PARIS — The Oxford Hills School District is willing to work with the Board of Selectmen to allay fears of a possible oil spill at

, according to Superintendent Rick Colpitts. 

The district is able to reduce the level of heating oil in the school’s 11,400-gallon tank to 1,000 gallons, as requested by selectmen earlier this week, he said.

“If that’s what they think will mitigate their concerns, we’d be happy to work with them on that piece,” Colpitts said. 

Paris Elementary uses approximately 600 gallons of heating oil per week, according to interim Facilities Director Nelson Baillargeon. 

Engineers from Sebago Technics will assist the district with creating Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures plans starting next Monday, and more engineers will begin preparing the oil tank at Paris Elementary for inspection beginning April 21, the first day of the district’s April vacation.

Engineers will test the tank from the inside and outside to determine what next steps the district should take, Colpitts said. 

Development of the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures plan will take place in tandem with site inspections, but the engineers involved would “like to know the results of the tank inspection in order to help us design a priority,” Colpitts said.

At their meeting Monday, selectmen voiced concerns about the state of the oil tank, which has evidence of “severe corrosion” caused by water infiltrating its below-ground concrete storage vault, according to a report from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that reviewed four sites in the district. 

Selectman Sam Elliot, in particular, criticized the district’s attitude and suggested it had not been completely truthful about the scale of the concern. 

In late December, an accidental discharge at the Hebron Station School spilled more than 1,500 gallons of heating oil into the ground and nearby wetlands, prompting concerns about the condition of other oil tanks in the area’s schools. 

Last month, Paris selectmen sent a letter to Colpitts asking for the district to take steps to ease their concerns about the structural integrity of the tank and the lack of an alarm or containment capability in connection with the tank’s pressure relief valve.

The school is in zone two of the town’s wellhead protection plan, and selectmen fear that if a spill similar to the one at Hebron Station occurs it could contaminate the town’s drinking water. 

In their letter, selectmen asked for Colpitts to provide them with copies of the district’s remediation plan, an evaluation of the current oil tank facility, a copy of the district’s SPCC plan and updates on its progress. According to selectmen, the school district has yet to respond to its request. 

On Wednesday, Colpitts said the district is taking the concerns seriously and intends to provide selectmen with the information they requested as soon as it becomes available. 

“They’ve asked us to keep them informed when there’s information and before we develop procedures to address it,” Colpitts said. 

“I’m more than willing to do that, I think we’ve been very transparent with this issue. But they have to give us time to first identify what the urgency and remediation needs are.”

Colpitts said the district is taking the concerns of residents and town officials seriously and will contact them as soon as results become available. 

“The district has not yet determined the urgency or the priority, and with five different sites we’re looking at, we want to make sure to identify the ones that are most likely to cause harm,” he said. 

He has already earmarked $40,000 in next year’s budget to address problems highlighted by the Hebron Station spill and subsequent DEP report, Colpitts said. 

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