50 YEARS AGO

5,000 gallons of fuel pollute lake

Volunteer firemen and municipal crews labored to control a 5,000-gallon spill in Lake George, sucking up the No. 2 heating oil trapped along the public beach. State DEC Commissioner Henry L. Diamond said the spill occurred overnight and involved home heating oil, which drained from a storage tank of the Noyes Oil Co. into English Brook and into the lake. A driver for the company left a storage tank valve tied open to his truck and left for the day. During the night, a wholesaler delivered 6,800 gallons to the tank and after 1,500 gallons drained into the truck, the remaining 5,300 gallons overflowed into the brook. DEC put a boom in place but most of the 5,000 gallons had already reached the lake. “No. 2 fuel oil is very toxic and we are afraid the spill will have a long affect upon Lake George,” Diamond said.