A mysterious fuel spill forced employees to evacuate from the Schoharie County office building and a major business Thursday morning.
Fumes leaked into the county building and into Support Services Alliance Inc. on Prospect Street and forced the closure of the buildings Thursday morning and into Friday.
Both buildings re-opened Monday morning.
There were no reported injuries at either the county building or SSA, though some people complained of upset stomachs from the odor at the county building, said Earl Van Wormer, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
State DEC officials were contacted after the odor was detected, Mr. VanWormer said.
Crews tested Thursday and Friday, but the source of the leak has still not been determined, Mr. VanWormer said Monday night, though it is not coming from the county building.
“We’re kind of the victim here,” Mr. VanWormer said.
It is also not known how much fuel oil spilled, he said.
The fuel apparently got into the small stream behind the county building, known as Spring Brook, but the DEC set up collection booms in the creek on Thursday.
Workers started evacuating the county building about 10:30am. By noon, all the employees in the county building, between 75 and 100, were out, Mr. VanWormer said.
Non-emergency staff members were sent home for the rest of Thursday and Friday, while emergency services were provided by county employees in the annex building and the Emergency Management Office.
Workers at SSA started noticing the odor shortly after they opened at 8am Thursday, said Chris Koetzle, SSA’s vice president of membership and marketing.
“It just penetrated the building so we decided to evacuate,” he said Tuesday morning.
None of the 35 employees in the building, which basically was built on top of Spring Brook, needed medical attention, Mr. Koetzle said, and there were no complaints.
He did note that the building was evacuated very quickly. The building was closed between 9:30 to 10am on Thursday through Monday morning.
State Health Department officials said further monitoring was unnecessary, Mr. VanWormer said. The county will set up a detection system similar to a radon detector and will vent odors out of the building.
The county building was thoroughly tested and cleared as a possible source, Mr. VanWormer said.
The county’s underground tank was dug up and pressure tested three times, Mr. VanWormer said.
Workers checked the tank for fuel loss and examined lines, and found no leaks, he said, though some lines need replacing.
In addition to testing the tank and lines, test holes were drilled all around the building and DEC officials said the county was cleared, Mr. VanWormer said.
“We’ve done all the testing asked,” he said. “The DEC said we went above and beyond.”
The sump pump in the basement of the county building was pumped Thursday into Friday.
The good news was that while the fuel did get into small creek behind the county building, none got into the Schoharie Creek, and no one was hurt, he said.
The source of the leak is still a mystery.
The county, he said, does not want to punish anyone but “we want to find out where it’s coming from,” Mr. VanWormer said.
County officials said they will help village residents who have a leak to contact the proper offices.
Mr. Koetzle also has not heard of a source for the fuel spill.
“It seems perplexing,” he said.
Despite the digging and testing, there should be no cost to the county, Mr. VanWormer said.
The county was prepared to pay for work if the leak was detected on county property but costs should be paid for through funds from the Environmental Protection Fund, he said.
Mr. VanWormer praised the communication and cooperation between the several agencies that were contacted after the leak was detected including the county Hazardous Materials team, the Emergency Management Office, the Schoharie Fire Department, the DEC and the county employees.