A heating system located in the basement of a Philo Curtis Road home last week leaked an estimated 75 gallons of #2 heating fuel, resulting in the fuel draining to nearby wetlands, a stream, and a pond, officials said.

Deputy Fire Marshal Rich Frampton said that Sandy Hook and Newtown Hook & Ladder volunteer firefighters were dispatched to the area near the intersection of Philo Curtis Road and Pearl Street at about 8 am on April 28, in response to a complaint concerning a heavy petroleum odor in the area. The firefighters then took steps to control the fuel's spread.

A search of the area determined that the fuel was leaking from a home heating system located in the basement of a residence at 35 Philo Curtis Road, Mr Frampton said.

After the fuel leaked within the basement, an operating sump pump that is used to keep the basement dry pumped fuel-laden water outdoors where it drained away from the house to a wetland, a stream, and eventually a backyard pond at 41 Philo Curtis Road, officials said.

Realizing the scope of the problem, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's (DEEP) spill response unit was called to the scene to manage the cleanup, Mr Frampton said.

DEEP then brought in an environmental firm to start cleanup work.

Mr Frampton said the backyard pond, which is about 450 feet from the fuel leakage point, had an oil sheen on its surface. Because the pond had a working fountain in it, the action of the flowing water there retarded the oil's spread into the pond, he said.

The heating fuel, which is chemically similar to diesel fuel, is dyed a distinctive red color.

Matthew Williamson, DEEP's supervising emergency response coordinator for spills, confirmed that after the fuel leaked out of a fuel line in the basement at 35 Philo Curtis Road it found its way into the nearby wetlands, the stream, and the pond.

Connecticut Tank Removal, Inc, of Bridgeport was called in for the environmental cleanup work, he said.

Mr Williamson said that the fuel leak likely would create "no apparent lasting [environmental] problem." No fish were found dead, he said.

"We mitigated the emergency," he added.

On May 4, workers from Connecticut Tank Removal returned to the spill site to do additional cleanup work.

The cleanup effort will proceed, as needed, to remove the spilled heating fuel from the area, Mr Williamson said.