MassDEP: Nearly 7,000 Gallons of Oil Recovered Following Accident

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection said about 6,800 gallons of oil have been recovered as of Sunday night following a crash and subsequent fuel spill from a tanker truck on Friday.

State Representative Sean Garballey released the information from the MassDEP. The state agency said the total oil recovered doesn’t include what might have evaporated and the oil-saturated booms that have helped contain the spill in the Mystic River. The MassDEP estimates that brings the total to “several hundred gallons more.”

The hot weather and sun helped with the evaporation of the oil and the rain on Monday will flush out storm drains. According to the MassDEP, the “water-oil” is collecting in the booms and being recovered by absorbents.

In addition, the agency said air quality monitoring detected low levels of contamination, and was around the same level that would be found in “someone’s basement who heated with oil; it was detectable as an odor but not a health problem.”

The MassDEP said clean up efforts would continue, and depending on the weather and clean up progress, some river traffic could potentially resume within the next day.

Above, booms help contain some of the home heating fuel that spilled into the Mystic River. Photo by Matthew Haberstroh.

– InsideMedford.com