River cleared of oil spill, Schuylkill trail reopened

The Schuylkill River Trail reopened from Chestnut to Locust Streets earlier this week as the water portion of a diesel-fuel spill cleanup has concluded, authorities said Friday.

U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Nick Ameen said 1,300 gallons of oil were vacuumed up from the Schuylkill. He said some oil was also cleaned up by "absorbent pads" and "booms" in the river, but that amount is hard to quantify.

Cleanup efforts are now shifting to the land, particularly from the source of the oil spill, a generator at 2400 Market Street, to the area by the CSX railroad tracks.

Jack Kelly, on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Philadelphia office, said work crews will investigate whether any oil remains underground or in soil.

About 4,200 gallons of diesel fuel had leaked Jan. 23, or earlier, from a generator operated by a company called CenturyLink. The Coast Guard has said that most of the oil likely spilled into the river. Some of it could have evaporated or flowed downstream, Kelly said. He said there have been no threats to fish, wildlife or to drinking water, and did not know how long the land investigation would take.

- Julie Shaw