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Rocky Pond is usually a quiet place where you can hear water lap at the pond’s edge.
Kimball Brook and nearby wetlands provide a great habitat for blackbirds, ducks, geese and the occasional blue heron.
But this week the scene is anything but quiet.
(sound earth movers)
Clean up crews are busy excavating rocks and black soil near the brook’s edge.
This is where more than 1000 gallons of thick black fuel oil spilled from the open valve of a tanker truck, down to the brook, covering it with what looks like tar.
State environmental officials hired EnPro Services to help remove the mess.
Enpro’s Gardner Warr says they’ve spent the last few days laying absorbent containment booms and pads.
“This yellow harbor boom that we’re looking at is something that prevents migration of oil resting on the water’s surface from flowing off into the surface water, it allows us to stop the migration of the oil and then deal with the problem inside.”
Warr says the spill is contained, but the air near Rocky Pond still reeks of fuel.
Its sheen is easily seen on the water’s surface.
Gilmanton resident Linda Hamilton has lived here 25 years – and can’t believe how different the pond looks now.
(every morning there’s migratory birds out in front of my place, and I’ve got my binoculars and I’m looking at them, there was one duck yesterday and then there was one blue heron trying to land today and had nowhere to land where it usually feeds, which was very sad.)
Department of Environmental Service officials and New Hampshire Fish and Game are worried about how the spill might affect wildlife.
DES spokesman Jim Martin.
(we’re working the best we can to eliminate any risks, obviously it’s difficult to remove all of the oil, that pond is well known for various wildlife and these animals would be susceptible to being contaminated with the oil)
They’re asking residents who see any animals come in contact with the oil to call Fish and Game.
Environmental officials are also closely monitoring the water quality – they’re concerned the oil may kill or damage plants and other organisms in the water.
Currently, the spill is not a public health threat – no one uses the pond for drinking water.
Local resident Linda Hamilton says what makes the situation worse is that she’s heard the oil was intentionally dumped, although that’s not been confirmed.
(there’s so much land in here for it to get trapped in, all this stuff just gets stuck up on the vegetation, and there’s animals, it’s not something you would ever expects someone would purposely conscientiously do.)
Gilmanton Police have turned the case over to the State Attorney General’s office which is investigating.
Gerald Hyslop of Bristol owned the tanker and his uncle Ronald Martin owns the property.
They are considered suspects.
DES officials say clean up crews will continue to work on the spill for the next several weeks.
For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.

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Firefighters contain unknown substance in Gilmanton pond

Wednesday, May. 7, 2008

GILMANTON – Town firefighters were waiting for help from state environmental officials last night after containing an unknown substance that had been spilling from an abandoned tanker truck, authorities said.

The truck was discovered about 8:30 p.m. on South Road and was threatening to contaminate Rocky Pond, according to emergency dispatchers.

Crews from Gilmanton, Belmont and Barnstead had contained the material with hazardous-material booms and Speedy Dry last night, said Deputy Gilmanton Fire Chief Joe Hempel. The crews were expected to be there most of the night.

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services was called to the scene. The DES has the authority to order an environmental cleanup.

Speaking shortly after 9 p.m., Hempel said crews had not been able to determine the substance. At that point, it did not appear to pose a danger to the emergency response workers, he said.

The material was flowing from the rear discharge valves of the tanker truck, he said. The truck appeared abandoned and had probably been at the side of the road since the later part of the afternoon, Hempel said.

There was no identification on the cab or tanks, he said.

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1,000 gallons of oil enters brook
Police consider uncle and nephew suspects
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By MEG HECKMAN
Monitor staff
 

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May 08, 2008 - 7:11 am

 
  
KEN WILLIAMS / Monitor staff
Workers deploy booms to absorb oil in Kimball Brook in Gilmanton after oil leached into the water Tuesday night. The police consider two men suspects in the release of 1,000 gallons of heating oil near the stream, which feeds Rocky Pond.
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About 1,000 gallons of thick, black oil leached into a small brook in Gilmanton on Tuesday night, necessitating a complicated environmental cleanup, upsetting neighbors and spurring a criminal investigation that could lead to federal charges.

The Gilmanton police say the oil came from a tanker truck parked on land owned by Ronald Martin, who they say runs a scrap metal business in town. Martin's nephew, Gerald Hyslop, owns the truck and told investigators he was storing it on his uncle's property overnight.

Martin told the police that vandals opened the tanker's valve, but the Gilmanton police say they consider Martin and Hyslop suspects in the spill. The state attorney general's office and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are helping with the investigation, which the police say could result in myriad charges.

"Everything from motor vehicle violations right up to federal," said Gilmanton Police Sgt. Dennis Rector.

While the police searched for information about who caused the spill, cleanup crews excavated contaminated soil and strung booms across Kimball Brook, trying to prevent more oil from creeping into nearby Rocky Pond. Richard Berry, a waste management supervisor at the Department of Environmental Services, said his office often handles small, accidental oil leaks, but intentional spills are rare. Also unusual is what flowed out of the tanker: No. 6 fuel oil, commonly used for heat.

"It'll be kind of labor intensive," Berry said, "working our way down and picking up the pockets."

At 74 acres, the pond is rich with wildlife. Berry had yet to hear of any birds, beavers or other animals coated with oil but said state wildlife experts were prepared should any turn up.

State officials are also worried about the long-term implications of the spill.

Jody Connor, who monitors all of New Hampshire's lakes and ponds, worries that compounds in the oil could unbalance the food chain by wiping out algae and other small organisms.

To better track the damage, people from Connor's office spent yesterday crisscrossing Rocky Pond in boats, using GPS to mark the location of oil pools.

"We just want to trace it, see where it goes," Connor said. "It's toxic, so it may affect some of the critters out there."

Rector, the police sergeant, said the spill happened between 6 and 8 p.m. Neighbors, he said, saw Hyslop pull the tank onto Martin's driveway with a tractor about 6. The tanker, Rector said, lacks proper registration and inspection documents.

Neither Martin nor Hyslop could be reached yesterday. Martin's telephone number appeared unlisted, and a phone number attached to Hyslop's name had been disconnected.

Just after 8 p.m., neighbors reported a strong petroleum smell to the police, who arrived at Martin's property and found the tanker, valve open. Oil had spilled into a sinkhole and seeped into the stream.

"We're looking for anybody who might have information about how the oil leaked out," Rector said.
 

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