A spill apparently caused by vandals has sent an undetermined amount of oil into a creek in Greece and adjoining waters of Lake Ontario. Cleanup is under way, though health officials recommend people avoid swimming or fishing in the area where the oil may be present.

The spill of more than 4,800 gallons occurred at Rochester Gas & Electric Corp.’s now-closed Russell Station power plant in northeast Greece. In a news release this afternoon, the company said vandals drained oil from a spare electrical transformer being stored near the plant.

The company said most of the oil appears to have soaked into the ground, or to be lying on top of it near Russell Station. But some quantity of oil got into a storm sewer that drains into Slater Creek, which flows near the shuttered power plant, and moved from there into Lake Ontario.

Scott Rodabaugh, regional spills engineer for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said booms have been placed in the creek to contain the oil, and work is underway to prevent further leakage into the storm sewer.

“We’re confident that it’s contained in as far as it’s not a continuing release off the property,” he said this afternoon.

Rodabaugh said there is no evidence of harm to fish, birds or other wildlife.

A 300-foot-long rainbow-hued sheen in Lake Ontario was first reported to authorities Saturday afternoon, and a sheen was reported on Slater Creek Sunday morning, DEC officials said. A DEC spills official verified Monday morning that there had been a release of oil into the creek, and RG&E found the source area later that day, Rodabaugh said.

The company’s statement said intruders had drained the oil from the transformer so they could steal copper wire from the electrical device, which Rodabaugh said had been stored in a fenced-off area.

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