ANSONIA – Crews from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) were continuing to clean up an oil spill at the high school, as of Monday (July 28).
City and state officials say there is no threat to city waterways, two days after a malfunctioning fuel pump spilled about 450 gallons of diesel fuel onto school grounds.
“It got into the woods behind the softball field and almost to the reservoir, the reservoir you can see from Prindle Avenue and Pulaski (Highway),” said Ansonia Fire Chief Jay Fainer.
Fainer said that fire crews from Ansonia and Derby built a dam to keep the spill from reaching the reservoir.
“We used what we call booms and pads, and local dirt to dam it up so it couldn’t get any further,” Fainer said. “Then once we were able to do that and get it to stop going any further, we turned it over to DEEP.”
Will Healey, a spokesman for DEEP, said in an email that the crews are continuing to work to protect the public water supply. He said there is no threat to students.
“DEEP remains at the site today working with contractors, excavating and installing monitoring wells to evaluate impacts to groundwater,” Healey said.
Fainer said that camera footage showed that oil had been spilling for about four hours before firefighters arrived. It mostly pooled in retention ponds on school property, he said.
Superintendent of Schools Joseph DiBacco said it’s too early to know how much the cleanup will cost, or what caused the fuel pump to malfunction.
“I don’t think there’s large repairs. The biggest thing is the costs associated with remediation and cleanup,” DiBacco said.
Healey said that DEEP does not yet have an estimate of the cost, either.
DiBacco said he has a meeting planned with the schools’ facilities director July 29 to assess the spill.
According to a post from the Ansonia Fire Department Facebook page, dispatchers notified the department of the spill at about 12:13 p.m. July 26. Fire chiefs met with a Board of Education employee, who said that a fuel pump for a backup generator had been stuck in the “on” position, according to that post.
Firefighters from Ansonia and Derby responded, in addition to responders from Ansonia Rescue Medical Service. Seymour Fire Department provided coverage for the city while the containment efforts were ongoing.