Neighbouring streets to Imperial Oil’s storage facility in the north-end of Sydney, Cape Breton were voluntarily evacuated this afternoon due to a leak of at least 600,000 litres of gasoline.
Residents have since been allowed to return to their homes and the spill was contained within Imperial Oil’s secondary containment berm. It is unknown at this time how long the cleanup will take but resources are coming from Imperial Oil’s Dartmouth facility to assist with the cleanup.
“Safety remains our top priority at the moment, but we’re also looking at the supply situation to determine if there will be any impacts to customers and will develop an alternate source of supply plan if needed.” said Keri Scobie of Imperial Oil to Nova Scotia Buzz. “We’ll provide more information once we know more.”
The affected Imperial Oil facility on the Sydney waterfront provides much of the gasoline for Cape Breton Island.