(The Associated Press circulated the following article on November 28.)
RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. — Nearly 2,500 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Hackensack River this weekend after a parked locomotive sprang a leak.
The spill caused an oil slick that spread along the east bank of the river in Ridgefield Park for at least 2,000 feet, said Mary Helen Cervantes, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Hazardous materials crews worked all weekend to contain the slick using floating booms, absorbent pads and a vacuum flushing system, she said, adding that the work would likely continue through Monday.
Cervantes said the DEP learned about the spill around 7 a.m. Saturday when a resident called the agency, but the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway, which owns the rail yard, said it reported the accident to the DEP itself.
Nathan Fenno, an executive vice president with the Cooperstown, N.Y.-based company, said the spill occurred late Friday or early Saturday and was caused by accidental equipment failure.
“They found a hole and crack in a filter the fuel goes through,” Fenno told The Record of Bergen County for Monday’s editions. “We need to determine why this happened.”
For smaller leaks, officials said the rail yard has installed an oil-water separation system in its storm water drains. However, the size of the weekend spill overwhelmed the system’s capacity, and most of the fuel ran into the river, Cervantes said.
Meanwhile, a team of scientists from the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission was scheduled to visit the site Monday to assess whether the spill caused any long-term damage to the environment.