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Thousands of Gallons of Oily Goop Oozes Onto Brooklyn Street, FDNY Says

 The liquid spilled onto the street near Third Avenue and 23rd Street in Brooklyn, fire said
The liquid spilled onto the street near Third Avenue and 23rd Street in Brooklyn, fire said
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Twitter/@justinschrader via @beatak

BROOKLYN — Like a scene from "Ghostbusters 2," a water main break sent thousands of gallons oily water oozing onto the streets of Greenwood Heights Tuesday morning, officials said.

At about 11:20 a.m., firefighters were summoned to 23rd Street and Third Avenue where, "a large amount of a thick umknown substance arising from the street," the FDNY's official Twitter account announced.

Water flowed out of a ruptured water main and came in contact with a high-voltage cable, causing an oily substance to flow into the growing pool that was initially estimated to be nearly 2,000 gallons, according to FDNY and ConEd officials.

FDNY couldn't say what the oily substance was, but ConEd said it may be a dielectric fluid that is typically used to insulate and cool high voltage equipment.

Dielectric fluid can sometimes contain highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyls — PCBs —according to the Environmental Protection Acency, but officials said Tuesday's spill did not contain those chemicals.

Various agencies swarmed the scene while hazmat crews contained the spreading liquid, a fire spokeswoman said.

The power company is still investigating the incident.