Authorities investigating slick in Halifax harbour
The Canadian Coast Guard is trying to determine source of 'mystery sheen'
The Canadian Coast Guard is trying to determine the source of a slick in Halifax harbour.
What appeared to be a patch of oil was visible on the water's surface close to Bishop's Landing along the Halifax waterfront on Monday.
Alexandra McNab, a spokesperson for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said in a statement members of the Coast Guard Environmental Response group have been in the area since the morning and are monitoring the patch.
She said at this point, they're calling it a "mystery sheen."
Tiffany Chase, who speaks for Nova Scotia Power, said the utility is confident the sheen is not related to an oil leak earlier this month at the Tufts Cove generating station.
On Aug. 2, about 5,000 litres of bunker C fuel leaked into the harbour on the Dartmouth side. An additional 9,900 litres leaked into a containment trench and another 9,400 litres entered the cooling water system of one of the utility's generators.
"We monitor our site daily and we have not observed sheen outside of our containment booming," Chase said Monday in an email.