Large Diesel Spill Contaminates Waterways In South Jersey: Officials

WOOLWICH, NJ — A diesel spill involving a local trucking company sent hundreds of gallons of fuel into a waterway last week in Gloucester County, officials said.

The accidental spill happened Friday morning during refueling operations of an above-ground storage tank at Erdner Bros. Inc. — a trucking business on Davidson Road in Woolwich — officials said.

About 800 gallons of fuel were released. Friday's intense rainfall quickly carried most of it off-site into the Church Run tributary, according to a joint statement from Woolwich Township, Swedesboro Borough and the Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management.

The Church Run tributary flows into Swedeboro's Lake Narraticon and continues downstream toward Raccoon Creek, which links to the Delaware River.

The third-party fuel delivery service began mitigation efforts while additional resources were called in.

Details of the spill remain under investigation, and it's unclear what caused it.

"Changing weather conditions and downstream collection of the fuel product may cause intermittent petroleum odors during cleanup operations," the joint statement says. "Full remediation and product recovery are expected to take several weeks, as periods of precipitation and increased watershed flow may influence recovery efforts."

No immediate impacts to fish or wildlife have been detected, officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are receiving updates because of potential impacts to the environment and tidal waterways.

Contracted remediator Lewis Environmental has been at the scene daily with local and state-environmental officials.

Erdner Bros., a third-party logistics company, is headquartered in Woolwich.

Owner Kyle Erdner called the spill "an unfortunate situation for all involved."

"It was a human error from our fuel-delivery company," Erdner told Patch. "But I think our team reacted quickly and certainly mitigated any potential damage as much as they could have with our plans in place."