POUGHKEEPSIE – City firefighters and a state environmental conservation officer responded to RS Automotive at 248 Hooker Avenue in Poughkeepsie Sunday afternoon after an oil tank ruptured in the garage, spilling more than 200 gallons of reclaimed oil onto Meyer Avenue.
Firefighters worked with the employees of the repair shop to build berms of spill-absorbent granules to prevent the oil from continuing to flow down Meyer Avenue. There are no storm drains in the immediate vicinity, which reduced the expansion of the pollutant.
According to sources at the scene, the repair shop at the corner of Hooker and Meyer Avenues had a 275-gallon oil tank just inside of the garage door, that ruptured, dumping the oil onto the floor of the shop. The oil went under the garage door, down the sloped driveway, and pooled on Meyer Avenue.
The incident occurred at approximately 4:55 p.m. The Encon officer was heard telling the shop owner that arrangements needed to be made with a cleanup company to clean the spill on Sunday night. As of 7 p.m., the oil was still being contained by the absorbent granules that resemble cat litter.
