Thousands of gallons of diesel oil have leaked near the Connecticut River, and officials are saying they are lucky that there's a lot of ice out there or the oil could have spread into Long Island Sound.
Friday morning, officials said 5,000 to 6,000 gallons of oil leaked from oil tanks on Brownstone Avenue managed by Triram Connecticut. A couple thousand gallons of oil might have leaked into the Connecticut River.
By Friday afternoon, there was no official word on how much had spilled, but crews had recovered 1,700 gallons from the spill as of 1 p.m. Friday.
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The good news is that residents aren’t in any danger, officials from the Department of Environmental Protection said. Snow and ice along the 500-foot shoreline might have helped to contain the oil spill.
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If the spill had happened in spring or summer, oil could have traveled all the way to Long Island Sound, according to an employee of Connecticut Tank Removal out of Bridgeport, which is managing the cleanup.
A Triram Connecticut employee reported the spill to the Department of Environmental Protection around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. At about 6 p.m., crews were out investigating. The cold and darkness presented problems.
In the dark, crews could not tell how far the oil had spread into the water. The snow and ice presented a mixed blessing. While it is containing the oil, it is making for dangerous conditions for the crews working, officials said.
The Department of Environmental Protection and the Coast Guard were back out Friday morning to stop the oil from reaching the Long Island Sound.
What caused the oil to spill is not yet known
