Arlington Town Manager: 90% of Fuel Spill Cleaned Up
More than 90 percent of the home heating oil that spilled out of an overturned tanker Friday, May 31, and into the nearby Mystic River had been cleaned up as of Monday, June 3, Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine has told selectmen.
The JP Noonan Transportation tanker, which toppled at the Mystic Valley Parkway and Medford Street rotary, spilled most of its 10,000-gallon load, the state Department of Environmental Protection reported.
Chapdelaine said June 3 that 7,200 gallons of oil was vacuumed, 1,000 gallons was absorbed in pads and booms in the water and another 1,000 gallons was collected from the roadway. Some oil evaporated over the weekend.
It appears no oil made it past the boom at the River Street Bridge, which is about a half mile downstream, or upstream past the booms west of Medford Street, a town news release said Tuesday, June 4.
Monday morning’s rain helped drive some more oil out of the storm drains. Weather conditions will determine how long the booms are left in place.
The release made these further points:
Cleanup will continue over the next week with the main concentration on cleaning up any residual fuel pooling in the booms and removing soil from the river banks that have fuel in them.
– DEP hopes to have booms removed within the next few days and the river reopened.
– Additional booms will be placed by the Medford St. outflow to protect against any additional fuel flowing out from trapped underground in outflow lines.
– Water sampling is being done in three areas. Downstream from the last boom, upstream near the mouth of the Mystic Lake, and in between the containment area.
Informational Meeting Saturday
An informational meeting about last Friday’s Mystic River oil spill will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 8, at the West Medford Community Center, 111 Arlington Street, Medford, according to State Senator Patricia Jehlen.
Residents will receive information about the cleanup efforts that have been undertaken, impacts on public health and the natural environment, what actions can be taken to support restoration of the Mystic River from the effects of the spill and what can be done to prevent similar events in the future.
Various local and state agencies involved in the response and cleanup will provide an update on the release and its consequences. There will be brief presentations by the MassDEP, the Mystic River Watershed Association and others, with time for questions from the audience.
– Some information used from YourArlington.com. Photo by Matthew Haberstroh