A waterway has been polluted with thousands of gallons of fuel after it leaked from a data centre in New Jersey.

Roughly 5,000 gallons of fuel leaked from a storage tank at Equinix’s NY2 data center in Secaucus and flowed into Anderson Creek – a narrow tributary running through the New Jersey Meadowlands wetland in the northeast of the US state – on Friday evening.

Secaucus mayor Michael Gonnelli said the spill had been caused by a ‘computer glitch’.

However, Equinix – the ‘largest global data center and colocation provider for enterprise network and cloud computing’, according to its website – said an investigation into the cause of the leak was still underway.

Containment barriers and vacuum trucks were sent out to suck a mixture of diesel and water out of the creek in a bid to stop the pollution from spreading.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the fuel did not reach the Hackensack River, a 45-mile-long river stretching through New Jersey and neighbouring New York, ultimately flowing into Newark Bay.

But environmental campaigners and experts have branded the leak a ‘slap in the face’ and wondered whether it could have been contained entirely.

Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan told the nonprofit news outlet Gothamist: ‘The tributaries are the capillary system of the whole ecosystem.

‘All the water that runs off of our land goes into the creeks first, and then runs through the creeks out into the river.’

Equinix said a fuel release was detected from a tank outside its facility on Friday, but that staff stopped the leak environmental contractor Clean Harbors and the fire brigade were called in and the DEP and Hudson Regional Health Commission were notified.

Mayor Gonnelli said the data centre had been operating from the site since 2001. ‘We’ve never had a problem before this time,’ he said.

‘There’s a lot of complaints about data centers, I can tell you that. But right now, they did everything they had to do.’

The DEP diesel fuel which had leaked from the facility had been contained.

Equinix said a full investigation had been launched to establish the cause of the incident and to prevent future accidents.

The company said: ‘We are working closely with those agencies, local officials, and community stakeholders to ensure a thorough remediation,’ adding that it remained ‘committed to resolving this quickly, transparently, and responsibly.’

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Deputy council leader Councillor Peter Wilkinson told a meeting of the authority’s executive today (Tuesday, September 15) that the properties were instead being provided to meet the council’s statutory responsibilities towards homeless households.

Councillors were considering a revised business case which would increase the council’s temporary accommodation programme from 90 to 112 homes.

The scheme was originally approved in 2024 amid increasing demand for temporary accommodation and rising costs from placing homeless households in hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Addressing claims about the scheme at the meeting at the Civic Centre in Selby, Cllr Wilkinson said: “I’m aware that there has been some discussion on social media regarding the purpose of these homes.

“For clarity, this programme is not for asylum accommodation. Accommodation of asylum seekers is arranged separately by the Home Office.

“These homes are intended for households to whom North Yorkshire Council owes homelessness duties, including families with children, people fleeing domestic abuse and other vulnerable residents who would otherwise have nowhere suitable to stay.”

Dozens of comments have been posted online in recent days suggesting the homes would be used to house migrants.

One person said: “British people born in this country need houses. Forget the migrants. Send them back. They are not our problem.”

Another added: “This will be to house migrants as they want them out of all hotels etc.”

But the council’s report confirms the purpose of the programme is to provide temporary accommodation for homeless households across North Yorkshire.

It says demand has increased, partly because households are spending longer in temporary accommodation.

Twenty properties have already been delivered — 11 in Scarborough, six in Norton, two in Catterick and one in Ripon — with another 40 properties acquired or already owned by the council being prepared for occupation.

The revised programme would increase the overall budget from £11.6m to just around £18.1m, with the council saying the additional investment would reduce its reliance on more expensive emergency accommodation.

The report says there is a particular shortage of one and two-bedroom temporary accommodation for homeless single people and couples, as well as shortages in parts of Harrogate, Selby and Scarborough.

Once all 112 homes are available, the council estimates the programme could eventually produce savings and avoid additional costs of up to £2.71m a year, with the additional benefit expected from 2028/29 onwards.

Cllr Wilkinson said the properties would remain council-owned assets.

He added: “Overall, this is a prudent investment that reduces ongoing revenue pressure, supports some of our most vulnerable residents and represents good stewardship of public money.”

The council has a legal duty to help people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

Its report also points out that families with children and pregnant women cannot legally be housed in B&B accommodation for more than six weeks.

How can I boost my longevity without walking 10,000 steps a day?

Experts have long recommended brisk walking for better health benefits

JJ Gabiel has stunned Man Utd by asking to leave the club and he now won’t make his first-team debut against Brighton on Wednesday night.

Manchester United are in the dark over JJ Gabriel’s decision to try and quit Old Trafford after the 15-year-old refused to train on Tuesday ahead of what could have been a first-team debut this week.

United had planned to name Gabriel in their squad to face Brighton in the Carabao Cup third-round on Wednesday, but the teenager has decided against training with Michael Carrick’s squad after asking to leave the club.

Gabriel would have become United’s youngest-ever player had he featured against the Seagulls, but he has left the club in a state of shock after sending a formal notification that he wants his registration to be cancelled.

United officials are unclear what has caused Gabriel to demand to leave the club he has played for since the age of 11. He made his UEFA Youth League debut against Sabah last Thursday and scored a hat-trick as his remarkable rise up the ranks continued.

Despite Gabriel’s request and his decision not to train, which effectively rules him out of a senior debut this week, United still feel the situation is rectifiable given the time remaining on his contract. A United source said Gabriel cannot be de-registered, despite his request.

He can’t sign a professional contract until he turns 17, or a scholarship agreements until he is 16, which Gabriel does not do until October 6.

Astley-based Fresh Start Waste Services won in the Environmental Services sector for Environmental Improvement, with its entry titled ‘Fresh Start is leading the industry by doing what others wouldn’t.’

Sean Martins, director at Fresh Start Waste Services, said: “This award belongs to the whole Fresh Start team.

“We chose not to wait for legislation or accept that mixed recycling was too difficult.

“We invested ahead of demand because our customers deserve clear evidence, transparent reporting and the best environmental outcome we can achieve for every tonne.”

The award recognised the company’s investment in a £750,000 Kiverco Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Swinton, which processes around 15,000 tonnes of dry mixed recycling annually.

Through improved separation, quality control and recovery processes, Fresh Start has increased its recycling recovery rate from 41 per cent to more than 60 per cent.

Unrecoverable material is shredded onsite and converted into refuse-derived fuel, supporting the company’s zero-to-landfill commitment.

Fresh Start has also committed a further £1.5 million in its long-term processing strategy.

The company has purchased an adjoining building and submitted a planning application to roughly double its processing space.

If approved, the expansion would allow for additional processing upgrades, including advanced bag-splitting technology to recover more recyclable material from bagged waste.

Mr Martins said: “Our current MRF is already recovering more valuable materials and keeping the remainder out of landfill.

“Subject to planning, the next phase will give us the additional space and technology to build on that performance.”

Fresh Start provides customers with digital compliance records, onboard weighing data and detailed recycling performance reports.

The company has also been invited to accept Green World Ambassador status and will have its winning paper published in The Green Book, an international environmental best practice guide.

CambridgeshireLive readers have been sharing their views on the A141 St Ives road improvements, lorries using residential streets as rat runs and proposed bypass plans

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CambridgeshireLive readers have been sharing their thoughts on St Ives streets being exploited as “rat runs”, where lorries “thunder through” residential areas to bypass the congested A141. Many questioned whether proposals genuinely incorporate local feedback and what modifications might follow.

Locals say heavy goods vehicles are “thundering” through residential roads to avoid a congested route. The claims follow the unveiling of proposals to upgrade the A141 and roads in St Ives amid concerns about traffic congestion.

An update on the plans was delivered to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s transport committee on Wednesday, September 8. It proposed a new dual-carriageway bypass from Spittalls Interchange to a new roundabout on the B1090.

The B1090 would also be upgraded to dual carriageway up to the A141 roundabout, with an additional lane added to Harrison Way between the A1123 and the busway. Two new “offline routes” for pedestrians and cyclists were also proposed to connect Huntingdon and St Ives, alongside four routes to extend the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. It also put forward two new park and ride facilities at Huntingdon Racecourse and Wyton Airfield.

One of our readers, Whynot2 says: “The only reason it’s a residential area now is because of all the houses that have been built, lorries were using the road long before. If the road is a 30/40mph and lorries are doing the speed limit, does that mean cars and vans are thundering through as well?”

Freddly adds: “If the council or National Highways were to improve the A141 and roads in St Ives, congestion would reach current levels 18 months after the projects were completed, and would obviously surpass it on nearby (unimproved) roads.”

VFRrider writes: “Maybe the lorries are delivering to the businesses. Also, lorries coming from the Chatteris direction would use that road. A pity councillors live in a fantasy world where people only carry clipboards and don’t have goods to deliver and pick up. These people would destroy every business.”

Over on our Facebook page, Jamie BH comments: “In other words, a list of streets ‘in play’ for future LTNs”

Clare D says: “What’s the betting? They’re gonna reduce the speed to 50 miles an hour and put cameras all the way along? It’s just an excuse to do this. These 50 miles per hour and 20 miles per hour limits are absolutely stupid. We’re going back in our evolution. Why keep changing things that work just so you can put cameras up and get revenue in, plus I’m sure all these stupid limits everywhere are actually messing up lorries, they are diesel. They need to clear themselves out now and again, or is that what the government is hoping for? So then they can force everyone to go electric.”

Robert M feels: “50mph is reasonable and acceptable. Just because your speedo has 80 mph on it, you don’t have to drive that fast.”

What would you do about these ‘rat runs’? Comment below or HERE to have your say.

Among botanicals, landmarks, and just about every conceivable wildlife scenario, Lego also pays homage to emblematic movie productions to create buildable merchandise from your favourite films. This, the DMC DeLorean set from Back to the Future, lets fans build, display and recreate action from the iconic franchise – plus, it comes with your very own minifigure Doc Brown and Marty McFly.

Adrian Mason, from Reform UK, asks:

What assessment has the First Minister made of the affordability of tuition fees in Wales?

Mr Mason says there is a cap in place in England, but Welsh universities are under pressure with a huge deficit. He says Bangor Uni alone has a £90m deficit.

Mr ap Iorwerth is asked for clarity on what Wales will do to help the “fragility” of higher education in Wales, as the First Minister words it.

He says there has to be support for students, and the institutions alike. “It is a balance,” he says. “We need to find that balance”.

“This is something we need consensus on, it’s far too important to be used as some sort of political ding dong”.

Mr ap Iorwerth says consideration is being taken on the 2027-28 fee cap.

London has missed out to Nairobi in the bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships.

The decision, which means an African city will host the event for the first time, was confirmed at a World Athletics council meeting in Budapest.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said Nairobi had presented “a compelling and emotional bid”.

“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the council,” said Coe.

“With this decision today, we continue to fulfil our mission of growing athletics worldwide with the hosting of our World Athletics Championships in Asia, Africa and Europe over its next three editions.

“Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic.

“It was important that the World Athletics Championships should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid and the right circumstances. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment.”

The London Stadium, home of Championship club West Ham United, was the proposed host venue for the UK bid.

The stadium was also used for the 2012 Olympic Games and the yearly London Diamond League, and also when the city last hosted the Worlds in 2017.

The UK’s bid was led by Athletic Ventures, which consisted of UK Athletics, London Marathon Events and the Great Run Company.

Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics and co-founder of Athletic Ventures, said: “We are deeply disappointed that the 2029 World Athletics Championships will not be held in London. We believed we had an outstanding bid which would genuinely take the sport to new levels.

“We would like to thank the Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and UK Sport for their fantastic support for our bid. Our thanks also to the London Stadium, West Ham United and our many stakeholders for their commitment and hard work to put the bid together.

“Our congratulations go to Nairobi and we wish the organising committee all the best for a great event in 2029.”

Rome was the other city to miss out, as World Athletics also confirmed that Munich would host the 2031 event for the first time.

Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, submitted a bid for the 2025 championships but missed out to Tokyo.

The city’s Kasarani Stadium is being renovated before the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in 2027, which strengthened its case as a host venue.

Kenya finished second in the medal table at the 2025 edition, winning seven gold medals and 11 in total.

An infamous YouTuber has been fined for smashing a Tesco Express door and screaming abuse at staff.

Daniel Jarvis, known as Jarvo69 on social media, has gained notoriety for carrying out stunts at major sporting events.

Last November he stormed the pitch at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium and posed as an Australian rugby player, wearing the full kit, in the starting line-up.

In September 2024, the 38-year-old joined the England squad during their pre-match line-up before a Nations League football match against Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

As a result of the prank, Maidstone magistrates banned him from entering football stadiums for five years.

Jarvis, from Gravesend, also managed to play sex noises live on the BBC’s Match of the Day coverage of Wolves’ FA Cup third-round replay with Liverpool in January 2023.

The stunts have seen him amass almost 71 million views on YouTube, but have also landed him behind bars.

In April, he was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for disrupting England’s Six Nations cricket match against Ireland by running onto the pitch at The Oval in November 2022.

Now out of prison, Jarvis was back at Medway Magistrates’ Court on Friday and admitted to causing criminal damage to Tesco Express in Whitehill Road – five minutes away from his home in the same street.

The court heard he went to the shop on New Year’s Day, three minutes before it was due to shut at 11pm. There were no customers in the store, and two staff members were locking up.

When they denied him entry, Jarvis verbally abused them and kicked the doors, prosecutor Caroline Aitken told the court.

She said: ‘A colleague described that he became angry and called her names such as ‘f****** b****’ and said to let him in or he would kick the doors down. He kicked the door and the glass panel cracked. The colleague called the police. The cost of the damage was between £1,000 and £2,000.’ Jarvis admitted the offence in a police interview.

Defence solicitor Kyle Alves told the court Jarvis had gone to the shop to buy migraine tablets.

‘He gets really bad migraines that affect his vision,’ he said. ‘At this stage there were no pharmacies open and the Tesco was the only shop open. He was desperate to get into the shop, and when faced with not being able to get in he became angry.’

Mr Alves said Jarvis, who is unemployed, is using the Jobcentre to help him set up his own business selling film products. The former London Southbank University film student is also about to start a job at a streaming company as a runner, the court heard.

Magistrates fined him £200 for the criminal damage, and ordered he pay an £80 court surcharge and another £80 prosecution costs. As he is claiming Universal Credit, he will pay the fine at a rate of £20 a month.

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