Cleanup continues around two South Jersey waterways after bus-terminal fuel spill

Cleanup efforts continued Friday around waterways in Gloucester and Washington Townships after an estimated 26,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from a NJ Transit bus terminal into a storm drain.

The result of a bad fuel gasket on two storage tanks at the facility on Route 42, the spill panicked residents around Blackwood and Grenloch Lakes who awoke Thursday morning to the smell of diesel wafting off the water.

"The cleanup is going to continue into next week," said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "It's hard to say how long it'll be. It will really depend on the weather and what we find."

The most pressing concern Friday was the effect on local wildlife, which officials reported as "minimal" to date.

One goose and one muskrat were reported dead, and wildlife volunteers had spotted 15 to 20 fouled birds, according to officials.

"The biggest problem for birds is, once their feathers get wet, they lose their ability to thermoregulate," said Sallie Weltie, a veterinarian with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research in Delaware, which has been on the scene since Thursday.

Authorities said there was no danger to public health.

Air-quality monitors set up around the waterways showed no indication that fumes had reached levels dangerous to humans, according to the DEP. The diesel fuel was confined to surface waterways and did not contaminate the aquifer that feeds the region's drinking water supply, officials said.

After the spill, the fuel traveled downstream from Grenloch Lake to Blackwood Lake, where crews installed barriers Thursday morning to prevent contamination from spreading into Timber Creek and the Delaware River.

On Friday, fuel could still be seen on the surface of Blackwood Lake, Gloucester Township Mayor David Mayer said. Mayer said the odor had weakened.

The spill was reported by an NJ Transit garage superintendent around 9 a.m. Thursday, more than an hour after residents first reported smelling fuel.

As for whether the state transit agency would face sanctions as a result of the incident, Hajna said, "We're not at that point. We'll review the circumstance and take it from there."