"I understand it's never going to be pristine again," says Gogama Fire Chief Mike Benson. "There was no sheen, there was no dead fish, there was no oil spill on Mar. 6, 2015."

"So, we got to try to get it closer than that. Let's get it to the point that there's no fish dying. And I'm not going to die of throat cancer in five years because I've been eating the fish out of this lake."

Benson said CN rail is willing to continue the clean-up, but has been told by the Ministry of Environment that the work is satisfactory.

CN has agreed to let more soil samples be taken from the site and be sent away for independent testing, along with some of the dead fish, at the company's expense.

In a statement the railroad said that "CN recognizes that local citizens have identified areas of concern, where they believe further clean up should be done in order to protect human and fish populations. CN is today on the ground in Gogama, working with local residents to identify specific areas."