200 gallon oil spill

About 200 gallons of highly refined mineral oil leaked into the waters around Island Park from an underground power line, according to according to PSEG Long Island spokesman Jeffrey Weir.. The Village of Island Park, the Town of Hempstead Conservation and Waterways, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Coast Guard and the Bay Constable are all monitoring the situation.

“The leak came from a power line under Lawson Blvd., about 1,000 feet north of Daly Blvd.”, he said. The leak began Monday night, Dec. 22, and was discovered Tuesday morning. He said most of the oil was contained on land. Weir said “The oil was used in a pipe that holds a 138 KV high voltage power line ¾ there were no outages when they took the line out of service.” The line was temporarily repaired; a complete fix will probably take weeks, he said.

“They have six boats with booms on the water working to contain the residual sheen,” Weir said.

Island Park Village Deputy Mayor D’Esposito has been in contact with all agencies since notification of the spill. He has been told by each of the agencies, that the spill is of mineral oil and is biodegradable.

Island Park Fire Chief Anthony D’Esposito said, “We were advised by PSEG that the leak was a nonconductive liquid called dielectric fluid which is used to insulate and maintain temperatures in high voltage power lines. The dielectric fluid is predominately made of mineral oil and we are told is non toxic.”