'Under control.' Fuel oil spill kept from Duck Creek marsh in Wellfleet, officials say

A fuel oil spill at Mid-Cape Home Centers, 30 Commercial St., in Wellfleet kept first responders busy from Sunday night into the early morning hours Monday as they worked to ensure no contamination made it into the nearby Duck Creek marsh, which feeds into Wellfleet Harbor.

Fire Chief Rich Pauley on Monday said the Wellfleet Fire Department responded to the home improvement center just past 8 p.m. on Sunday after a report of a mixture of fuel oil and water leaking from an 8,500-gallon above-ground recovery tank on the site.

The temporary tank was installed about three weeks ago after a 270-gallon heating tank used for heating the home center failed, the chief said. The building itself sits on a slab, he explained, but the heating tank is behind the building "in a vault area below ground."

"This situation was created to pump out that (heating) tank that let go, and any of the sub-ground surface water to get that out of the environment," Pauley said, noting that spill is contained. "For whatever reason the pump didn't cycle itself off. It kept pumping into the big 8,500-gallon tank. So, between the pump being a problem over the weekend, and the amount of rain we've had, it over-capacitated the big tank."

Overflow into the parking lot, the street and a storm drain

He said the collected mix of water and fuel oil seeped through the top of the big tank, which is closed off by a hatch, "overflowing into the parking and then into the street," and then into a nearby storm drain.

The fire department estimates no more than 15 gallons of fuel got into the storm drain system, and was confined to the drain under Commercial Street. But for extra assurances, several storm drains were examined and quickly pumped out before the tide "to ensure that the fuel-water mix did not migrate into the marsh and harbor."

A combination of Speedy Dry, absorbent pads and booms were used to capture the fuel oil. In addition to the fire department, the state Department of Environmental Protection, Wellfleet Police Department, the town Department of Public Works and the town harbormaster's department all responded to the scene, as well as a private environmental clean-up company, Westin & Sampson.

About five hours to contain the fuel oil

Responders were on site for about five hours, finishing up between midnight and 1 a.m. Monday, Pauley said.

Responders were quick to act to ensure the integrity of waters that feed into Wellfleet's shellfish beds.

"That was our very first concern," he said.

In consultation with others, the fire department believes that no fuel-water mix escaped the town storm water drain system and there is no damage to the marsh area or harbor as a result of the spill, Pauley said.

"We're very confident we got all that pumped up last night," Pauley said. "I firmly believe that we do have it under control."

For additional precaution, monitoring will continue, likely for a few months, Pauley said. This will involve monitoring outflows into the marsh and harbor. A couple of observation wells have already been put in, he said. Monitoring will be done by the environmental response cleanup team, fire department, Wellfleet Health Department and Wellfleet Conservation Department on a daily basis.

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Marsh, shellfish unharmed after oil spill, Wellfleet official says