Oil spill closes Milford Post Office

MILFORD – The post office was closed Tuesday as a hazardous materials team continued to clean up an oil spill in the building’s basement. Although the U.S. Postal Service building is on the Souhegan River in downtown Milford, none of the oil seemed to have gotten into the river, said Fred Elkind, the town’s environmental coordinator. Elkind said he heard that about 250 gallons of the fuel oil wound up on the basement floor as the tanks were being filled Monday afternoon and “something failed and allowed oil to  escape.” “As far as we can tell” none of the oil got into the river, he said. Some of the oil, however, went into the stairwell and then into a drain and it was apparently captured at the town’s wastewater treatment plant. “So, in terms of environmental damage, it was minimal,” Elkind said, because the staff at the plant was able to catch the oil in berms. The incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Monday when the Fire Department was notified and then Fire Chief Jack Kelly called Elkind. Elkind said the apparent cause was a broken component in the basement storage tanks. The post office is asking customers to pick up their mail at the Milford Carrier Annex at 14 Capron Road, which is serving as the post office’s alternate location until the Mont Vernon Street office reopens. On Monday evening, a heavy odor of fuel oil hung in the air as the fire chief and David Degler, an environmentalist with the state Department of Environmental Services, waited in the building’s parking lot for a team from Cyn Environmental Services. Kathy Cleveland can be reached at 673-3100 ext. 304 or kcleveland@nashuatelegraph.com.