OLD ORCHARD BEACH — State environmental workers were scheduled on Monday to return to the scene of a Sunday fuel spill that contaminated a wetlands area in Old Orchard Beach.
Maine Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Jessamine Logan said that the spill was “minor,” that only 10-20 gallons leaked from the corroded bottom of a 270-gallon kerosene home heating tank on West Tioga Street.
“There is forested wetland nearby with about 7-8 inches of water in it now which had some sheen on it, so we have absorbent pads collecting it and may change them out as they become saturated,” Logan told the Bangor Daily News late Monday morning. “There is some product in the soil and that may need to be removed in warmer weather. There are no drinking wells in harm’s [way].”
The spill was first reported to the Old Orchard Beach Fire Department at approximately 11 a.m. Sunday. The kerosene was carried to a nearby wetlands area by stormwater, a town responder said on Sunday.
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