Thousands of gallons of diesel fuel spilled from an AI data center in Secaucus late last week, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said.
Contractors have been at the scene since, removing the oil from nearby Anderson Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack River.
The diesel fuel discharged from a storage tank at Equinix Data Center on Friday has been contained, the New Jersey DEP said.
The DEP said it is estimated that 5,000 gallons was discharged, but a spokesperson said it’s unclear how much made it into the creek.
Bill Sheehan of Hackensack Riverkeeper said he has been told a computer glitch caused the spill.
“The computer was calling for oil,” he said.
The DEP said there have been no impacts to the Hackensack River and “there are no drinking water intakes in the area and no impacts to wildlife have been reported.”
Sheehan said he’s concerned.
“I’m not saying that they found a lot of dead animals. I’m not saying that. I am saying it’s too early to know,” he said.
Equinix said it detected the fuel release Friday, stopped it, and immediately contacted different agencies, adding, “We are working closely with those agencies, local officials, and community stakeholders to ensure a thorough remediation, while also conducting a full investigation to determine the root cause and prevent recurrence.”
“Secaucus is the place where data centers have been being built,” said Ben Dziobek of Climate Revolution Action Network. “We need to slow this down, and we are calling for a statewide moratorium on data centers.”
Equinix said it has been in the community for more than two decades and is committed to resolving the issue, and will be transparent with the community.
The DEP said the cleanup should take several days.
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