Con Ed Cleaning Up Oil Spill Along East River
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Con Ed is working to contain an oil spill along the East River.
A transformer containing about 37,000 gallons of insulating oil failed at a substation on John Street in downtown Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon.
"It burst and caused a release of oil," Con Ed spokesman Mike Clendenin told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman.
Most of the oil is on the substation property, but some got into the river.
Clendenin said the incident impacted MTA signals.
"That's what caused a voltage dip in our system," he told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman. "That caused a disruption to their signal system in the trains."
Con Ed is working on the cleanup with the Coast Guard and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
"We've been working with many agencies to contain the spill and to clean up the oil, we're still working on that," Clendenin said.
There are delays on the East River ferries and recreational boats are banned below 25th Street.