Leaking 750-litre tank causes Dartmouth oil spill

A broken line from a furnace oil tank on Emma Court caused a spill in Dartmouth late Tuesday afternoon.

Oil from the 750-litre tank flowed through the storm system and an unknown amount of it drained into Ellenvale Brook, a local waterway that pours into Morris Lake.

"The home owner unfortunately nicked the oil line when they were doing some maintenance around the house and it drained into our storm system," said James Campbell a spokesperson for Halifax Water.

Soaking it up

Halifax Water spent the afternoon and evening trying to keep oil from spreading further.

Crews used absorbent pads in the brook to try and soak up the oil.

One pad was put into place near the storm drain closest to the area where the sheen of oil was very thick.

There were large suction trucks cleaning out the storm drains to try and get as much oil out as possible.

Halifax Water continued to monitor the area Tuesday night.

"We'll stay on site until we can pass the site off to the the home owners insurance company or if the home owners insurance company doesn't step up right away then we'll stay there until we can clean as much as we can," said Campbell.

"We'll follow up with the insurance company to try and mitigate our costs."

The slick was very visible down stream and that the smell was very strong.

Concerned neighbours

Residents who live nearby were surprised there wasn't a bigger response to the spill.

"There doesn't seem to be anybody around trying to capture the oil or telling anybody what's going on," said Paul Johnson, who lives close to the leak.

Other neighbours are concerned about wildlife in the area.

"[The oil] is going out into the lake and I mean there's birds and stuff that go into that lake," said Geraldine White.