Several buckets of an “unknown substance” dumped at an Ansonia dead end turned out to be cooking grease, according to state environmental officials.
Police were called to the intersection of Coe Lane and Fitzpatrick Road Wednesday morning after someone left several buckets of the substance there, Ansonia Police Lt. Patrick Lynch said in an email.
Police called in the fire department, who in turn contacted the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Six five-gallon jugs of the unknown liquid were left near the intersection, according to emergency radio transmissions.
Dennis Schain, a DEEP spokesman, said in an email that the substance turned out to be “several containers of used cooking grease that were abandoned.”
“The town took them and introduced it into their used oil waste stream,” Schain said.
The scene was cleared by about noon Wednesday.
City Fire Marshal Darrick Lundeen said grease dumping is a surprisingly common issue.
“It happens more often than you’d think,” Lundeen said.
Those looking to dispose of grease safely can reach out to the public works department for more information, Lundeen suggested.
