Montreal

15,000 litres of crude oil spilled at Lévis refinery

Quebec’s environment ministry says 15,000 litres of crude oil have been spilled from a tank at the Jean-Gaulin refinery in Lévis.

Urgence-Environnement is on the scene of the spill at the plant, owned by Valero Energy,

According to the company website for Valero Energy, facilities in Lévis have a storage capacity of 8.7 million barrels of crude oil and intermediate and refined products. (Radio-Canada)

Quebec’s environment ministry says 15,000 litres of crude oil have been spilled from a tank at the Jean-Gaulin refinery in Lévis.

The ministry put out a statement Saturday afternoon saying Urgence-Environnement is on the scene of the spill at the plant, which is owned by Valero Energy.

“The measures necessary to ensure the safety of people, and protection of the environment have been implemented,” said the statement from the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change.

Urgence-Environnement said the leak was caused by a break in a storage tank, though it does not pose any danger to either people or the environment. 

It says emergency crews are collecting the oil using trucks with vacuum hoses. 

According to the company website for Valero Energy, facilities in Lévis have a storage capacity of 8.7 million barrels — about 1,383,189,466 litres — of crude oil and refined products.