A freighter ran aground in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Montreal on Monday evening, spilling somewhere between one and 20 tons of fuel before the leak was contained, officials said.
Andrew Begora, an official with the St. Lawrence Seaway, told CTV.ca that the 200-metre-long vessel lost power, drifted out of the navigation channel and went aground, puncturing one of the ship's two fuel tanks near a lock in the south shore canal system.
Crews repaired the breach in the ship's hull, installed booms in the water and contained the spill, which has affected at least three kilometres of shoreline. Oil was visible on the surface of the water throughout the area.
"The flow of water has been curtailed, the lock at St. Catherine's has been sealed, that enables us to cut off the flow of water, there is almost no current flowing through the area and with the booms in place, the spill has been contained," Begora said.
The type of fuel is similar to diesel. One of the ship's fuel tanks has a capacity of 200 tons, but Begora said it is believed that the spill was much less than that.
Jack Meloche, another spokesperson for the St. Lawrence Seaway, said the canal where the spill took place would remain closed until "everything is fixed up."
The accident has closed the south shore canal of the St. Lawrence Seaway until at least Wednesday, but the rest of the seaway remains open for business.
Meloche said that the St. Lawrence Seaway has not seen such a spill in its 50-year history.
"For us it's unique at this point, which is why all our partners are here, and we're working the best we can," he said.
Meanwhile, Environment Canada officials were trying to assess the damage caused by the spill.
Yvan Tremblay, regional director of the province's environmental emergency response team, said the amount of fuel that poured into the reservoir was unknown.
"We can't take it lightly," Tremblay told The Canadian Press. "We have to stay alert and follow through with the right operation."
Local municipalities have been advised to monitor their water filtration plants to ensure the fuel spill does not affect the safety of drinking water. But local water treatment plants said they had not detected anything unusual as of late Tuesday afternoon.
The water advisories were made as a cautionary measure, said Christian Blanchette of Environment Quebec.
"Nothing has touched to those installations for now, and they're still monitoring," he said, adding that the spill is "mostly confined on the Seaway shore."
The freighter that leaked had been loaded with wheat and is owned by the Montreal-bases Canada Steamship Lines, the largest shipping company in the country. Former prime minister Paul Martin purchased the firm in 1981 and handed over control of the firm to his three sons in 2003.
The company has said it will take full responsibility for cleaning up the spill, which is expected to take a few days.
With reports from CTV Montreal's Tania Krywiak and Stephan Geroux, and files fromThe Canadian Press
