NEW YORK—More than a week after an oil spill in the Paerdegat Basin, Brooklyn, the clean up is close to completion while an investigation has just begun, according to officials.
On Sept. 28, National Grid, an international energy company, was pumping concrete into an underground gas pipeline to decommission it when oil was spilled onto the ground.
Approximately 800 to 1,400 gallons of oil spilled into the basin, through storm drains, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Paerdegat Basin is just West of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
Although no dead fish have been recorded, DEC and the state Department of Health advise New Yorkers not to boat, fish, or eat shellfish from Paerdegat Basin until further notice.
National Grid and authorities are beginning to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is the only wildlife refuge in the National Park System and is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
Boaters and other area residents have expressed concern about damages, according to The Brooklyn Ink.
“We’re very disappointed with National Grid,” Daniel Mundy of Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers, an environmental advocacy group, told the Ink. “This mistake is going to cost the bay. We hope DEC holds their feet to the fire.”
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