Fuel Spill Closes Street Near Wantagh-Levittown Border

Eight blocks along Gardiners Avenue were closed Friday afternoon in Levittown near the Wantagh border due to a hydraulic fuel spill, affecting dismissal at two elementary schools.

According to  Public Information Officer Harry Loud, the call came in about an unknown substance spill just after 2:15 p.m. The Wantagh Fire Department responded first and called the , who responded soon after. The spill was located mostly on the southbound side of Gardiners Avenue, with parts of the spill splashing onto the northbound side. Nassau County was called and supplied sanders to cover the spill.

Upon arriving at the scene, the Nassau County Fire Marshal Hazmat Team classified the spill as hydraulic fluid. No official cause for the spill has been determined, but Loud suspected that the fluid came from a truck with some sort of lift on it. "A car wouldn't have hydraulic fluid like that," he said.

The spill extended as far south as N Jerusalem Road but was heavily concentrated between Prairie Lane and Halter Lane. The Wantagh Fire Department closed Gardiners Avenue between those two streets. Fire police initially directed traffic until Nassau County police arrived.

Both Gardiners Avenue Elementary School and Abbey Lane Elementary School were not located between the streets that were closed, but Loud said that buses had to be re-routed as a result of the spill. According to the Levittown School District website, both schools dismiss students at 3:28 p.m.