Prompt Response Limits Environmental Damage From Fuel Spill

By Andrew Gorosko

A state official has credited local firefighters for prompt action on Wednesday afternoon in finding the source of a home heating fuel spill, and then containing it, thus limiting the extent of environmental damage caused after the fuel entered a brook and floated downstream.

Mark Liano, an emergency response coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) spills unit, said that local firefighters acted swiftly and effectively in limiting the environmental damage caused by the incident. He estimated that about 120 gallons of fuel spilled. The odor of heating fuel hung in the air in the area on Thursday morning.

At 12:50 pm on Wednesday, Sandy Hook and Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters were called to the intersection of Evergreen Road and Schoolhouse Hill Road after a person there noticed the heavy odor of heating fuel in the air. About 20 firefighters responded to the scene.

The firefighters searched the area and learned that some distinctively red #2 home heating fuel had found its way into a brook that runs through a wooded area near the intersection of the two streets. They promptly placed absorbent booms and pads in the stream to isolate and contain the spilled fuel.

The spilled fuel also had floated downstream to a residential property on the west side of Evergreen Road. Firefighters there placed a boom atop a small waterfall and weighted it down with rocks to contain any fuel that had floated to that area.

Realizing that the spill was extensive, firefighters called in the DEP to supervise the cleanup.

Initially unaware of the source of the fuel leak, firefighters traced the fuel in the brook back upstream and found it to be entering the stream at a residential property at 56 Schoolhouse Hill Road, which is the Lourenco residence, said Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead.

Attempts to reach the Lourencos for comment were unsuccessful.

Firefighters looked inside the house’s basement and saw that fuel was spilling out of the heating system and onto the floor where it entered a floor drain which empties into an adjacent stream, he said.

Firefighters entered the home and found that a faulty fuel filter had caused the leakage problem. They closed a valve and stopped the leak. The basement will need to be cleaned up, according to Chief Halstead.

“I think both [fire] crews did an excellent job of seeking and finding the location and containing the spill,” Chief Halstead said.

“The firemen made a good stop,” Mr Liano said of their prompt work to contain the problem.

Cleanup work at the stream would be continuing throughout the night to isolate and remove the spilled fuel, he said.

Moran Environmental Recovery, LLC, was called to the scene to perform the environmental cleanup on behalf of the homeowner whose fuel system leaked, Mr Liano said.

Workers would collect as much spilled fuel as possible, he said, aiming to retrieve at least 75 percent of the spilled material.

Because the fuel is lighter than water and floats atop water, it can be recovered, Mr Liano said. The recovery effort would be aggressive, he said.

Mr Liano said there likely is little environmental damage to groundwater in the area due to the spill.

“A very minimal impact to the environment is expected,” he said.