The operators of the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant on Lake Ontario say they’ve found and stopped the source of a oil leak that formed a slick stretching out into the lake.
A Coast Guard aircraft spotted the oil slick on Sunday from the plant in Oswego County. The Coast Guard declared a safety zone around the plant and ordered boaters away.
Entergy says the slick was lube oil tank on the plant’s roof that overflowed because of an equipment malfunction. The oil flowed out an air vent and onto the building’s roof, then down a drain that carries rainwater to the plant’s discharge canal. Entergy says the oil is neither radioactive or particularly toxic, but releasing it violates company standards.
The company says they’ve shut off the oil and it’s no longer reaching Lake Ontario.
FitzPatrick was out of service at the time because of a problem with its pumps that triggered a shutdown last week