Tests are still being conducted on the water supply after an estimated 640,000 litres of magnesium chloride spilled into the Oshawa Harbour Sunday.

The spill occurred just after midnight as the product, which can be used to de-ice roadways, was being taken off a ship. The solution spilled onto the shoreline and into the harbour.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the ship is owned by a company called the Miller Group.

“Even though the amount sounds very large . . . the lake is quite a large body of water, so (the spill) is not even a tenth of a percentage, or an hundredth of a percentage (of the lake’s total volume),” explained John Presta, director of environmental services for the Region of Durham.

The solution mixed into the harbour’s water supply and cannot be extracted. The harbour opens into Lake Ontario.

It was mainly composed of water; the magnesium chloride concentration was 33 per cent.

The region has been testing the water since Sunday; so far there have been no signs of elevated magnesium or chloride levels.

If the solution contained a higher concentration of magnesium chloride, it could have made tap water taste salty. It is also has laxative effects.

“At the time (ministry employees) did not observe any impacts to the fish or aquatic habitat and they did not observe any impairments to the water quality of Lake Ontario,” said Kate Jordan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment.

However, the ministry did take water samples at the site of the spill as a precaution. The test results have not come back as yet.

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