By Paul Sylvain

At approximately 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9, Machias police responded to a report of a mysterious oil spill in front of the Machias Valley New Observer (MVNO) office on 41 Broadway.

Machias Police Chief Keith Mercer said afterward that a neighbor living next door to the newspaper office called the police directly to report the spill. Mercer and another officer arrived to find a heavy odor of oil or a similar material in the air and observed a lane-wide swath of Broadway soaked in the substance. Mercer said he requested the Machias Fire Department respond to spread some absorbent material on the road to soak up the spill.

Asked about a possible cause, Mercer said he first thought an oil truck had somehow dumped the oil, but now believes it could have been caused by a 55-gallon drum falling off a truck and splitting open.

Mercer said police were told a black truck was seen stopped in that area shortly before they were called. “A drum may have fallen off the truck,” he said, but admitted having no other information or clues as to the cause. “Unless someone comes in and says it was them, we’ll probably never know how it happened,” the chief said.

Broadway was never closed to traffic, though it was reduced briefly to a single lane while fire crew spread the Speedy Dry on the road. Fire crew cleared the scene at about 1:45 p.m.

Anyone having information concerning this incident is urged to call the Machias Police Department at (207) 255-8558.