Crews Working To Repair Water Main Break, Oil Leak In River Edge
RIVER EDGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Crews are working to repair a water main break and oil leak in River Edge.
Around 11 p.m. Monday, a six-inch water pipe burst on Kinderkamack Road and Main Street. Flooding from the break caused an underground electric cable cooled by a dielectric fluid to burst, sending several hundred gallons of oil to the surface.
"It's crazy. Last night it looked like some kind of big disaster happened," resident Drew McLaren told CBS 2's Weijia Jiang. "So many trucks and helicopters."
Crews Working To Repair Water Main Break, Oil Leak In River Edge
"It looked like a swimming pool," another resident told 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa.
A spokesman for New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said the dielectric fluid is a mineral oil that is not harmful or toxic.
Officials said sand is being used on the street to soak up the oil and vacuum trucks are sucking any oil out of the sewers. In addition, the DEP said the oil underground was contained in a stream and did not get to the Hackensack River.
"There was some product that did get into the sewers and we've identified the discharge points in the brooks and we've put some booming and dyking there as well," River Edge Fire Chief John Mauthe said.
Roads in the area are expected to be closed for about 24 hours as crews finish repairs.
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