A cleanup is ongoing in the East River due to a weekend spill of industrial fluids from an electrical substation, causing delays for the new NYC Ferry service.
Service Alert: The East River route will be subject to delays for the remainder of the day as a result of an oil spill on the East River.
— NYC Ferry (@NYCferry) May 9, 2017
Con Ed spokesman Allan Drury said a spill from a 37,000-gallon substation tank in DUMBO caused the incident.
“On Sunday, May 7, a transformer at a substation ruptured,” Drury said. “A lot of it got captured in the substation property itself. … Some of it went into the river.”
Drury said the substance, a “dielectric fluid” that is like a coolant, is not as hazardous to the environment as a substance like crude oil would be.
@nyc311 pretty sure there was an oil spill in the east river pic.twitter.com/4hQ9HIYpbR
— kroesser + strat (@kroesserstrat) May 7, 2017
Gothamist reported that the Coast Guard and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have set up a “safety zone” south of points across the river from East 25th Street in Manhattan to DuPont Street in Greenpoint, and down to Buttermilk Channel.
The ferry delays are due to the oil spill cleanup requiring a slowdown in all marine traffic on the river to prevent waves or a wake from forming.
Con Ed declined to speculate on how long the cleanup will take.