Four months later, the phone rang at the National Response Center (NRC), the 24-hour federal hotline for reporting hazardous discharges. It was someone near the Oswego plant, a whopping 1,800 MW, residual fuel oil-burning facility perched on the southern edge of Lake Ontario. “Caller is reporting there is a large black container that is floating in the water and the container is discharging an unknown oil into the water,” an NRC staff member entered into a call log on March 8.

A similar report came two days later. “Caller is reporting that there is an unknown heavy oil product leaking into the Oswego Harbor from the site of a power plant. The oil is creating a large sheen on the water. The cause of the oil sheen is unknown due to limited access to the site,” the NRC recorded.

Upon notification by the NRC, officials from seven local, state, and federal agencies quickly launched an investigation. It turned out an underground fuel transfer line had corroded, and there was a hole in an oil pipe. No. 6 fuel oil was gushing into Lake Ontario and onto its shore.