Fuel truck flips avoiding collision,closing Amwell Road for cleanup

By:Alec Moore
   An accident involving a fuel delivery truck at about 10:30 a.m. on Monday spilled roughly 125 gallons of home heating oil on Amwell Road, about one-half mile west of Woods Road.
   As a result of the spill, Amwell Road was closed for several hours, between Woods Road and Willow Road while the Somerset County Hazardous Materials Team and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection handled the cleanup.
   According to police, the fuel oil truck — owned by Perth Amboy-based Tri-County Oil Company — was traveling west on Amwell Road when the 54-year old driver, Paul Parrone of Iselin, began to slow down for a vehicle in front of him making a left turn.
   Mr. Parrone told police that the brakes of his truck locked as he attempted to slow down, causing him to lose control of the vehicle which flipped off of the roadway onto its side, rupturing its oil tank and thereby spilling the roughly 125 gallons of home heating oil.
   Mr. Parrone was charged with careless driving and transported to Somerset Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries.
   In cleaning up the oil spill, the New Jersey DEP and Somerset County HAZMAT team oversaw the work of Insurance Restitution Inc., a Perth Amboy-based company hired by Tri-County Oil to clean up the spill. Through their efforts, they removed the oil from the roadway using a high powered vacuum and excavated roughly several tons of contaminated soil from the side of the road, said Leroy Gonzelman, Somerset County Emergency Management Coordinator. Mr. Gonzelman added that the contaminated soil was placed on a plastic sheet and then covered with another layer of plastic and is slated to be disposed of in an environmentally sound manner by Friday. The roadside area that had been excavated will be re-filled with fresh soil once the contaminated soil has been properly disposed of.
   Hillsborough Police, Fire Companies No. 2 and No. 3 and the Hillsborough Rescue Squad also responded to the scene of the accident.