

The restaurant owner did hire a Vactor truck to pump out two catch basins.  “

Kefalas says the City still has to do some follow up before they can close the investigation.

The franchise has not yet commented on whether or not any used oil was poured into the catch basin, nor why they hired a pumping truck. A representative told us Tuesday that used oil was now going in the Rothsay oil recycling bin behind the Heritage Place Mall food court. There is now a 45 gallon Rothsay's drum in the Popeye's garbage enclosure, but no full-size grease bin.

We have received no response to repeated requests for information from the management of Heritage Place, where Popeye's is a tenant, nor from the regional office of Cushman&Wakefield, the mall's owner.