Oil leaks into Halifax harbour from Nova Scotia Power plant

Nova Scotia Power's Tufts Cove plant leaked oil into Halifax harbour Thursday afternoon.

Spokeswoman Tiffany Chase couldn't say how much oil spilled, but said it was a "limited" amount.

"Plant staff immediately activated environmental response protocols by shutting off oil flow through the pipe to stop the leak, deploying a boom in the area of the water nearest to the leak, and alerting the company's environmental services contractors who happened to be onsite at the time," she said.

They later installed a second, bigger boom to contain the oil sheen, Chase said, and a vacuum truck started cleaning up the water.The leak came from an outside pipe that runs from onsite storage tanks along the harbour.

Nova Scotia Power will watch the situation until the leaked oil has been cleaned up and will give an update Friday morning.