Diesel Fuel Spill at Equinix AI Data Center in Secaucus Prompts Cleanup and Calls for Moratorium

Thousands of gallons of diesel fuel leaked from an AI data center in Secaucus, New Jersey, late last week, triggering a multi-day environmental cleanup and renewing calls from local advocates for stricter oversight of the region's rapidly expanding data center industry.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said the diesel discharged from a storage tank at the Equinix Data Center on Friday and has since been contained. The agency estimated that approximately 5,000 gallons were released, though a spokesperson said it remains unclear how much of that volume reached nearby Anderson Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack River. Contractors have been on site since the incident, removing oil from the waterway.

Bill Sheehan of Hackensack Riverkeeper said he was told a computer glitch caused the spill. "The computer was calling for oil," he said. The DEP said there have been no impacts to the Hackensack River, noting that "there are no drinking water intakes in the area and no impacts to wildlife have been reported." Sheehan, however, expressed caution about the longer-term consequences. "I'm not saying that they found a lot of dead animals. I'm not saying that. I am saying it's too early to know," he said.

Equinix said it detected the fuel release on Friday, stopped it, and immediately contacted the relevant agencies. "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," the company said. Equinix added that it has operated in the community for more than two decades and is committed to resolving the issue with transparency.

The incident has amplified concerns among local environmental groups about the concentration of data center infrastructure in Secaucus. "Secaucus is the place where data centers have been being built," said Ben Dziobek of Climate Revolution Action Network. "We need to slow this down, and we are calling for a statewide moratorium on data centers." The DEP said the cleanup is expected to take several days.