A serious environmental pollution incident has occurred in the Meadowlands of New Jersey. An oil tank at the Equinix data center in Secaucus leaked diesel fuel, with approximately 5,000 gallons flowing into Anderson Creek. Emergency cleanup operations are currently underway at the scene. This incident not only threatens the local ecology but has also reignited intense debates across various sectors in New Jersey regarding the over-expansion of data centers and environmental pollution.
According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the oil spill occurred late Friday night. The contaminated Anderson Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River, and its waters ultimately flow into Newark Bay.
A spokesperson for the DEP stated that Anderson Creek is relatively narrow. The cleanup team has deployed oil containment booms at the river mouth to prevent further spreading of the oil pollution into the main channel of the Hackensack River. Oil recovery trucks have also been mobilized to extract the oil-water mixture at the site.
Bill Sheehan, the head of the Hackensack Riverkeeper organization that has been dedicated to protecting the watershed for decades, expressed doubts about the claim that the oil spill has been completely controlled. He stated, “Tributaries are like the capillaries of the entire ecosystem. Surface runoff from the land will first flow into the streams before merging into the major river, causing ecological damage.”
The timing of this leak incident is particularly sensitive. The Hackensack River was recently added to the federal Superfund pollution cleanup list in 2022 and was preparing for extensive ecological restoration efforts.
Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli expressed strong dissatisfaction with the leak incident and demanded that the state government seek “natural resource damage compensation” from Equinix, forcing the polluting company to contribute to local ecological restoration efforts.
Although Equinix has operated in the area for 25 years without major incidents, this fuel leak incident has brought the threat posed by data centers to the environment back into the public spotlight.
Currently, nearly 100 towns in New Jersey have issued administrative orders prohibiting the construction of new data centers.
Equinix issued a statement to NorthJersey.com, stating that the company discovered the leak late Friday night, immediately stopped the leak, alerted emergency response personnel, and hired professionals for cleanup. The company also notified the Secaucus Fire Department, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, and other relevant authorities. Equinix is investigating the root cause of the leak with the aim of handling the incident and completing the cleanup in a “prompt, transparent, and responsible” manner.