Oil spill started at Arcelor Mittal Warren Twp. facility

Staff report

warren

An oil spill on the Mahoning River was determined to have come from an oil/ water separator at the Arcelor Mittal Warren facility in Warren Township.

The first report of the spill was at 1:30 p.m. Friday when a person reported seeing oil floating along the river, said Randy Pugh, Weathersfield Township fire chief. The person who saw the oil was on the bicycle path along the river in Niles.

A representative from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was able to follow the sheen of oil traveling downstream from the site to determine its origin, Pugh said.

Erin Strouse, OEPA spokeswoman, said the cleanup is expected to take days. Arcelor Mittal already has taken full responsibility and hired a subcontractor to help with the cleanup efforts.

Workers were at the scene Friday using equipment to try to remove the oil from the water.

The search for the source of the spill involved several local agencies including the Warren Township, Howland, Niles and Weathersfield fire departments, Trumbull County Emergency Management and the OEPA.