By Sarah Opdahl

On Thursday, September 28, an Alert Now message went out to New Fairfield residents informing them that Town officials were aware of an oil leak in Squantz Pond. First Selectman Pat Del Monaco explained, “The release occurred during demolition of a house on Route 39 near the pond. Unfortunately, the fuel oil tank located within the house contained a small amount of oil that was discharged to the ground.” In addition, heavy rain carried the oil to the storm drain and into Squantz pond. She went on to say that spills like this are fairly common and “each spill is different and presents its own challenges.” Given the frequency, all  “responding agencies are well-equipped to handle such situations and are able to identify the source quickly and begin remediation as soon as possible.”

Originally, local officials were notified of a “strong petroleum odor in the area,” Del Monaco noted. They “identified the location of the discharge to the pond and source of the oil. DEEP was notified, and the Agency conducted the remediation. Local officials continue to monitor the situa tion.” The New Fairfield Volunteer Fire Dept. “deployed floating boom to contain further spread.” Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection responded to the scene and was able to locate the source of fuel oil and hired a contractor to begin immediate remediation. The site is undergoing continued remediation, contractors expect to be completed within a week.

“Fortunately, it’s not prime swimming season and a remediation contractor was hired to clean-up most of the observable fuel oil in the pond”, Del Monaco said, “so swimming or fishing should not be a concern.” However, “If you do smell fuel oil, it’s advised not to swim. If you’re fishing and smell oil, it’s advised to release the fish back to the pond. The State DEEP was going to stock the pond with trout but have pushed the release date back.” There are no drinking water concerns “because the oil made its way into a storm drainage system and into Squantz Pond. Therefore, there was a limited opportunity for it to contaminate drinking water wells. If you’re adjacent to the release you could ask the remediation contractor to sample your well if you’re concerned or smell fuel oil in it,” Del Monaco cautioned.