Maplewood FD, Haz-Mat Stanch Springfield Ave. Oil Spill

The Maplewood Fire Department and the Nutley Hazardous Materials Team halted the spill of an oily substance that had begun leaking from a Springfield Ave. business's basement onto the street Wednesday morning, said Chief Michael Dingelstedt.

Maplewood Engine 32 responded to a report of an oil odor in the basement of 1878 Springfield Ave. on Wednesday shortly after 11 a.m., said Dingelstedt. Firefighters found an oily residue mixed with water in both open sump pump wells in the basement, which was also being pumped onto the sidewalk through the pump discharge in front of the building, he said.

Firefighters put absorbent pads in the sump pump wells to help prevent the oil from being pumped onto the sidewalk, and called the Nutley Hazardous Materials Team and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to the scene, Dingelstedt said.

Haz-mat technicians provided absorbent booms to prevent pollutants from entering the sewer system and a containment pool to collect the oil and water as it was pumped from the sump wells, and firefighters and technicians cleaned the oil from the wells in the basement.

Dingelstedt said only a small amount of the substance entered the street before it was contained. The source of the oil or petroleum-based product is still undetermined, he said.

The property owner is taking steps to fix the problem, and the DEP will continue to investigate the source of the oil and will make a final determination on the clean-up and mitigation, said Dingelstedt.

"The quick response and initial actions by Maplewood Firefighters, as well as the coordinated efforts with Nutley Haz-Mat and the DEP, allowed this incident to be temporarily resolved with minimal impact to the environment," Dingelstedt said.