Fire-fighters with special gear were alerted after a load of hazardous waste washed up on Marley Beach on South Shore.

The Bermuda Fire Service received the report yesterday at 12.14 p.m., about a ten-gallon drum, of a substance later determined to be Cresylic Acid, which is a compound liquid used for killing weeds and trees and can be highly toxic if inhaled or ingested.

Four vehicles carrying nine fire personnel responded to the scene at 12.26 p.m. Officials are ensuring the public that the barrel was not compromised in any way and was fully intact — therefore requiring no evacuation and no injuries resulted.

Firemen dressed in self-contained breathing apparatus, placed the drum inside another specially-made hazardous container as a precaution.

It was subsequently picked up by the Department of Works and Engineering to be disposed at the appropriate waste site at Selley Port, in Dockyard.