On Monday, Jan. 22, approximately 140 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil was released to a crawl space beneath a residence in the Lincoln Drive area of Oakdale.

On Thursday, Jan. 25 at approximately 3 p.m., residents on Ludlow and Lincoln Drive in the Idle Hour area of Oakdale reported and posted photos of Department of Environmental Conservation and hazmat trucks on-site that were still working to contain an oil spill from a residential home at 10 p.m. that evening.

The following afternoon, residents reported water trucks pumping nearby storm drains.

“The NYS DEC is the lead agency on the scene. The Town of Islip DPW and hazmat teams, along with the town’s OEM, have been providing support during the cleanup phase,” the Town of Islip said.

The DEC Spill Response said in a statement that their experts “continue to oversee and direct the cleanup to ensure it is protective of public health and the environment.”

The DEC received a report on Jan. 25 indicating that oil was observed in Byron Lake in Oakdale. The No. 2 fuel oil had mixed with the shallow groundwater inside the crawl space of the house.

“No oil had been discharged to the environment. DEC responded to the residence on Jan. 24, directed the homeowner to perform a cleanup, and to immediately stop using the sump pump located in the crawl space. The cleanup was scheduled for Jan. 26,” said a spokesperson for the DEC.

The cause of the release was determined to be from the home on Lincoln Drive. The spilled fuel oil was pumped from the crawl space to the street by a sump pump and then entered a storm drain. The storm drain system discharged the fuel oil to the surface water, resulting in impacts to Byron Lake.

Under DEC direction, the homeowner hired a contractor, who began remediating contamination at the home as well as in impacted waterbodies with vacuum trucks.

On Friday, Jan. 26, town of Islip hazmat utilized a drone to search a portion of the Great South Bay near Ludlow Creek. The flight showed a light, blue sheen at one point during the day. The sheen was not recoverable and dissipated naturally.

DEC confirmed that no floating oil entered the bay.

On Saturday, Jan. 27, DEC directed the environmental contractor to change out spent oil absorbents and vacuum any floating oil. Throughout the weekend, oil absorbent boom and pads were placed at multiple locations in the storm drain system and a nearby stream to contain the fuel oil spill.

“Small areas of oil in the stream were addressed with oil absorbents.  The absorbents will continue to be monitored and maintained. The drainage and streams are now free of oil odors,” said a spokesperson for the DEC.

An environmental contractor will continue cleanup of the Lincoln Drive property under DEC direction.

Remediation will include excavation of contaminated soil, and recovery of floating oil from the groundwater table and crawl space.  An old unused 550-gallon underground storage tank discovered during the cleanup was removed on Monday, Jan. 29.