Hundreds of Gallons of Oil Spill into the Bronx River

In our own local version of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, a spill from a White Plains building has dumped hundreds of gallons of heating oil into the Bronx River near the White Plains station. The spill began either Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning June 2nd and was reported by a Scarsdale jogger who smelled the oil and called the authorities. As the oil travelled downstream, Greenacres residents could smell it from their homes. Police, firemen, a hazardous material team, and the health department all converged on the scene in an effort to find the source of the spill. They opened manholes and storm drains in their quest to find the source, which they did, but not before hundreds of gallons of oil spilled into the river. The oil was emanating from the basement of an apartment building at 235 South Lexington Avenue and flowed through a storm drain into the river. Workers were able to stop the stream at 12:30 pm. Private contractors were hired to vacuum off the slick and booms were set up from White Plains to Mount Vernon to capture the oil. However, with that quantity of oil, the effects can be seen and smelled.

In the words of Scarsdale runner Andrea Seiden who saw the spill early Wednesday morning, “I woke-up around 6:00 AM and smelled gasoline in my backyard (which is at least a 1/2 mile from the Bronx River). Initially, I thought it had to be due to the heavy rain yesterday and run-off. Around 8:00 AM, I was jogging on the Bronx River path toward White Plains and saw many police and a healthcare worker poking around the river. They informed me that there was indeed an oil leak. The smell was very strong, the water color brownish and the geese were smart enough not to wade in the waters.”

The State Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that three to four miles of the river will be affected. Booms have been set up behind the County Tennis Courts where the water is tea colored and covered in a slick. Take a walk down and you will be sure to catch a whiff.