Diesel fuel leak from a storage tank at Equinix data centre in Secaucus

What happened

More than 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from a storage tank at the Equinix Data Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. Officials said fuel reached Anderson Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack River, though as of Monday it was not clear how many gallons had entered the creek. The leak was reported on Friday, and local, state and federal authorities were notified. Containment and clean-up crews started work quickly. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said the diesel was contained in the creek and did not reach the Hackensack River.

About 3,500 gallons had been recovered. No water intakes in the area could have been contaminated, and no impacts to wildlife were reported. Clean-up was expected to continue for several days.

Contributing factors

A local official said the leak seemed to have been caused by a computer glitch. That cause is not confirmed in the reporting.

Lessons learned

1. Prompt notice to local, state and federal authorities can let containment of a fuel spill start quickly.
2. Bulk fuel storage at a data centre should not depend on a single control path, and a loss of containment should be detectable by other means.
3. Rapid deployment of containment and clean-up crews can limit spread from a data centre fuel leak into nearby water.

Source

nbcnewyork.com