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NATION : Million Gallons of Oil Spill From Tank

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<i> From Times wire service</i> s

A storage tank ruptured today and spilled an estimated 1.25 million gallons of crude oil, but the spill was stopped short of a waterway that leads to the Atlantic, the Coast Guard said.

The oil was contained by a system of earthen dikes and was not expected to reach the outermost dikes, which are 15 feet from the water, Coast Guard spokesman Paul Milligan said.

Tanker barges were sent to the scene on the shore of Arthur Kill, a narrow waterway separating New Jersey and the New York City borough of Staten Island. As a precaution, 900 feet of booms were lowered into the water.

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It was not immediately clear what caused the rupture in the tank, which is owned by Northville Industries.

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