Oil from a Nova Scotia Power station in Dartmouth, N.S., leaked into Halifax Harbour on Thursday, the company said in a press release.
“Tufts Cove Generating Station had a limited oil leak from an exterior pipe at Tufts Cove that runs from onsite storage tanks along the harbour-side of the facility into the plant,” the company said, not further quantifying the amount of oil that leaked.
The leak happened in the afternoon, and staff at the plant shut off the oil flow.
Tufts Cove is located near Shannon Park.
Oil containment booms were seen in place on the water at about 8:15 p.m.
The company said two have been installed, and a vacuum truck was brought in to clean up the oil.
“Nova Scotia Power and its contractor will continue to implement environmental response and monitoring protocols until all of the leaked oil has been cleaned up, including the water in the inlet, shoreline area and soil. Response efforts are proceeding as quickly as possible keeping in mind the safety of all involved in the containment activities,” the company said.
“All appropriate operational procedures and protocols have been activated, and relevant regulatory bodies have been notified of the incident.”
An update on the situation will be released on Friday at 11:30 a.m., the company said.