New MTBE spills in Ronkonkoma and Elmont

Nowhere does it definitively say that these spills HAVE affected drinking water. Just that the potential was/is there.

But it still s*cks.

"New MTBE spills found to threaten drinking water
BY JENNIFER SMITH

[email protected]

February 23, 2008

A study of Long Island groundwater pollution caused by the fuel additive MTBE uncovered 32 petroleum spills that had not been previously detected, including one in Ronkonkoma that state environmental officials said had threatened public drinking water.

The report, released yesterday by the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation, found that methyl tertiary butyl ether still threatens the aquifers that supply Long Island's drinking water -- despite New York's 2004 ban on MTBE.

The study called for continued monitoring of MTBE in drinking water and recommended more tests to locate other undetected spills.

The study was prompted by a 2002 DEC survey that found Long Island had more MTBE-contaminated spill sites -- 24 percent of the state's total -- than any region in New York.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency classifies MTBE as a probable carcinogen, but little is known about its effects on human health.

Thought to make fuel burn more cleanly, MTBE was added to gasoline in the 1990s in states such as New York that suffer from air pollution. Once spilled, it moves quickly through groundwater and is difficult and costly to remove.

To study the extent of MTBE contamination in Long Island's groundwater, the DEC had monitoring wells installed at 52 Nassau and Suffolk gas stations between 2002 and 2006. Each station was within 11/2 miles of public drinking water supply wells and had no known history of MTBE spills.

Tests turned up new MTBE spills in groundwater at 32 of those stations. Sixty percent of the sites where MTBE was detected had concentrations that were below the state public drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion.

But 34 percent of the stations with MTBE exceeded that standard, and 15 percent showed concentrations of up to 500 times that amount -- levels that required immediate remediation. Owners of two stations with particularly high MTBE concentrations refused to further investigate the extent of the contamination or clean it up themselves, so the DEC had to hire contractors, the study said.

One such spill at a Getty station on Portion Road in Ronkonkoma involved a plume with MTBE concentrations of up to 49,300 parts per billion that was headed for a public drinking water supply well about 1,400 feet away, the report said. The other spill stemmed from a Liberty Petroleum on Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont, where a plume with concentrations of up to 240,000 parts per billion had migrated about 1,700 feet southwest of the gas station.

The DEC estimated that cleaning up both spills would cost a combined $2.25 million.

A man who answered the phone at the Ronkonkoma station Friday declined to comment. No one answered the phone at the Elmont station. "

Re: New MTBE spills in Ronkonkoma and Elmont

Wow, I'm glad I've been drinking bottled water! That is really scary though. I live very close to one of those gas stations.

Message edited 2/23/2008 2:08:16 PM.

Re: New MTBE spills in Ronkonkoma and Elmont

I heard about this on the news last night. I was trying to look up on the website for my filtration system if this would get filtered out. I am freaking b/c I filter then boil my water for DS formula I stopped using bottled water for him b/c of the plastic waste, but if that is the only way for him to get safe water, then I might have to do it again