Heating oil tanks endanger drinking water in Maine

February 8, 2008 - Maine's ample lakes and aquifers provide plenty of clean surface and groundwater. There's so much that Mainers may take clean water supplies for granted. Yet, like New York City and many other states, run-off pollution from sprawling development is a common risk to those supplies.

Among contaminants likely to cause problems, the most prevalent is home heating fuel oil leaks from above ground storage tanks (AST) -- an average of 1.4 spills per day.

There are 27 public drinking water supplies with at least one AST oil facility (not including home heating oil tanks) within the so-called public wellhead protection area. Another 157 supplies have ASTs within 1,000 feet of a public well. Many more ASTs are located in close proximity to private wells.

The risks to drinking water are as staggering as the costs for remediation are high.

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Ongoing oil release in Shenandoah Pennsylvania

February 6, 2008 - Work began Tuesday to install an off-site monitoring well to determine if an ongoing oil release is affecting ground water or soil.

“This has been going on for several years and DEP requested an off-site well,” Olives said. “Levels were found to be slightly elevated and we are taking a look at the problem to ensure it is not coming from our site.”

“We believe there are underground storage tanks on the property and we are working to determine if there could be a potential problem,” Mark Carmon, DEP community relations spokesman, said. “There is no cause for concern that we are aware of at this point.”

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Contamination forces New Jersey couple from home

February 4, 2008 - A Burlington County family says they are living a housing nightmare.

They said they were forced to leave their dream home because the land is contaminated with heating oil.

The family said fumes are making them sick at their home on North Carolina Trail in Pemberton. And the well water has been deemed unsafe to drink.

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10 year old gas station leak in Holland Michigan will take 10 more years to clean

January 24, 2008 - An underground gasoline leak in Holland's Midtown neighborhood at least a decade old is slated to be cleaned up over the next 10 years.

A since-demolished Amoco gas station and the existing South River Shell Mini-mart have contributed to the contamination and both are paying for the clean up, said Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Hydrogeologist Chris Christensen.

The plume of gasoline extends from the Shell station on the southeast corner of River Avenue and 15th Street north across 15th.

Leaks are a common problem, said Christensen, who works in the remediation and redevelopment division -- so are contamination plumes.

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Home heating oil leaks into Lake Kenosia in Danbury Connecticut

January 9, 2008 - Between 75 to 80 gallons of heating oil leaked out of a home fuel tank Tuesday and onto the shore and water of Lake Kenosia.

Firefighters responded to a report of a fuel spill at 85 Boulevard Drive after a neighbor spotted a red slick in the water.

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Suit Filed Over Oil Leaks in Farmington, CT

October 25, 2007 - A couple on Paper Chase Drive who contend that leaking oil from two buried fuel tanks is fouling their property is suing the town, an oil company, an excavating firm and a heating company.

The lawsuit was filed last month in Superior Court in Hartford on behalf of James and Sharon Geanuracous. Their lawyer, Jeffrey Martin of Hartford, declined to comment Wednesday.

According to the suit, the contamination is caused by the improper closing and abandonment in 1991 of a community oil distribution system for the Walnut Farms neighborhood. It alleges the system is on town property and that town employees did not properly supervise the decommissioning of the system, which included two 10,000-gallon tanks.

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Neighborhood wells contaminated in Elkhart Indiana

August 7, 2007 - People on Elkhart's north side got answers Tuesday about growing concerns of water contamination in their neighborhood.

Geocel Corporation found a leak in old underground tanks earlier this year.

Tests show the leaking chemicals contaminated the drinking water in a number of nearby homes.

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South Carolina Lags in Leaking Tank Cleanup

June 22, 2007 - South Carolina state lawmakers this year agreed to spend $5 million more on cleaning pollution caused by leaking underground gasoline tanks.

But federal regulators say that's only a fraction of what's needed to clean an estimated 3,200 sites statewide.

The leaking tanks can pollute wells and about $1 million state residents get their water from groundwater.

The state gets about $17 million a year from gas taxes for the work. But regulators say twice that much is needed to clean the sites.

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Keyport, New Jersey Homes to be Tested for Contamination

May 16, 2007 - KEYPORT - Is there a giant leaking oil tanker under your house? A new committee aims to find out.

Mayor Robert Bergen recently chose resident Lynn Kosobucki to act as chairwoman of the 29-member citizens group. Originally formed last May under the guidance of Kenneth Kloo and Ian Curts of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the committee will oversee state-funded investigations to help interested residents learn if there is any environmental contamination on their property.

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Ohio Homes Checked for Contamination

April 27, 2007 - DAYTON — Delphi Corp. is contacting the owners of 15 homes near its Home Avenue plant to see if possible contamination has spread from an area where tanks once held industrial chemicals.

"Vapors from some of the chemical residues found at the Delphi site have apparently moved into parts of the neighborhood through the ground," Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said in an e-mail to the Dayton Daily News.

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