Oil Spills During Delivery at Elementary School

Classes were not disrupted at Centerville Elementary School on Wednesday morning when a oil tank was overfilled and fuel oil spilled on the driveway.

The state Department of Environmental Protection was notified about the spill by the Beverly Fire Department at about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday and a staff member was sent to Beverly to assess the situation, according to MassDEP spokesman Ed Coletta.

Stadium Oil Co. was delivering No. 2 fuel oil to the school’s underground storage tank but the tank did not have enough capacity to accept the full delivery. The tank was overfilled and oil was released from the connection at the ground-level “fill port,” with 10-20 gallons of fuel oil spilling on the pavement. The oil spilled in the round-about near the school’s entrance and since things were “stable” after the spill there was no reason to disrupt classes or any other activities at the school, Coletta said.

The oil covered an area of pavement about 60 x 30 feet and no oil get into any storm drains, Coletta said.

After the spill, school custodians and Beverly firefighters responded quickly to put speedi-dri to control the spill and “odors were minimal.”

Stadium Oil hired a Licensed Site Professional to assess the situation and ENPRO Services to clean up the spill. ENPRO had the cleanup done before the end of the school day.