By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — A Department of Sanitation truck spilled 30 gallons of hydraulic fluid on West 72nd Street at Columbus Avenue on Monday morning, blocking a lane of westbound traffic for about an hour.
An oil line inside the garbage truck ruptured about 10:10 a.m. sending gallons of a substance called "hoist oil" spilling on the street, said Department of Sanitation spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins.
"Something broke and all this oil came out," said Jose Lopez, a superintendent at a West 72nd Street building near Columbus Avenue, who saw the spill. "It was all over. There was oil everywhere, form here to all the way down the block. It was very very thick."
The hoist oil lubricates a piston that allows the truck's hopper to open and close. The broken oil line wasn't part of the truck's steering or brake system, Dawkins said.
The Department of Sanitation sent a mechanical broom and sand spreader to the scene to clean up the mess.
