By ANDY GARDNER

COLTON -- The Hepburn Library of Colton will remain closed indefinitely following an act of vandalism where water was poured into a fuel oil tank and the state Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating to see if the groundwater has been contaminated.

Library Director Dennis Eickhoff said someone took the building’s garden hose, put it in their fuel oil tank and turned it on, causing a massive spill.

“We’re guessing there was about 400 gallons of fuel oil in there and they checked the water meter and we had gone through about 9,500 gallons of water,” Eickhoff said. “We thought we could re-open Monday but now we’re closed indefinitely.”

He says he can’t imagine who may have done this or why, but New York State Police and their Bureau of Criminal Investigation are on the case, along with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Eickhoff said they don’t yet have a damage estimate, but has heard it could go as high as $40,000.

The DEC has dug out and sealed the tank and they are investigating if the leaked oil may have gotten into the groundwater or nearby Raquette River.

“The concern is the river,” Eickhoff said.

He pointed out that the local drinking water is connected to a municipal water supply, “so we’re pretty safe.”

The vandalism was discovered Tuesday night by a couple going for a walk through the area. He said they heard the water running, noticed what was going on, shut it off and went to his house to notify him.

“It’s upsetting that it happened in our town. The library is the center of town. People depend on it for wifi and the signal isn’t as strong outside. This is our busy time of the summer, people are here, they like to check emails and do things like that,” Eickhoff said. “It’s too bad. We have to reroute our story time. We have a weekly mahjong group we have to cancel out. The library is kind of an important thing in our town.”