Early this morning the fire department received an emergency call concerning a huge oil spill across a four-kilometre stretch of road in Montreal’s West Island. Close to 1,000 litres of diesel oil had leaked from a truck that was travelling to Trudeau airport along Henri Bourassa. The truck had been travelling from the Saint-Laurent borough area and they did not realize there was a leak until stopping on Saint-Francois road in Dorval. Apparently the leak came from one of the pipes under the truck and slowly leaked oil along its route, due to a mechanical problem.
As a precaution, manholes around the area have been closed, while firefighters on the scene have been pouring absorbents on top of the spilled fuel and trying to cap the leak. Some fuel has gone into the sewers, but Montreal’s fire department Chief of Operations maintains the spill poses no risk to the environment, but they are checking to make sure it has not. The oil left in the the truck will be transferred into a trailer or a holding tank and from that holding tank, they will put it into another trailer. The mess will have to be cleaned up and it is expected that the roads will be closed for hours.
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