Source of fuel leak in canal determined

T he village has identified the source of a petroleum leak that was detected in the Champlain Canal last week.

Mayor Peter Telisky said the leak was traced back to an apartment building at 120 Broadway, near the intersection of Gilmore Street. He said a broken pipe on a fuel tank appears to be the cause of the leak.

The leak was initially detected around 4 p.m. on Oct. 13 and fuel was flowing into the canal from a storm drain about 30 feet north of the boat launch on Skenesborough Drive.

A crew from National Vacuum Emergency Response Spill Control arrived at the scene the following day and set up containment booms around the drain and just south of Lock 12 to collect any petroleum in the water.

David Winchell, a spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Conservation, said last week that the booms were effective in controlling the spread of the petroleum and the leak did not represent a hazard to the public or the environment.

The leak was the second this year. A petroleum-like substance was found leaking into the canal on April 16 through the same storm drain.

Winchell didn’t say whether the leaks were related but did call the occurrences coincidental.

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Tags: Apartment Building, Boat Launch, Broadway, Broken Pipe, Champlain Canal, Containment Booms, Emergency Response, Environmental Conservation, Feet, Fuel Leak, Fuel Tank, Intersection, Leaks, Occurrences, Petroleum, Spill Control, Spokesperson, Storm Drain, Vacuum, Winchell