Oil spill in the St. Lawrence River: birds soiled, shoreline polluted by motor oil

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Urgence-Environnement were trying to contain an oil slick Friday in the St. Lawrence River near Pointe-aux-Trembles.

CCG teams were on site all day and "proceeded to actively contain the slick and recover the pollutant," the organization said in an update on its website, adding that recovery operations would resume early Saturday.

The Ministry of the Environment's analyses show that it is motor oil, but the source and quantity of the product forming the slick are still unknown, CCG said.

By 1 p.m. Friday, the CCG had collected a mixture of water and hydrocarbons with a volume of 3,000 litres, and by 5 p.m., a total of 7,000 litres.

Helicopters carried out surveillance flights to check for oil elsewhere in the area.

On Thursday, the Coast Guard received a report confirming a slick of unknown origin between 13th Avenue and Tricentenaire Boulevard in Montreal.

In a message published Friday afternoon, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette stated that "mitigation measures have been put in place and a company has been mandated to pump out the product" and that "work to find the source of the pollution is continuing."

The Coast Guard said it had mobilized Urgence Marine Environnement "who deployed booms to contain the spill." The CCG and Urgence Marine Environnement are also working on "a rehabilitation plan for the polluted shoreline."

The Canadian Coast Guard has also contacted the Canadian Wildlife Service and Environment and Climate Change Canada about soiled birds seen in the area.

"I've seen dead birds and yesterday [Thursday], dead fish were picked up by a local environmental group," said Fondation Rivières president Alain Saladzius, who was on the scene Friday morning in Montreal's east end.

Saladzius is calling for developing an alert application for this type of spill "to enable the source of the pollution to be located quickly."

Currently, when a citizen witnesses a situation that threatens flora or fauna, they must call Urgence-Environnement.

"But we have to find the right number" and "it happens regularly that citizens write to us when they see spills, because they don't know who to warn", Saladzius added.

The CCG advised the public to avoid pollution slicks in the Pointe-aux-Trembles marina area.

The City of Montreal said it had sent the inspection department to the site and remains in close communication with the Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP).

In a written message, the city reassured the public that the drinking water is safe for consumption.  

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 12, 2024.