HAZMAT Situation at Ocean and Emmons

DEP Investigation at Shore Parkway & Sheepshead Bay Rd
(Photo by Ray Johnson)

Emergency response vehicles and personnel lined the street and caused some traffic delay at Shore Parkway and Sheepshead Bay Road. Based on information listed on the continually updated Gothamist Labs site, The original response call appears to have been made to Emmons Avenue and Ocean Avenue for a Hazmat situation at 7:28 p.m., Friday night, and an ambulance was seen stationed there during the investigation.

The response team included NYPD, FDNY, EMS, and the DEP. The smell of gas was heavy all over Sheepshead Bay Road, but there was no comment made by any of the personnel present on the scene. Numerous Department of Environmental Protection workers referred all questions to 3-1-1 and the Press Office, but calls with requests for information from DEP have not been returned, as of yet. The customer service representative at 311 said that they have no information about gas smells or reports of gas leaks.

The workers on site assured me that if there was anything serious, they would let us know, but I wasn’t about to stay around to see the results of any potential gas leak. Partygoers at a special event at nearby Armenia Restaurant at 1794 Sheepshead Bay Road appeared to be having too good a time to notice the activity on the street, with one patron commenting, “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s not bothering us.”

By 9:30 p.m., DEP workers and their response trucks could still be seen gathered at the site where “nothing is happening” and the suspicious smell was still heavy in the air.