State DEC cleanup of home heating oil spill in Oakdale continues
Cleanup continued Sunday of an oil spill in Oakdale that infiltrated a nearby storm drain.
About 140 gallons of oil from a failed heating system had poured into a house's crawl space and a sump pump in the home pumped the oil into the street, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC first learned of the spill last Monday.
“DEC Spill Response experts continue to oversee and direct the cleanup to ensure it is protective of public health and the environment,” the DEC said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
Oil-absorbent booms and pads were placed at multiple locations in the storm drain system and in a nearby stream to prevent the oil from spreading, and the drains and streams are now free of oil odors, according to the DEC.
Oil absorbents were refreshed as they became soaked and floating oil was vacuumed from the surface. The boom and oil absorbents were to remain in place Sunday night as a precaution and will be monitored by DEC and Islip Hazmat.
The environmental contractor hired by the homeowner at the direction of the DEC will continue a cleanup of the Lincoln Drive property, also monitored by the DEC. The contractor will excavate contaminated soil, remove floating oil from the groundwater and crawl space, and remove an old, unused 550-gallon underground storage tank that was discovered on Friday, the DEC said.
On Friday, a hazmat drone detected a light blue sheen on Great South Bay near Ludlow Creek, suggesting the presence of oil, but the contamination could not be removed and eventually dissipated. DEC said that no floating oil entered the bay.
Oakdale residents near the spill site said they smelled oil outside their houses over the weekend.
Vincent Schottler said he called the DEC after finding what initially appeared to be oil from the spill in his sump pump. The agency, upon investigating the residue, said it was a chemical used to break up the fuel during cleanup.
“My sump pump isn’t working,” he said. “So now if it rains, that’s going to overflow into my basement.”
Schottler said a plumber was coming Sunday afternoon to clean residue out of the pump, which he bought three weeks earlier. If that doesn’t work, then he will need to buy a new pump, again. Attempted repairs have already cost him hundreds of dollars.
“I can’t believe that somebody would actually pump oil into the street into a drain,” he said.
To his neighbors, Schottler added, “Check your pumps.”
According to the DEC, more than 2 million houses in New York use oil for heating, and thousands of these systems spill every year. Residential oil spills are a health hazard — often causing headaches, nausea, and lung irritation — and an environmental hazard, as the oil contaminates soil, groundwater and surface waters.
New York State is encouraging homeowners to remove oil and gas furnaces by offering “clean heat rebates” on energy-efficient electric heat pump systems, which also provide cooling in summer. These rebates, available through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), can be combined with federal tax credits available through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, and together they can significantly lower the cost of installing cleaner heat. The program also offers low-interest loans to those making the switch from dirty fossil fuels.

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