PEABODY — It could cost the city more than $100,000 to clean up an oil spill at 70 Endicott St., according to Community Development Director Jean Delios.
She wrote in a memorandum to the City Council that the city has so far spent $25,000 to remove oil that leaked after a thief or thieves removed copper piping connecting four above-ground oil tanks in the former school administration building.
Staff from Peabody's Community Development Office discovered the spill during a walk-through of the building on Sept. 16. The size of the leak required it to be reported to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The city has hired removal specialists from Lynn and a licensed site professional from Boston Environmental to ensure that the cleanup is done in compliance with state guidelines.
In her letter, Delios said that when the city took control of the abandoned building from the school department in 2006 "it was our understanding that the School Department had removed the oil from the tanks at this building and reused it for the schools." In the aftermath of the spill, removal specialists drained 800 gallons of heating oil from the tanks.
Two of the tanks were found to be roughly half full and two were three-quarters full, Jeffrey Kelly of Boston Environmental said in a letter to Delios. Though the size of the spill has yet to be determined, the maximum volume of oil that could have been released, given that each tank holds 300 gallons when filled by an oil truck, is 450 gallons, Kelly said.
On Sept. 26, 200 gallons of oil and 1,800 gallons of oily water were transported off-site for disposal. A series of test pits and holes have also been put in the three-foot thick concrete floor to assess the extent of the spill, Kelly said.
Meanwhile, police are investigating the crime that contributed to the spill. Police on Aug. 26 caught individuals loading copper pipe into a vehicle at 86R Endicott St. Some of the pipe, labeled PMLP, can be traced back to 70 Endicott St., which is also the former home of the Peabody Municipal Light Plant, Delios said.
Pamela Jen Cordeiro, 43, of 86R Endicott St., Peabody, Stephen M. Lightizer, 30, of 261 Newbury St., Lot 2, Peabody, Eric B. Reeves, 39, of 8 Lowe St., Peabody, and Peter J. Cormier, 41, of Highland Ave., Salem, received summonses on a charge of receiving stolen property valued at more than $250. They will be in Peabody District Court for a probable cause hearing before a clerk magistrate later this month, Lt. Dennis Bonaiuto said yesterday.
The city has tried without success to find a buyer for 70 Endicott St. A developer with a plan to demolish the old school administration building and build four homes recently withdrew his bid to buy the property after a lukewarm reception to his proposal from neighbors and city planning officials.
Delios said in her memo that the city is "pursuing all avenues," including with its insurance carrier, to defray the cost of the cleanup.
