Canadian Coast Guard investigating motor oil spill in Montreal river

MONTREAL – The Canadian Coast Guard says it’s still investigating the source of a motor oil spill the length of several city blocks in the St. Lawrence River near the Montreal east-end neighbourhood of Pointe-aux-Trembles.

The federal agency said Sunday it was still recovering the oil and decontaminating the seagrass beds and shoreline after a large black slick was discovered last week.

It says some 14,000 litres of oil mixed with water had been recovered, and that an operation was underway to clean up the boats at a marina.

The coast guard was first notified Thursday of the pollution spill, which was about 875 metres long and later identified by the province’s Environment Department as used motor oil.

A helicopter and drones were deployed to check the extent the spill, floating barriers were installed to contain it, and boaters were asked to reduce speed in the area.

The Environment Department says that as of Sunday evening about two-thirds of the vegetation had been cleaned at least once, and that three-quarters of the marina had been treated.

Feature image: The waters of the St. Lawrence River flow past the city of Montreal on November 11, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson