DEC responds to residential oil spill in Oakdale

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has been working to clean up a residential oil spill in Oakdale for the past two days that extended to nearby Byron Lake.

The agency first received reports on Monday of an oil spill near Lincoln Drive, from a home with a failed oil tank system that released about 140 gallons of fuel into the house’s crawl space. No oil had entered the environment at that time, the DEC said.

The agency said it “immediately responded” after reports that oil from the home had reached Byron Lake on Thursday after the owner allegedly pumped the oil to the street, which entered a storm drain. 

The homeowner, at the DEC's direction, has hired a contractor who has begun to clean up the spill at the house and impacted waterbodies with vacuum trucks, the DEC said. 

“Boom and absorbent material has also been placed in the water bodies at multiple locations to contain the spilled fuel oil in this area,” the agency said in an emailed statement.

Natural vegetation in the area was impacted but public drinking water is unaffected and safe to use, according to the DEC.

Teams from the DEC and Town of Islip are working on cleanup, with efforts that began Thursday and continued through the night.

A Town of Islip spokesperson said the DEC is the lead agency at the scene, with workers from the town department of public works, office of emergency management and hazmat teams providing support.

The spokeswoman said the residential spill “is unrelated to the work being conducted at Byron Lake Park,” which the town is working to upgrade.

The town is using the park, which is south of the spill, as a staging area for hazmat operations, she said.

Christine Drago, 52, who lives next door to the house that caused the spill, said she can smell the oil when she walks outside.

She and her neighbors are concerned, she said, especially about how the oil might impact groundwater.

The workers seem to be "doing the best that they can" to manage the spill, she added. "But I think they probably could calm the community by releasing a statement or something."

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com

Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.