The government says the spill appears to be motor oil, but it’s not clear where it came from.
The Canadian Coast Guard and Urgence-Environnement were trying Friday to contain an oil spill reported in the waters of the St. Lawrence River near Pointe-aux-Trembles.
The Coast Guard said it received a report on Thursday confirming the oil slick, from an unknown source, between 13th Ave. and Tricentenaire Blvd., in the eastern end of the island of Montreal.
According to a message published Friday afternoon by Quebec’s environment minister, who says he is monitoring the situation closely, “the results of the analysis indicate that the substance in question is motor oil.”
Benoit Charette added that “mitigation measures have been put in place and a company has been mandated to pump the product” and that “the work to find the source of the pollution continues.”
The Coast Guard indicated that it had mobilized the Urgence Marine Environnement company, “which deployed booms to contain the spill.”
The Coast Guard and Urgence Marine Environnement would also try to develop “a plan to rehabilitate the polluted shoreline.”
The Canadian Wildlife Service and Environment and Climate Change Canada were also contacted by the Canadian Coast Guard “regarding the soiled birds observed in the region.”
“I saw dead birds and (Thursday) dead fish were collected by a local environmental group,” said Alain Saladzius, who was on site Friday morning.
Saladzius, president of the Fondation Rivières, is asking for an alert application to be developed for this type of spill “to enable the origin of the pollution to be quickly located.”
Currently, when someone witnesses a situation that threatens fauna or flora, they must call Urgence-Environnement.
“But you have to find the right number” and “it regularly happens that citizens write to us when they see spills, because they don’t know who to notify,” Saladzius said.
The Coast Guard advised the public not to approach the oil slicks in the Pointe-aux-Trembles marina area.
The City of Montreal indicated that it had sent the inspection service to the site and remains in close communication with Quebec’s environment ministry.
In a written message, the city wanted to reassure the population that drinking water can be consumed without danger.