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The areas of the northeast industrial section of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York along the Newtown Creek were home to oil refineries from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s and continued to be used for bulk petroleum storage until 1993 ^[1]. The largest portion of these operations were by ExxonMobil or its predecessors. Leaking tanks and pipelines, spillage and explosion in 1950 may have contributed to presence of between 17 and 30 million gallons of oil in the ground. The petroleum was found when US Coast Guard observed an oil slick on the Newtown Creek in 1978.

The spill, originally up to 3 times larger than the Exxon Valdez spill, first covered over 100 acres in the mostly industrial north east section of the community. In January 2006, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and oil company representative asserted that about 9 million gallons of free product had been cleaned up.

Cleanup by ExxonMobil began in 1979, and has continued into 2007^[2]. Although 9 million gallons of petroleum have been removed, more than 8 million gallons of oil and byproducts from petroleum are considered to remain underground while the clean up continues. The spill covers about 55 acres.

During the 2006/2007 heating season, the NYSDEC collected samples to determine if vapors from the spill are getting into area homes. Petroleum vapors from the spill do not appear to be getting into area homes. A possible explanation is that the spilled oil is deep underground in the residential area and it is overlain by a nearly impermeable layer of clay.^[3]

Contents 1 Environmental Litigation 2 References 3 External links 4 See also

[edit] Environmental Litigation

In 1950, in what is considered to be the worst oil spill in United States history, 17 to 30 million gallons of oil spilled into Newtown Creek. Oil is believed to have been seeping into the groundwater since then. Groundwater in this area is not used as drinking water, as the New York City water supply system comes from upstate reservoirs. In January 2006, state and oil company officials asserted that to date half of the spill has been cleaned up.[citation needed]

According to page 42 from an Environmental Protection Agency study, "the American Petroleum Institute (2002) indicates that 40% to 80% of a product spill may be retained in soils as residual product.").^[4] The Department of Environmental Conservation's website states that petroleum companies participating in the cleanup have used a Free Product Recovery System for groundwater, rather than the soils.^[5]

On October 20, 2005, local residents within the area of the oil recovery operation, which is located in the predominantly commercial/industrial eastern section of Greenpoint near the East Williamsburg Industrial Park, filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron in Brooklyn State Supreme Court, alleging they have suffered adverse health consequences although there has been no proof to back up their allegations.[citation needed] Additionally, a New York State Department of Health study, completed in May 2007, indicated that no vapors were coming from the spill into people's homes.^[6]

However, the Environmental Protection Agency's "Newtown Creek/Greenpoint Oil Spill Study Brooklyn, New York" states that vapor concentrations in “some commercial establishments” were found “above the Upper Explosive Limit” (page 7).^[7] Simply put, that means there was too much vapor for an explosion to ignite. In addition, the same E.P.A. study said, "A review of the data collected by the NYSDEC shows that, in general, chemicals were detected at all locations in each home, but not in a pattern that would typically represent a vapor intrusion phenomenon."^[8]

ExxonMobil asserts that the oil was spilled by Paragon Oil.^[9]

A recent New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reported that tested residential blocks above the spill area concluded that there is no evidence of either oil or dangerous vapors seeping into people’s homes. Brooklyn Paper columnist Tom Gilbert wrote, "This stands to reason, as the spilled oil tends to lie deep underground, capped by a nearly impermeable layer of clay."^[10] Still, the E.P.A. report does not say that the layer of clay is "impermeable," and soil vapor tests by both the D.E.C. and the non-profit environmental organization Riverkeeper have come out positive.^[11]

In fact, as reported by NYU's ScienceLine, ExxonMobil's own testing confirms this: "This summer, a contractor for Exxon Mobil conducted a soil vapor study in Greenpoint. It took ten samples from a residential area; of five samples that detected benzene, one was from an area above the oil plume at a level below 5.4 parts per billion. The EPA estimates that breathing just 0.4 parts per billion of benzene in air over a lifetime could cause a risk of one additional cancer case for every 100,000 people exposed."^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.gwapp.org
• http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/38605.html
• http://neighborhoodroots.tripod.com/williamsburgcancer.html

[edit] See also

• Greenpoint, Brooklyn
• Newtown Creek