New Haven, Conn. – Coast Guard personnel from Sector Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Strike Team continue to oversee the clean up and removal of pollutants and hazardous materials from the English Station facility here and estimate that their objectives could be met by the end of the month.
During initial assessment, personnel from the Coast Guard and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) discovered oil products leaking from within the facility and into external storm drains. Oil boom was immediately deployed around the site to contain any possible oil that might leak into the water.
Upon entering the facility, workers found a five hundred gallon tank, holding approximately 200 gallons of hydraulic oil. A sight glass on the tank was broken, allowing product to flow onto the facility floor along with numerous other containers leaking oil. Sample testing confirmed that the tank was the source of the oil found outside the facility and in the storm drains.
“Despite over half of the product leaking from the tank over time, we believe very little actually made it into the drains and the waterway,” said Lt. Joe Smith, a member of Sector Long Island Sound’s Incident Management Division.
Since boom was deployed around the facility, various small sheens were discovered within the boomed area. Those sheens were unrecoverable and dissipated quickly.
Since completing initial product and site safety testing, the Coast Guard has overseen private contractors in the clean up and removal of pollutants. Oil inside and outside of the facility was controlled using emulsifiers and stored in drums for removal. Contractors will remove approximately 14 drums of transformer oil and approximately 160 drums of pollutant and cleanup equipment. Four drums of hazardous chemicals and 21 tanks of various compressed gasses will also be decontaminated and disposed of in accordance with State of Connecticut and Federal Regulations.
As part of the final phase of cleanup, contractors will permanently seal the storm drains with concrete to ensure that they will no longer be a source of entry into the waterway.
“The Coast Guard’s objective is to locate, secure, and remove serious and substantial threats to the marine environment and to put measures in place to ensure safety to the marine environment moving forward,” said Capt. Ed Cubanski, the commanding officer of Sector Long Island Sound. “Once our objectives are complete, the facility will remain under the oversight of CT DEEP for long-term remediation. However, the Coast Guard will continue to partner with the great staff of CT DEEP to ensure this site does not serve as a source of pollution into the waters of New Haven harbor and Long Island Sound.”
The Coast Guard has been on-scene at English Station since September 15.
