(The following article by Alex Nussbaum was posted on the Bergen Record website on December 1.)
BERGEN, N.J. — The cleanup of last weekend’s diesel spill on the Hackensack River could be finished in four or five days, state environmental officials predicted on Wednesday.
The leak from a Ridgefield Park railroad depot sent as much as 1,000 gallons of fuel pouring into the river, coating the shoreline as far as Hackensack to the north and Overpeck Creek to the south. So far, work crews have sucked up about 40,000 gallons of oily water in their attempt to clean the mess, the Department of Environmental Protection said on Wednesday.
The state had hoped to complete the effort by Tuesday, but heavy rains released more of the diesel that had coated the riverbanks, said Karen Hershey, a DEP spokeswoman. A containment boom remains along the shoreline by the depot, but it could be removed in four or five days if no more oil is found, she said.
Besides three vacuum-tanker trucks full of oil and river water, a state contractor has also filled two 20-cubic-yard containers with soiled plants, tree branches and other debris, she said. One duck died after exposure to the diesel, but a state inspector said Monday that he didn’t expect lasting environmental damage from the spill.
The fuel leaked from a locomotive parked at the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway yard on Friday. Railroad officials blamed a cracked filter. Hershey said the state is still investigating whether the company will face any penalties.