New MTBE Spills Found to Threaten LI Drinking Water
By Jennifer Smith, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Feb. 23–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 Friday 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 1 1/2 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.
MTBE locations
ABOUT THIS MAP: The map shows the 21 gas stations where MTBE was detected at levels exceeding the state drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion. It is part of a larger report issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation locating the sites of 32 petroleum spills on Long Island.
Service station Address MTBE concrentration (parts per billion)
1. Citgo 200 Northern Blvd., Great Neck 53
2. Amoco 1599 Hillside Ave., New Hyde Park 245
3. Exxon (BP Amoco) 549 Jericho Tpke., Mineola 73,000
4. Exxon 1019 Tulip Ave., Franklin Square 5,400
5. Liberty Petroleum 1278 Hempstead Tpke., Elmont 240,000
6. Mobil (Palm Beach) 1338 Hempstead Tpke., Elmont 14
7. Amoco 1878 Hempstead Tpke., East Meadow 74
8. Amoco 1883 Front St., East Meadow 11,300
9. Shell 2138 Hempstead Tpke., East Meadow 360
10. Amoco (Happy Bros.) 687 Fort Salonga Rd., Northport 16
11. Mobil 450 Larkfield Rd., East Northport 14
12. Pit Stop 2039 Jericho Tpke., Commack 35
13. Amoco 1007 West Jericho Tpke., Smithtown 35
14. Texaco 195 Pine Aire Dr., Bay Shore 63,000
15. Amoco 1672 Fifth Ave., Bay Shore 49,000
16. Empire (Bohemia Auto) 4173 Veterans Hwy., Ronkonkoma 1,750
17. Getty (Morris & Sons) 913 Portion Rd., Ronkonkoma 49,300
18. Coastal 950 Portion Rd., Ronkonkoma 21
19. Amoco (J & J Service Station) 1090 Portion Rd., Ronkonkoma 11
20. Mobil (First Service Station) 2033 Middle Country Rd., Centereach 19,000
21. Getty 1164 Route 112, Port Jefferson Station 114
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