Sure, carnivals are associated with carefree fun, but local environmental advocacy group Clean Energy Works has repurposed the summer tradition to deliver a message to the Senate about the dangers of oil spills.

The organization set up Carnivoil outside Union Station on Tuesday morning and invited staffers to stop by on their way to work and play traditional fair games with an oily twist. Neither plastic goldfish nor rubber duckies were safe from the “oil,” which in most cases turned out to be nothing more than maple syrup.

Carnivoil attendees had a chance to toss ping-pong balls into fishbowls filled with plastic fish soaked in “oil” or grab a squirt gun to play “Oil the Rubber Duckie.” The group even served “tar doughnuts,” which on further inspection were nothing more than chocolate munchkins from Dunkin’ Donuts.

The centerpiece of the event was a small boxing ring. At one point an actor portraying BP CEO Tony Hayward stepped into the ring to duke it out with a man dressed in a crab suit. HOH’s money was on the crab — after all, he’s got claws — but the match was ruled a draw.

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