Environment Canada and Canadian Coast Guard officials are meeting Monday to determine what to do with a barge that sank to the ocean floor south of Yarmouth.

The dredging machine, which was moving from Saint John to Halifax, was carrying about 70,000 litres of diesel when it sank about 70 kilometres off the coast on Saturday.

No one was injured but there are concerns about what impact the sinking will have on the environment.

Minor oil sheens have been spotted where the vessel went down, said Joe LeClair, supervisor of environmental response with Environment Canada.

"Basically we're in a situation now of monitoring to see if there will be any release of pollutant, and if there is, responding with the personnel and equipment we have on scene," LeClair said.

About 1,000 litres of hydraulic oil and 5,000 litres of waste oil were also contained on the barge.

If officials determine there has been a release of oil, the coast guard and a private-sector cleanup company may be ordered to begin remediation at the expense of the owner, J.D. Irving Ltd.

The officials will also be meeting with representatives from a towing company to examine what can be done about the barge.

The barge had capsized on Wednesday in bad weather but stayed afloat. Lines were reconnected to continue moving it on Friday but more bad weather on Saturday caused the towing company to abandon it, said Geoff Britt, a spokesperson for Atlantic Towing.

"The crew did the safe thing and that was to cut the cables when the dredge was obviously going down," Britt said.

With files from the Canadian Press