THE DRIVER OF THIS First Energy home heating oil delivery truck lost control of his vehicle on black ice on Howard Street Monday morning. The truck flipped over on its side and several hundred gallons of oil spilled onto the roadway and into two city catch basins. Firefighters responded and “diked” Howard Street in the area of the spill. First Energy hired the environmental cleanup company Enpro to rid the oil from the town’s drainage system. Oil could be found in a stream as far from the site as Soc’s Ice Cream on the Lynn Fells Parkway. (Donna Larsson Photos)
MELROSE — Weeks of environmental monitoring will be needed after several hundred gallons of No. 2 home heating oil spilled into the town’s drainage system when a delivery truck tipped over early Monday morning, January 19, on Howard Street near Hesseltine Avenue.
Oil got into two catch basins and wound up as far downstream as Soc’s Ice Cream and the KinderCare day school facility on the Lynn Fells Parkway.
According to Fire Capt. Ed Collina, his department received a call around 5:30 a.m. Monday reporting that a First Energy home heating oil delivery truck had tipped on its side while traveling west on Howard Street from Saugus. The truck apparently skidded about 40 feet on black ice and became perpendicular to the roadway before it tipped on its side. The driver kicked out a window in the truck’s cab and was able to get himself out of the vehicle before rescue crews arrived. He suffered some bruises and back pain, and was taken to Melrose-Wakefield Hospital.
First-responding firefighters quickly realized the extent of the situation and called for all pieces of department equipment and manpower to report to the scene. Crews went into full spill cleanup mode, Collina said, using all the city’s absorbent materials, such as a Speedi-Dry type product and booms. They “diked” the street to both prevent further leakage into the drainage system and to collect as much spilled oil as possible. The city’s DPW also dropped off sand to help absorb the oil from the street.
The owner of First Energy was contacted, and he hired the environmental cleanup firm Enpro, which responded with vacuum trucks and other pieces of equipment. Large tow trucks were called in to right the oil truck, which at capacity can hold about 2,800 gallons of oil in separate front and rear tanks.
As a result of the accident, the oil tanks were leaking from two places. Professionals estimated there to be about 2,000 gallons in the tanks when the truck tipped over. About 750 gallons were collected from the street cleanup, and Enpro vacuumed up about 450 gallons left in the tanks, meaning well over 600 gallons had leaked into two catch basins.
The city’s drainage system for that part of Melrose leads to a brook that winds down towards the KinderCare facility. Cleanup crews were in that portion of the brook for a good part of Monday, and State Police were diverting traffic from that area on the Lynn Fells Parkway. Booms have been placed in the brook to collect oil as it floats on top of the water.
Oil is expected to remain in city drainage pipes for some time and monitoring will take weeks. A representative of the state Department of Environmental Protection has said the city may have to flush the storm drains to help get rid of the oil.
Police blocked off Howard Street at Nelson Road and Clifford Street for much of Monday.
No evacuation of homes was required, Collina added, because No. 2 home heating oil is not flammable (flashpoint under 100 degrees). It is, however, combustible, meaning its flashpoint is over 100 degrees.
Fire crews were on the scene of the accident and spill on Howard Street until about 10 a.m. Monday. The cleanup further downstream continued as the week wore on.
