Volume 125 >> Issue 29 : Wednesday, July 6, 2005

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Accident Sends 300 Gallons of Oil Into Power Plant’s Basement

Three hundred gallons of oil spilled in the MIT power plant (Building 42) on June 27, said Director of Utilities Randall Preston.

The spill was entirely contained within the plant, he said. The spill occurred because a piece of wood fell on and snapped a gauge line, which is a pipe that serves as a pressure gauge off a main line. Workers spread absorbent material and contained the oil in a pool in the basement, having covered the floor drains.

“There’s really nothing that needs to be replaced,” he said, though the cost of the damages has yet to be determined. The spill was a “pretty unusual event,” but “accidents do occasionally happen.” The last oil spill in the plant was several years ago, he said.

—Kelley Rivoire