Major Hazmat Incident in New Rochelle: Explosion, Oil Spill from Multiple Manholes

Written By: Robert Cox

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A major oil spill dumped thousands of gallons of oil and water into Long Island Sound earlier today. According to witnesses, the pressure caused an explosion as oil came shooting up out of manhole covers on Nautilus Place at Fort Slocum Road in New Rochelle, NY.

The New Rochelle Fire Department was called to the scene shortly before noon Saturday on reports of an explosion. According to landscapers working in the area when it happened, manhole covers were blown into the air and landed about 15 feet away up against a tree.

As the nature of the issue became clear, NRFD requested assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard based in Staten Island. By 1:30 p.m., the Coast Guard had yet to arrive on scene.

Fire Chief Andrew Sandor said Con Edison told him the liquid was dialectic oil not PCBs. A liquid dielectric is a dielectric material in liquid state. Its main purpose is to prevent or rapidly quench electric discharges. Dielectric liquids are used as electrical insulators in high voltage applications such as transformers, capacitors, high voltage cables, and high voltage switchgear. It serves to provide electrical insulation, suppress corona and arcing, and to serve as a coolant.

Dielectric oil mixed with water ran down Nautilus Place to Drake Avenue, then through the storm water run off system under Drake Avenue, into a discharge pipe at Wright Marina out into Long Island Sound.

The New Rochelle Fire Department deployed booms along the sides of Nautilus Place to prevent oil from getting into driveways and worked with the New Rochelle Police Department Harbor Unit to place a boom across the water at the inlet from Long Island Sound to Wright Marina.

Con Edison brought in pump trucks to pull the oil and water out of the open manhole until the flow of oil could be brought under control.

The dielectric oil poured into the water around Wright Island. The entrance to Wright Island Marina and the Marina di Calabria was closed until sand could be spread around to soak up the oil.

“Otherwise cars are going to be skating all over the place,” said Sandor. “It’s going to be a mess”.

3 thoughts on “Major Hazmat Incident in New Rochelle: Explosion, Oil Spill from Multiple Manholes”

  1. Amen brother. I swam in it in the middle of The Sound. Had to use soap and fresh water on board to immediately shower off the slick covering my body. My friend had the same. The deck of my boat is still like a skating rink.

  2. How dare they say 1200 gallons the oil is all over the western long island sound

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