Old Gas Leak Sparks Water Ban in Wisconsin

By: Nathan Lamb

Contaminants from an old gas leak have left residents of a Wisconsin apartment complex without drinking water for more than three months, according to this article from the Kenosha News.

Roughly 25 residents of the Lincoln Crest Apartments at Twin Lakes have been getting by on bottled water since high levels of a gasoline additive were discovered at the complex’s well by the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in late October.

The testing revealed methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), a fuel octane heightening compound that’s considered a potential carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The contamination was traced back to leaky tanks at a neighboring gas station, which were removed in the early ‘90s. Contaminated soil was found up to 10 feet underground and excavated from the site, and shallow wells nearby were re-drilled because of the problem.

While leakage has stopped the gas station, the groundwater remains an issue. Contamination was discovered at two neighboring sites with deeper wells over the past five years. A DNR official says that it’s unclear how the contamination reached that deeper aquifer, but added that MBTE moves quickly though soil and can spread rapidly through groundwater.

A new and deeper well is being drilled for the Lincoln Crest Apartments, using funds from a state gas inspection tax.

Twin Lakes is a village of roughly 6,000 people, approximately 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee.

Tests in PA Confirm Contamination Near Old Fuel Leak

July 22, 2010 - Residents near a Susquehanna Twp. gas station where a 17-year-old fuel leak was never cleaned up weren't surprised to hear that levels of benzene and other contaminants appear to exceed acceptable levels in some spots around their homes.

But until the extent of the contamination is known, homeowners won't have a good idea what the cleanup will involve.

More than two dozen residents of Redwood and Alden streets, behind the gas station at Progress Avenue and Union Deposit Road, gathered at Progress Fire Hall Wednesday evening to learn the preliminary results of geologist Gary Calvert's probe into leaks from the station.

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ExxonMobil ruled liable for well toxins in New York

October 20, 2009 - ExxonMobil was ordered to pay $105 million for contaminating ground water in Queens with a gasoline additive. The city sued ExxonMobil for knowlingly contaminating the ground water and ignoring warnings not to use MTBE in areas that use ground water for drinking water.

Mayor Bloomberg said "Our water supply is one of our most vital resources - and we will work to protect it and go after those who damage it"

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Sussex, NJ Residents Warned of Soil & Groundwater Contamination

October 9, 2009- Some Sussex Borough residents have been notified by an engineering firm that six compounds associated with gasoline have been detected in soil and groundwater around the site of a former Gulf station on Loomis Avenue.

The letter, which was sent at the beginning of September to residents who live near the site, indicated that an engineering study detected the presence of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and tertiary-butyl alcohol (TBA). The letter was sent to area residents by Brilliant Lewis Environmental Services, LLC, a Toms River-based environmental consultant.

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Water Worries Bullville, NY Residents

August 24, 2009- The Department of Environmental Conservation knew of gas station spills that would pollute the water of a firehouse and taint the wells of residents since 1994. The gas station's water even tested high for the contaminating gas additive MTBE in 2001. But the DEC didn't tell neighbors of the contamination from the Hit or Miss Mobil until 2008, after two more spills and a truck accident at the Bullville firehouse well.

All of which makes neighbor George Larsen ask:
"I'm wondering why it took so long for anyone to find out? I came down with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1998 and I had no idea the spill took place. I'm wondering if there's any connection."

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New York City Says Exxon Is Liable for Tainted Well Water in Queens

August 6, 2009 - Lawyers for New York City are trying to convince a jury in a federal trial that Exxon Mobile knew that an additive that it used in gasoline would contaminate groundwater.

The trial, which began on Tuesday is one of hundreds of cases that have been presented around the country against oil companies over the additive, M.T.B.E., a chemical compound that replaced lead in gasoline as an octane enhancer. Such enhancers boost engine performance and help prevent knocking.

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Lawsuit filed for property owner affected by fuel leak in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

April 14, 2009 - A lawsuit filed on behalf of a Tuscaloosa resident alleges an underground storage tank located at a fuel center owned by Chatham Oil Company, Inc. incurred a leak, releasing gasoline and related products that contaminated the resident's soil and groundwater.

The resident noticed a strong odor of gasoline on her property and saw a gasoline sheen on the surface water. Soil samples also indicate the presence of hazardous materials such as Benzene, Ethyl Benzene, Xylene and MTBE.

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More pollution found at Willow Street park site in Connecticut

November 19, 2008 - The Willow Street Park project has more contamination below the surface than environmental experts had predicted. It sits in immense mountains just off the side of what will be the Willow Street park neighborhood children have been waiting for.

Officials say that LTC Construction and CMG Environmental discovered gasoline below the remnants of what was once the Willow Street public housing project.

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MTBE leak puts lives of Maryland families on pause

May 9, 2008 - The Morgans can't rent the well-kept house with the manicured lawn and they won't let their daughter live there either.

After a toxic gasoline chemical leaked into their well, the Morgans are afraid of their water.

Since 2004, residents like the Morgans have worried about their health, quality of life and diminished property values. Some residents have shouldered the expense of bottled water and maintenance costs on a filtration system, all while waiting to see what happens with the lawsuits against their former neighbor, a major oil company.

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MtBE prevalent in Belknap County, New Hampshire private wells

April 20, 2008 - Private wells in Belknap County have a high rate of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl enter (MtBE), according to a recent study on MtBE prevalence in public and private wells in New Hampshire conducted by the United States Geological Survey.

The study, released earlier this year, revealed that, while MtBE has been banned in New Hampshire for more than a year, the chemical compound still lingers in low levels in public and private wells in the state.

The study revealed that MtBE well contamination is widespread, having been found in 18 percent of the public wells and nine percent of the private wells tested.

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North Carolina doesn't mandate contamination disclosures in property sales

February 25, 2008 - Edward Hayter wasted little time after the state sent him a letter in 2006 saying it had found gasoline contamination in his well on Brooklyn Circle.

Hayter paid about $9,500 to have a deep new well drilled in his front yard before putting the property up for sale. Most wells in the county are less than 30 feet deep. Hayter drilled his well to 480 feet.

Danny Soles, a supervisor who has worked with the Health Department for 41 years, said that, in hindsight, the new well probably should not have been drilled because it could pull contaminants into the deeper aquifer.

Kevin Edwards, who bought the house from Hayter as a rental investment last year, said he knew about the new well, but nobody ever told him about the contamination in the old one. Under state law, people selling their homes do not have to disclose such information.

“I just thought it was time for the well to be done,” Edwards said.

He said he would never have bought the property had he known about the contamination.

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Concerns over contaminated water intensify in New Hampshire

January 17, 2008 - A federal finding that drinking water at seven of 10 Rockingham County mobile home parks is contaminated with a gasoline additive called MTBE is surprising scientists and spurring ongoing legal efforts by the state to get oil companies to clean up the mess.

The study, released Jan. 1 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, also found that half the private wells tested in the most populous regions of the county were similarly contaminated, as are 40 percent of the community water supplies in those areas.

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State advises all New Hampshire residents to test wells for MTBE

January 5, 2008 - State officials are advising residents to have their private wells tested for MtBE, a chemical additive used in gasoline that has been linked to cancer in lab rats.

A new report shows the contaminant is widespread through the state.

That the MtBE remains in wells a year after it was banned does not surprise New Hampshire Department of Environmental Service spokesman Fred McGarry.

"It will be that way for some time to come," said McGarry. "Exactly how long, we're still trying to figure out. Some experts feel it will take 20 to 30 years to dissipate, depending on the type of well or aquifer we're talking about."

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Study: MTBE contamination rampant in New Hampshire

January 4, 2008 - A new study shows that contamination of New Hampshire's water supply by gasoline additive MTBE, a carcinogen that was banned at the start of last year, is widespread.

The study, conducted for the Department of Environmental Services by the U.S. Geological Survey, found MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl ether, in 18 percent of the 284 public wells tested statewide and in 9.1 percent of the 264 private wells tested.

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Vermont Supreme Court: Homebuyers Who Weren't Told About Contamination Were Defrauded

May 19, 2007 - The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that the owners of a Killington home were consumer fraud victims in 2000 when a real estate company failed to inform them that the property they were buying had a water supply tainted by a gasoline spill.

The home was one of 36 in the area with water supplies contaminated by MTBE or other contaminants. MTBE is a chemical compound once widely used as a fuel additive, according to an environmental report supplied by the state.

The compound reached the supplies following a 1993 gasoline leak from a 275-gallon underground storage tank at the Summit Lodge on Killington Road, according to Bob Haslam, a senior envirionmental analyst in the firm's Hazardous Waste Division.

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More Maryland Homes Test Positive for Contamination from Nearby Gas Station

May 5, 2007 - MONROVIA ----Two more homes have tested positive for contamination from the Green Valley Citgo station on Fingerboard Road, bringing the total properties affected thus far to five.

One residence on Farm Lane has methyl-tertiary butyl ether levels at 1,100 parts per billion ----55 times the levels of MTBE deemed acceptable by the Maryland Department of the Environment, which takes action at 20 ppb of MTBE.

Another property, also on Farm Lane, tested positive at 480 ppb.

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Pennsylvania Wells Tested for Gas Contamination

May 4, 2007 - SCOTT TOWNSHIP — About 20 private wells are being tested for water quality after a chemical associated with gasoline was found in a Justus-area well.

Officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection tested three wells after residents complained about a gasoline odor, DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said. One of the properties came back with elevated levels of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), a colorless, flammable liquid with a strong odor. It is added to gasoline to improve combustion and to reduce carbon monoxide emissions.

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MTBE Contamination in North Carolina Wells

May 2, 2007 - WHITSETT, NC -- The town of Whitsett may be moving closer to no longer dealing with contaminated well water. Since the 1980's health officials say two gas stations have been the source of contaminated ground water.

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More Maryland Homes Contaminated by Leak at Gas Station

April 20, 2007 - A week after one property near the Green Valley Citgo on Fingerboard Road tested positive for water contamination, two others have been found with methyl-tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, in their groundwater.

Among those affected are Mellissa and Sam Ayala, who paid an independent contractor to test their water supply after learning last week that a neighbor's property had been contaminated with MTBE.

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Maryland Knew About Water Contamination

More about the water contamination in Maryland:

April 16, 2007 - MONROVIA, Md. (AP) - Although residents only recently found out about water contamination near a gas station, state environmental officials have known about it since 2004.

The contamination from the Green Valley Citgo has spread to the water supply of at least one owner, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

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