Gas Station Contamination Leads to Demolition

By: Duane Craig

More than a dozen homes near Loch Raven Village, Md., are slated for demolition in the wake of petroleum contamination that first came to light back in 1987, according to the Essex-Middle River Patch. Apparently, a Hess gas station leaked gasoline that drained downhill, collected in the ground water and beneath homes where it caused vapor intrusion problems. The company settled with 17 of the property owners, however the details of the settlement weren’t released to the public.

One resident, however, who did not receive a buyout settlement, claims he still deals with an oil-covered sump pump in his basement and fumes down there that make it impossible to use the space for washing clothes. He said his property was excluded from the settlement because it was five feet outside the borders of the settlement area.

Previously, Hess had installed a system that removed the gasoline, and that treated the ground water beneath the homes. A separate system was also put into operation to deal with the soil vapors. Apparently though, those systems were either ineffective or more costly when compared with simply buying out the owners and demolishing the buildings. The system removing the gasoline and treating the ground water had been shut down in 2010.

Florida Communities Decide to Root Out Uncertainty

By: Duane Craig

Government officials and property owners in Alachua County, Florida have decided the uncertainty of contamination at brownfield sites isn’t worth the lost business opportunities. So, four communities, Alachua, Hawthorne, Newberry and Waldo, have banded together seeking a federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate rumors of contamination.

By combining their efforts and going for one grant, the county and four communities can leverage $1 million from the EPA’s coffers and avoid costs and time associated with each one doing its own grant application. The county also already has experience with brownfield grants. The entities have agreed there will be at least one brownfield investigated from each area, according to this report.

Of prime concern, and the most likely types of places to be investigated, are former dry-cleaning establishments and former gas stations. City managers and county environmental officials say the uncertainty about contamination at the sites makes investors unlikely to redevelop them.
Counties and municipalities in Florida are very familiar with the process of gathering federal money to deal with contamination issues. Since 2000, governments in Florida have applied for and received 44 assessment grants.

The Carolinas Challenged by Water Woes

By: Duane Craig

Nearly 100 homes in southwestern Cumberland County, N.C., with wells threatened by contamination, will be able to connect to a public water supply by spring 2013, according to this article. The county is installing a water line that will provide connections for the affected residents using a Clean Water Revolving Loan from the state.

The project has been five years in the making even though the contamination causing the problem has been known about for 20 years. Benzene leaking from tanks at a long-closed gas station is considered to be the culprit. Surprisingly, only 40 of the homeowners surveyed said they were in favor of hooking into city water supplies.

Delays in getting the project started ranged from disagreements with neighboring counties on providing the water, requests for federal money being declined, and voters turning down the project because it also included Gray’s Creek.

Nearby in South Carolina, a public water company is pressuring two large, local businesses to help fund a filtering system it now has to install to clean up contamination in its water system, according to this article.

Named in a $450 million lawsuit brought by Alligator Rural Water and Sewer are McLeod Farms and Mar Mac Wire. The utility company says it has evidence the two businesses are the sources of three chemicals polluting the water supplies near McBee. Two-thirds of the wells used by the McLeod peach farm are contaminated, according to the state’s environmental department. News reports are unclear about Mar Mac Wire’s contribution to the problems. The United States Geological Survey is tracking the contamination to determine where it’s originating and how long it’s been present. The report is expected to be completed sometime in 2013.

Haggling Over Toxic Cleanup Leaves Iowa Day Care in the Middle

May 17, 2010 - Connie Richardson runs a child care center in her home, which is surrounded by contaminated soil and toxic chemicals from a front-yard gas station she closed 20 years ago.

She has no idea whether the underground benzene or other dangerous gases made it into the home she shares with her husband, Richard. Four children stay in the child care center five days a week, playing with stuffed animals stored in a street-side room that used to hold B&C Services' grocery items and the cash register.

Tests in 2006 within 10 feet of the house's foundation found high levels of benzene in soil vapors.

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