A major effort is underway to prevent the spread of 22 tonnes of fuel from escaping into the waters near Trois Rivieres after a tugboat sunk in the port Friday afternoon.
Teams are working to prevent the damage and a a tugboat was dispatched to install booms to prevent diesel fuel from flowing into the river.
“Some of the oil went into the booms but there’s still some oil that can be seen around it, said Rejean Lapointe of Urgence Environnement.
A private company is expected to start pumping the water today.
The local water supply has not been contaminated.
The Canadian Coast Guard, Transport Canada, Quebec Environment Minister and Seamec Marine are working together to battle the spread.
Motor oil and other items have also flowed into the water after the ship sunk.
The shipowner will be billed for the cleanup, according to Quebec Environment Minister Yves Lahaie. “The owner is responsible for the contamination, so he will have to assume the costs of the operation. The cost will depend largely on the duration of the operation,” he told the Canadian Press.
Nobody was onboard the ship at the time it sank in Section One of the port, where it had been docked for several weeks.
The Environment Minister is still investigating what might have caused the boat to sink. Transport Canada has also consulted experts in an attempt to determine what happened.
