Diesel Fuel Spill In Ramapo River In NY
Officials say most fuel rushed away with water
Rushing flood waters of the Ramapo River closed a section of Route 17.
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About 10-15,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Ramapo River north of Mahwah, from an SOS storage depot in town of Tuxedo, NY, according to Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli.
Though Batelli called this a “significant amount,” he said “the impact in the environment is mitigated by the fact that the River was running so fast and the volume of water flowing as a result of the hurricane.”
Mahwah Mayor John DaPuzzo agreed with this, saying that the fuel seemed to rush downstream past Mahwah with the rapidly running water.
“We still received several calls from residents who smelled the odor but we did not observe any sheen on the water,” Batelli said.
DaPuzzo said the Department of Environmental Protection has already been to the river to investigate the situation, and will be back once flood waters are cleared to reassess the area.
Tuxedo Park (a village within the town of Tuxedo) Mayor Tom Wilson, who verified that the spill happened in the town, not the village, confirmed that crews will be in and out of the area to survey any damage.
Jessica Mazzola
7:57 pm on Monday, August 29, 2011
Spill was in town of Tuxedo, not village of Tuxedo Park, according to Tuxedo Park Mayor
David Goris
4:39 am on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
My shop Horizon Plumbing & Heating, Inc. is just down steam from SOS. The building where my shop is damaged. I made it there on Monday at 5:50 AM. The windows where broken out for the basement area. Had about 9 feet of flooded water inside building that blew out all the doors and walls.
Everthing was damaded with water and fuel oil. Me and my employees could not believe how everthing was coated with oil. The river had red patches of oil floating down stream.
joe sferrazza
9:00 am on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The stench of diesel, that has permiated the land and air in Tuxedo, is not only nauseating but literally creating headaches. As the floods caused by Irene are subsidong, the thick smell of diesel is out lasting all damages. Storage rooms in my apartment building, flooded by Irene's wrath, are now covered with diesel.
Lindsey Geoghegan
11:49 pm on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz4zxSzEsME&feature=share
To my friends outside of the Tuxedo area, could you please repost this to as many people as possible so that attention is brought to this situation. The local newspaper has the spillage at 400 gallons, with no source. The Wall Street Journal has the number at upwards of 10,000 gallons as per DEC