King Street oil leak cleaned up in Northumberland

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

November 02, 2008 08:12 am

— NORTHUMBERLAND — A heating oil leak spotted by trick-or-treaters on King Street Friday night was quickly contained by firefighters.
Firefighters went to the 272 King St. home owned by Martha Row just after 6 p.m. and spread absorbent pads and material to soak up the oil. Workers from Northridge Group Inc., a company that specializes in hazardous-materials cleanup, were on the scene by 6:30.
Dave Bogovich, president of Northridge, said Saturday morning his crew was on the scene until about 1 a.m. Saturday and returned at 7 a.m.
“We’ll be here for a couple more hours,” he said around noon.
Bogovich said a 275-gallon tank in the home’s basement leaked. A sump pump in the basement pumped the oil outside. He didn’t say how much oil was involved.
The oil flowed down a concrete walkway between Row’s and the next house, trickled down the steps and ran down the sidewalk in front of 270 King Street.
Bogovich did not know if Row was at home when the tank split. He said she was staying elsewhere until the cleanup was completed.
Northridge workers installed a large fan to draw the oil smell from the basement, Bogovich said.
Using heavy equipment, his crews excavated oil-soaked earth on both sides of the sidewalks and dumped it into a container to be taken to a disposal site. They also filled several steel drums with oil-soaked absorbent materials.
After removing the contaminated soil, Bogovich said, gravel and new topsoil would be brought in to restore the area.

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