By Nicole Falco
The district filed suit on March 25 and publicly announced the suit that same evening at the Shaw Avenue School to an audience of concerned parents prior to its regular monthly board meeting. The district's action was taken on the recommendation of the Mineola-based law firm of Napoli, Kaiser, Bern and Associates and the district's longtime attorney, Albert D'Agostino.
School officials assured the community that no air pollutants have ever been identified above health protection standards.
According to a release issued by the district, the lawsuit calls for Exxon-Mobil Corporation and the current and former owners of the Exxon gas station at 562 West Merrick Road "to pay for any costs associated with the monitoring and remediation of the spill as well as protection of the school." The suit also charges negligence on the part of the company and service station owners for allowing the contamination to occur. The school district seeks compensatory damages as well as reimbursement of taxpayer funds spent to date.
A representative of the Exxon-Mobil Corp., Barry Wood, said the company would have no comment until they have reviewed court papers in the case. The current owner of the gas station on Merrick Rd. is out of town, according to the owner of the adjacent service station.
According to Superintendent of Schools Lawrence McGoldrick, the district has been spending $4,000 each month to test the air quality in the school since they were told in summer 1999 that the spill had occurred.
"Until you hear otherwise, you can rest assured that there will be a monthly report. Larry [McGoldrick] will receive it and will share it with [the board]," said Board of Education President Richard Eisenberg.
The district, under the direction of an environmental consulting firm, also installed "vapor barriers" to separate the lowest level of the building and the contaminated groundwater. Groundwater wells have been installed at the school and just below the gas station to intercept the flow of contaminated water and treat it. The district had hoped to pay for monitoring and remediation costs with the help of the Department of Environmental Conservation's "spill fund," but the fund is "overdrawn," McGoldrick said.
According to Robert DiCandia, an environmental engineer for the DEC, "spill fund" money was used for early investigation of this case, but since then the owners of the gas station have assumed responsibility for the clean-up. "Spill fund" money is raised through the tax levied on oil entering the state. DiCandia said there are certain times of the year when the "spill fund" is low, but it is replenished.
DiCandia added that the owners of the gas station, under the direction of the DEC, will continue clean-up including implementing a soil vapor extraction system, which acts as a "vacuum sucking dirty air out of the ground," and a sparge system, which bounces "bubbles" into the ground to collect contaminants.
Over the past two years, McGoldrick said the district has been using funds that were "left over" from its annual budget to pay remediation and monitoring costs. The "left over" money is usually given back to taxpayers.
"For the first time since this event started when we do the budget presentation I will point to a line in the budget that says, 'this is for environmental costs,'" McGoldrick said.
Monitoring the hazard
"First and foremost we [the district] are very pleased to report that the building has been found to be free of contaminants," McGoldrick said.
The district hired Cashin Associates P.C. of Hauppauge to conduct the monthly tests. Cashin Assoc. has performed 11 air quality tests inside the school and 13 in the soil around the school each month for a total of more than 500 tests since July 1999.
"If there was a problem with the contaminants migrating from the ground water into the school, these probes would discover it," said Greg Greene, Director of Environmental Programs for Cashin Assoc.
McGoldrick noted that Clear Stream does not use the groundwater for any purpose. The Long Island Water Authority supplies the school's water.
The problem's origin
The spill occurred in the early 1990s, but the district was not informed that there had been a spill until summer 1999, McGoldrick said. Once notified, the district immediately came forward with the news.
Clean-up is the responsibility of the source of the spill, which in this case is the previous and present owners of the gas station. Clean-up can take 3-5 years or longer.
"I think it would have to be rated as a very major spill because it has traveled quite far [and] because of the level of contaminants found at the gas station," Greene said. "The school is essentially sitting at the top of a river that is carrying contaminants downstream."
Clear Stream Avenue School is in the direct path of the spill, which extends south from the West Merrick Road gas station to the LIRR. While the clean-up will benefit the community, the suit is solely between the district and involved parties.
The contaminant of concern is MTBE, a gasoline additive that was used to create better gas mileage and promote cleaner emissions. MTBE had been used in gasoline for over 20 years and is being phased out.
The larger problem
Oils spills are not unique to Clear Stream Avenue School. Numerous spills have occurred throughout Long Island. According to DiCandia there have been "too many" spills. Most spills are the result of gas stations having older tanks still in use.
Just minutes from Clear Stream, the Forest Road School is about 700 feet from the path of another local spill. While Forest is not in the direct path of the spill and the spill is located about 100 feet beneath the surface, the district regularly tests the groundwater under the school.
The results of the regular testing of Clear Stream and Forest are available at the District 30 office or at the individual schools by appointment with the principals.
