HONESDALE, PA — After a heating oil spill at Sunrise Terrace Mobile Home Park left residents dependent upon a tanker truck for drinking water, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) reminded homeowners to have their home heating oil tanks inspected by a professional before using them this winter season.

According to a PADEP incident report, over 200 gallons of home heating oil stained the dirt, gravel and plants surrounding an above-ground holding tank on November 30. The tank had just been filled the day before. The leaking oil ran into a ditch and followed the gradient along Primrose Lane into one of two communal wells from which the park derives its drinking water.

To resolve the issue, Dunmore, PA-based remediation company Datom Products dug an intercepting trench with a boom to cut off the ditch before it entered the well. The area was covered in plastic to prevent rainwater from carrying the oil into other areas.

Both wells were shut down to prevent further contamination in the general water supply, in compliance with PADEP Safe Drinking Water Program field order. Residents were notified and a water truck brought in to serve them while the wells were nonfunctional.

Aqua PA delivered a water truck on December 3 to serve the community until the wells are operational again.

The water utility company alerted the Honesdale community on December 3. “Aqua Pennsylvania would like to inform you that the recent oil spill… does not impact your water service. The drinking water truck placed in the Sunrise Terrace mobile park is being done to help our neighbors have access to safe, reliable drinking water.”

Aqua PA customers with questions are asked to contact the customer service department at 877/987-2782.

PADEP press secretary Colleen Connolly noted the water truck will be available for as long as the residents need it, but it will be stored in the Aqua PA facility for protection, and to stop it from freezing in falling temperatures. She said that the utility company will arrange a service schedule with residents.

Professional inspectors can determine if issues like leaks exist before problems like spills can happen, wrote Connolly in an email.

Other tips for residential oil tank owners are available at dep.pa.gov.