Heating fuel spill contained at UConn campus

Cleanup will not hurt sale of site to gallery

TORRINGTON — A spill of up to 1,000 gallons of heating fuel was contained at the the University of Connecticut Torrington Campus on Tuesday.

The Torrington Fire Department responded to the spill at 855 University Drive around 8:30 a.m.

“Upon arrival, Engine 4 and Truck 1 found a large oil spill located in the boiler room. Absorbent material was applied to the spill for containment purposes,” the fire department said in a release.

“It was determined that upwards of 1,000 gallons of heating oil had spilled into the drains leading out to the rear yard from the boiler room drain system due to a break in the inside piping system.”

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was was dispatched to the scene, as well as a cleanup contractor.

“It was determined that there was no extension of the spill into any of the remainder of the building.”

In an emailed statement, UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said, “UConn closed the campus in 2016 has no active operations in the building. Therefore, it was determined there are no life safety concerns.”

Reitz said, the spill “does not affect the former campus property’s sale to Five Points Center for the Visual Arts, which was approved by the UConn Board of Trustees (Monday).

“UConn has contacted Five Points and the city of Torrington to assure them that the university will return the property to its previous condition,” Reitz said. “This does not delay the sale, since the cleanup and repairs will be accomplished well before the legal aspects of the transaction are finalized.”

The UConn Department of Facilities Operations, fire marshal, and Office of Environmental Health and Safety responded immediately the spill was found, alerted DEEP and UConn is coordinating the cleanup with DEEP’s assistance, according to Reitz. Fire department personnel remained on scene to assist DEEP.