3,000 gallons later; Charlton oil tanker owner blames vandals.

• Position: NEWS

Byline: Debbie LaPlaca

CHARLTON - Three days into the cleanup of a "substantial" diesel fuel spill, nearly 2,000 gallons have been recovered from wetlands surrounding Cady Brook Condominiums, with an estimated 1,000 gallons to go.

The state Department of Environmental Protection continues to warn residents of the 32-dwelling complex on Southbridge Road (Route 169) to avoid harmful fumes from the pollutant by closing windows and keeping children and pets away from the water.

Edmund J. Coletta, spokesman for the DEP, said yesterday the diesel spill originated from a fuel tanker at Charlton Welding & Repair on Griffin Road, which is owned by Larry D. McKissick II, who reported somebody vandalized the tanker and released its contents.

"We served him. He is the potentially responsible party," Mr. Coletta said.

The fuel migrated under Route 20 through a Cady Brook tributary into wetlands bordering the former Fallon Clinic and condominiums. A resident reported fumes to the Fire Department about 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Federal, state and local officials, investigators and cleanup crews have been at the site since.

At a briefing in the fume-laced Fallon parking lot yesterday, Nicholas J. Child, DEP emergency response chief, credited the Charlton Fire Department for containing the "substantial release" before it crossed Route 169 and entered Cady Brook.

Fire Chief Charles E. Cloutier Jr. said crews Friday night tracked the fuel slick and placed absorbent barricades, known as booms, along the path of migration, halting it within feet of joining the brook.

State-hired specialists in "hazmat" suites have worked around the clock to vacuum 20,000 gallons of water per hour into an oil/water separator. The more than one-acre wetland is estimated to hold nearly 1 million gallons of water.

Mr. Child said the first priority is to protect Cady Brook residents.

The community's water well is in the bedrock and safe from the surface-dwelling contaminant. Wells near the migration path and wetlands, including at the Fallon site, are being tested. The next priority, he said, is to protect the wetlands and its wildlife, while removing the pollutant.

At 2 p.m. yesterday, a muskrat was found dead.

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