Crews used large pads to soak up some of the oil spill on Sunday. (CBC)

A local environmental group is inspecting the Little Sackville River after an apparent act of vandalism contaminated the river with oil.

A line that connects an outdoor fuel tank to Buddy's Billiards and Social Club on Sackville Drive was severed early Sunday. About 600 litres of oil seeped into the soil and was swept into storm drains that empty into the river near Halifax.

The river is home to 13 species of fish, including Atlantic salmon and trout, as well as waterfowl. It eventually feeds into the Bedford Basin.

Members of the Sackville Rivers Association took a closer look at the spill site on Monday.

Association president Walter Regan fears thousands of Atlantic salmon eggs are lost.

"It's bad enough when it happens accidentally but [to] just deliberately happen, it's just atrocious," said Regan. "This is the Atlantic salmon spawning time. This oil will have a negative effect on Atlantic salmon eggs."

Regan hopes an insurance company will pay to restock the river with Atlantic salmon for the next two years.

Neighbours noticed sheen

The RCMP said Sunday it appears the copper line to the fuel tank was deliberately cut sometime between 1 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Residents noticed the sheen on the water and called for help around 9 a.m.

The RCMP said it appears the copper line to the fuel tank was deliberately cut sometime between 1 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Sunday. (CBC)The river runs through Glen Horton's backyard.

"We woke up before dawn and my wife smelled fuel. She thought it was maybe a fuel truck delivering, but I said, 'No, not this time of the day,'" Horton said.

Police, firefighters, federal and provincial environment officials, representatives of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and members of the municipal water commission all turned out.

Cleanup crews used large white absorbent pads to soak up as much oil as they could. They also used backhoes to dig up the contaminated soil around the tank.

Cpl. Joe Taplin, spokesman for Halifax-area RCMP, said investigators will examine surveillance videos from businesses in the area in the hope of identifying the vandal.