AKWESASNE – The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Emergency Response Team is dealing with a “petroleum spill” at a construction site on State Route 37 near a closed gas station.
The ERT found contaminants entering the storm water collection system at the former Mohawk Bingo Palace on Frogtown Road, the tribe said in a statement Thursday.
“The spill area was traced to a pump discharging from a construction site situated immediately south of the former Broken Arrow Gas Station’s Petroleum Bulk Storage Tanks,” it said.
Exactly how much gasoline, diesel or oil has been released into area waterways is not known.
The contamination has made its way from the storm sewer to a ditch along Frogtown Road and then went under State Route 37 to the Raquette River, north of the area.
The tribe says a complete assessment “including its full extent and impact to Tribal natural resources” is ongoing.
The spill has been reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Response Center and containment measures including absorbents are in place.
Officials are asking people to avoid touching materials on the ground or in the waterways around the area.