Congresswoman Nellie Pou, who represents the Ninth District of New Jersey, has called on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to provide answers about a diesel spill that contaminated local waterways last month at an Equinix data center in Secaucus.
On September 11, 2026, a spill at the NY2 data center sent 5,500 gallons of diesel into a nearby creek. Originally it was said that a computer glitch caused the spill, but at the end of September Gothamist reported that according to Equinix, two valves in the fuel filtration system had failed.
“This spill in the Ninth District was the largest data center fuel spill on record in our state. The scale of this disaster demands a full accounting. We need to understand how it happened, ensure the cleanup is complete, and put protections in place to prevent another one happening again. Our residents deserve clear answers now,” Pou wrote to NJDEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak.
The congresswoman said that three weeks after the spill, the public is still without a full account of the incident’s impact on local waterways and wildlife.
“I appreciate that NJDEP is working to investigate and address the spill. But NJDEP must provide a clear account of exactly what happened and what is being done to prevent another spill to ensure transparency and accountability,” said Pou, giving NJDEP until October 9, 2026 to respond.
After the spill, Equinix told CBS New York, “We are working closely with those agencies, local officials, and community stakeholders to ensure a thorough remediation, while also conducting a full investigation to determine the root cause and prevent recurrence.”
Equinix has not provided an update on the incident since late September.
New Jersey has had two other notable data center diesel spills. In 2017, 600 gallons of fuel spilled from Digital Realty’s EWR21 Data Center into Clifton’s storm drains. In 2022, 1,800 gallons of fuel leaked from an Equinix-owned data center in North Bergen.
NJDEP has yet to declare how it will proceed with the latest matter and it is now on a clock set by the New Jersey congresswoman. The department fined DataOne Data Center in Vineland US$ 1.07 million in September for building and operating power equipment without the required approvals and permits.
The incident is also sure to raise more ire around data center projects. Calls for a moratorium on new large-scale data centers in New Jersey are growing louder. However, Politico reported New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill has said that local governments should make that call, not the state. Earlier this year, w.media reported that Governor Kathy Hochul of the State of New York had signed an Executive Order to create the nation’s first moratorium on new hyperscale data centers.