Rochester, N.Y. — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has confirmed Friday that the red substance spotted Thursday in the Genesee River near the Court Street Bridge was diesel fuel.
The DEC said a fuel oil company making a delivery earlier Thursday morning admitted to hooking up to the wrong pipe, sending approximately 170 gallons of diesel fuel into a drainpipe. It was unknown how much fuel went into the river.
DEC and our spill contractor are closely coordinating response efforts with the Rochester Fire Department and RG&E. Due to site safety concerns, limited access, moving water, unstable ice, and weather and environmental challenges, DEC requested access to RG&E adjacent property near the river. Even with the closer access, site conditions were determined to be too dangerous for workers to attempt to install containment booms at this time.…