A new study of the nation’s largest oil spill – at Newtown Creek on the Brooklyn-Queens border – found it’s much larger that originally anticipated, is being cleaned up too slowly and raises serious questions about area residents’ health risks.
The ExxonMobil spill, which happened in 1950 along the 31/2-mile creek, may be as large as 30 million gallons of oil instead of earlier estimates of 17 million, according to a report released yesterday by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The spill and ensuing cleanup efforts led to community outcry and many lawsuits.
The area hit hardest has been Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section. While 9 million gallons of oil have been removed by ExxonMobil, the EPA cautioned the recovery volume might be overestimated and oil unrelated to the spill is also polluting the creek.
“The ugly truth is that an estimated cleanup at this rate won’t be completed until 2026; the ugly truth is that homes in this area are without a doubt being impacted by this spill,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner, who addressed the study at a press conference at the site of a planned park along the creek on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint.
The study also said:
* High levels of hazardous methane gas were found during vapor samplings at nearby commercial establishments.
* A sample of 45 properties in the spill zone found “chemicals were detected at all locations in each home, but not in a pattern that would typically represent a vapor-intrusion phenomenon.”
* While the spill is being contained, seepage into the creek continues.
Prem Nair, an ExxonMobil spokeswoman, said the company “will remain in Greenpoint until the job is done and done right.”
She said the company has been testing “subsurface soil vapors” and found “the plume, which is generally located 30 to 40 feet below the earth’s surface in residential areas, does not pose any health concerns.”
She added that the state Department of Environmental Conservation also couldn’t find health concerns when conducting its own tests.
But the EPA report actually calls on the DEC to increase its testing, as did Weiner, Rep. Nydia Velazquez and other politicians and community activists at yesterday’s conference.
In March, ExxonMobil stopped its groundwater-cleanup pumps removing oil in response to a DEC lawsuit threat and once the company’s discharge permits were revoked. This led to the shutting down of 23 of the 35 recovery wells, said officials.
The EPA said if the continues for a few more weeks, the loss of suction will release oil back into the ground.