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Light Rain DEC: Gas station tanks leaking into soil
A Herald investigation has revealed that a Merrick gas station has been leaking gasoline and other contaminants into the soil for years
A Mobil gas station at the corner of Merrick Road and Beach Drive in Merrick has been leaking gasoline and other contaminants into the soil for years, a Herald investigation has revealed.
Aphrodite Montalvo, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said that contamination was found “in the vicinity” of the station when its three singled-walled gasoline tanks were removed recently. The tanks will be replaced by larger, double-walled tanks.
Montalvo said that the contamination is a result of previous spills. The DEC’s website has a database that lists all spills reported to the agency in the past 30 years. Since 1991 there have been eight reported spills at the Mobil station, at 185 W. Merrick Road. Six of the spills have occurred in the last seven years.
Two oil spills in 1991 seeped into the groundwater. Five of the next six spills were gasoline, which spread into the surrounding soil. The most recent spill, on Oct. 15, 2009, involved an “unknown petroleum.”
In 2006 there was a spill of gasoline and methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, a fuel additive. MTBE increases the oxygen content in gasoline and is sometimes used in higher concentrations to fulfill the oxygenate requirements set by the federal government in the 1990 Clean Air Act, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the EPA, independent experts who have assessed the health risks of MTBE inhalation have concluded that the use of MTBE-oxygenated gasoline does not pose an imminent threat to public health. In higher doses, however, MTBE can cause cancer. It was banned in New York state in 2004.
A 6,000-gallon tank and two 8,000-gallon tanks were recently removed from the Mobil station, and will be replaced with a 10,000-gallon tank and a 12,000-gallon tank, according to the DEC. In addition, DEC officials said that about 750 tons of soil is being excavated from the site to prevent further contamination.
According to the DEC, onsite monitoring wells were already installed on the property because of prior leaks, and the agency will regularly check the wells to ensure that contamination does not move offsite.
