By Sabina Mollot

In case anyone’s wondering what a bunch of workers have been doing at the Oval with some equipment that looks like a vacuum, it’s part of a cable oil cleanup.

The workers, subcontractors for Con Ed, have been attempting to drain some oil that was used to insulate a cable that shot a circuit and opened yesterday, a spokesperson for the utility said.

The spokesperson, Sara Banda, added that the oil does not pose “a significant environmental impact” and no one’s service has been impacted as a result of the cable breaking.

The company is hoping to finish draining the oil by Friday afternoon.

The work began yesterday, and the reason it takes a while to complete the job is that first workers have to locate the problem area before fixing it and cleaning up the area, Banda said.