Crime & Safety
Portsmouth Man Left 4-Mile Trail Of Oil Through MA Town: Police
The man was transporting a punctured home oil heating tank as it spilled several hundred gallons, police said.
IPSWICH, MA — A Portsmouth man was cited for what police said was leaving a 4-mile trail of hundreds of gallons of oil through a Massachusetts town while transporting a heating oil tank. The 56-year-old man, who police did not identify, was cited with dropping load on way, according to Ipswich Acting Police Chief Jonathan Hubbard.
Hubbard came across the trail around noon Tuesday. He called in local fire and DPW crews to treat the oil slick with sand and drying agents. A Department of Environmental Protection Response Team also assisted.
Police said contractors demolishing a home punctured a heating oil tank and loaded into a truck to move it. The truck spilled several hundred gallons across six streets over 4 miles.
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A video from a local business showed a vehicle registered to a Rye company spilling the oil.
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