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11-09-2006 By CASEY CAMPBELL Staff Writer Tom Lane from the Department of Environmental Conservation Spill Response Team out of Stamford was at the Sports Center Wednesday morning working to clean up the spilled oil and stop the flow of toxins into the river. Employees from OP-TECH Environmental Services out of Albany were on hand by noon Wednesday cleaning up the spill. Lane originally estimated that between 20 and 30 gallons of oil had spilled, but revised the figure to at least 50 and as much as 100 gallons by noon. The revised estimate came after he saw several additional pools of oil along the river bank and after more than five gallons of oil had been pulled from a manhole next to the Sports Center Wednesday morning. Lane said the spill would likely not have a significant environmental impact, as most of the oil remained in the nooks of a drainage ditch. Any oil that did make it into the river was being diluted by the fairly heavy flow of water, he said. "I don’t think it’s really going to hurt anything," Lane said. On Wednesday morning, a rainbow-hued sheen could be seen on the surface of the water near a drainage ditch where oil was coming into the river. The slick could still be seen at least a quarter-mile down the river near Cooperstown Central School and at a location eighth-grade students used less than a month ago to cross the river in cardboard and duct tape boats. Cooperstown resident Mary Fines first spotted the leak Monday morning when she was walking along the river with her dog. She said she assumed it was coming from the crew working to construct the new Susquehanna Avenue bridge and spoke with them about it. That evening, she stopped back to see if they had taken care of it, and found out that it wasn’t coming from them. She said they told her they had contacted the appropriate people and that it would be resolved. On Tuesday, Fines walked along the river again and saw that nothing had apparently been done to fix the problem, as oil was still visible on the river’s surface. She said she then filed a report with the environmental police. When it seemed like nothing was being done still Wednesday morning, she said she called the village office and village police trying to get someone who could take care of the leak. "I figured it was like TV. You say there’s something wrong and whoosh something happens," she said from her job late Wednesday morning. "It was very difficult to get instant help. I wanted it fixed immediately. I’m just happy that it’s getting taken care of now." Fines said she walks along the river regularly and didn’t notice a leak when she went Friday. She said she did not walk along the river Saturday or Sunday, so the leak could have been happening then as well. On Wednesday, Fines also called Erik Miller, executive director of the Otsego County Conservation Association. Miller said he was disappointed with the slow response to the spill. "If the leak has truly been going on for three days, that’s an excessively long time," he said. "I’m just glad that it was caught and they’re now working to fix the problem." Brad Feik, director of the Clark Sports Center, said they were notified about the leak by the DEC Wednesday morning. "We were shocked," he said. "We had no idea there was a problem." Feik said it was unclear as of Wednesday afternoon what exactly was causing the leak. He said the facility’s two 10,000 gallon tanks were serviced a week ago and were pressure tested last year, so they were not expecting any problems from them. "The Clark Sports Center and Clark Foundation have a strong committment to the environment," he said. "We’re working really hard to find out and remedy this problem as soon as possible." It was unclear whether the flow of oil had been stopped by 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feik said. Lane said the person in charge of the oil tanks was not working Wednesday and had to be called in from home. He was not sure by noon if that employee had arrived yet. Lane said the clean-up cost from the spill would likely come from the Clark Sports Center. |
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