BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina environmental officials say heating oil spilled at Beaufort Memorial Hospital appears to have leaked into a nearby river.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control told The Beaufort Gazette that 290 gallons of oil leaked in the hospital’s basement on May 23 from boilers used to heat water.
A homeowner on the Beaufort River called officials this weekend after seeing oil in the river. Hospital spokeswoman Courtney McDermott says the oil appears to have gone through a drainpipe into the waterway.
Crews are cleaning the oil. Officials aren’t sure how much ended up in the river.
The hospital canceled elective surgery because of the smell after the leak. A hazardous material crew cleaned the oil from the hospital basement.
