People living in Maxville, Ont., are being told not to drink water from their wells after a train car leaked 60,000 litres of ethanol in the area.

Ontario's Environment Ministry made the order on Monday, hours after the leak caused a state of emergency that led about 200 people to be evacuated from their homes.

Analysts will test well water samples to see if the ethanol-contaminated groundwater in the community about 70 kilometres east of Ottawa is safe.




Residents will have to drink bottled water until the test results are back.

That could take several days.

Highly flammable ethanol or combustion alcohol began spilling from a freight car just after 1:45 a.m. EDT Monday, causing Via Rail to cancel its Montreal-Ottawa train service for several hours.

Passengers were transported to their destinations by bus instead.

"A freight train from the Ottawa Central Railway sideswiped another car that had [combustion] alcohol in it," said Via Rail Canada spokesperson Seychelle Harding.

Environment Canada, the fire department and the Ontario Provincial Police worked to deal with the spill.

OPP spokesperson Joel Dorion said the surrounding area was evacuated "for emergency and precautionary reasons."

About 120 seniors from the Maxville Manor nursing home took refuge in the banquet hall of the local sportsplex until the all-clear was given in the early afternoon.