North County News [1] reports that the March 29 spill of 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel by Metro-North [2] has resulted in the arrest of the assistant director of environmental compliance and services Kenneth McHale.

This photo pinpoints the location of the March oil spill. (Image courtesy North County News)Police believe McHale, who initially reported a five-gallon spill, knew the spill was much larger after 4,000 gallons of fuel were removed from a catch basin that day. On March 31, the watchdog group Riverkeeper [3] received an anonymous tip that 17,000 gallons of fuel were actually leaked. Riverkeeper notified the Department of Environmental Conservation [4] and Metro-North confirmed that the spill was larger than originally reported.

Metro-North reported that the fuel had spilled directly into the soil, rather than through the catch basin and into the sewage treatment plant where it could have been recovered. More than 14,000 gallons of fuel have been vacuumed from the ground, and replaced it with rock and approximately 600 tons of contaminated soil have been removed.

McHale was charged with violating the New York Environmental Conservation Law section 71-2711 (1) for "endangering public health, safety or the environment," a class A misdemeanor. He will be arraigned in Croton Village Court [5] on May 28.