Firefighters and the Canadian Coast Guard were called to Vancouver’s waterfront on Wednesday, where a water main burst, sending a large volume of effluent into Burrard Inlet.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. along Waterfront Road between Canada Place and the SeaBus terminal. It was not immediately clear from which property the flood started.
Photos from the scene showed a large, brown bloom of effluent with some oily sheen expanding into the ocean.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services (VFRS) said Waterfront Road was closed west of Crab Park.
“Small amounts of road contaminants were washed into the harbour and containment is underway,” said VFRS in a tweet.
A boat towing a containment boom was observed cordoning off the area.
The City of Vancouver said crews were deployed to fix the break, and that an oily substance that was washing into the inlet had been contained.
The Port of Vancouver said it was aware of the situation, which was being monitored from its operations centre.