BP Canada has spewed out 36,000 gallons of a toxic mud into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Halifax during deepwater offshore exploratory oil drilling, a federal regulator said Friday in a special bulletin.

The incident was reported at the company’s West Aquarius Drilling Unit, about 205 miles from Halifax on the Atlantic Ocean. The incident occurred less than four months after Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna gave the green light to the new drilling project in February, after determining that it was unlikely to cause environmental damage.

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