Is the Greenpoint Oil Spill Headed for LIC?
Tuesday, May 9, 2006, by Robert
Is one of Brooklyn's more fascinating environmental horrors, the massive oil spill under Greenpoint, migrating toward Hunters Point in Long Island City? Could be, but no one has bothered to check.
The chief investigator for the environmental group Riverkeeper says the extent of the spread of the 17 million gallon Newtown Creek spill (the Exxon Valdez only spilled 10.8 million gallons) has never been fully documented even though it was discovered in 1978. Yesterday, State Comptroller Alan Hevesi chimed in, calling for studies to assess the current whereabouts of the spill. (The spill dates to an era when more than 23,000 gallons of oil were being processed at refineries along the banks of Newtown Creek, whose water is so nasty it makes the Gowanus Canal look like an Upstate reservoir.)
Riverkeeper filed suit against ExxonMobil in 2004 seeking a faster cleanup. Nearly 9 million gallons have been cleaned up to date; another 20 years may be needed to finish the job. Meanwhile, the spill is on the move. "It has gotten into the groundwater in Greenpoint and has gone under the creek," Riverkeeper's Basil Seggos told the Queens Chronicle.
"Under the creek" means in the general direction of Queens West, where construction is now underway on the second Avalon Riverview North tower (now that a soil cleanup on the site is finished). The oil also continues to flow into Newtown Creek, which often sports a nice, glistening rainbow sheen.
· Environmentalists Urge Action on Toxic Creek [Queens Chronicle]
· A Spill Bubbles Up [Village Voice]
· Bored of Bowery, Avalon Continues Spread in LIC [Curbed]
I woulnd't doubt for a minute that it is either headed our way or there already.
The question is, what it is the best way for the community to fight this and get the stakeholders to pony up the cash to clean it up?
Jake
Environmentalists at it again, shouldn't we just let the free market handle this.
Q: How much did the CEO fo Exxon-Mobil was paid at retirement?
A: About 400,000,000USD
Lets see 17 million minus 9 million=8 million gallons divide by 35 (35 gallons in a barrel of oil)= 228,571 barrels of oil in them ther hills @ 70 dollars a barrel = 16 Million dollars!! We're rich, We're rich!!
What no one is telling you is that this is the national strategic oil reserves.
Free market? The free market says, let's get away with whatever we can get away with until the government comes along and tells us we can't. Didn't you ever learn about externalities in econ class?
that was an externcurricular
ya'll need to recall too that the city doesn't give a fuck... except if the goddamn 2012 olympic village was in LIC-- THEN, or so Dan Doctoroff said, there'd be some serious cleanup.
gotta love the real estate creeps & rich condo jerks who are unaware of all this, tho' the garbage trucks & horror of the BQE doesn't seem to have hurt W'burg $$$ hype. breath deeply,
hb
we just can't keep ourselves out of the news, can we greenpoint? so glam.
If only some enterprising developer could figure out a way to light the Greenpoint Oil Spill on fire, the charred remains of the neighborhood after the 17 million gallons of oil burns off would be ripe for luxury condos.
I haven't investigated this spill in depth but based on some basic environmental science knowledge it seems very unlikely that contamination will pass underneath the creek (not impossible; all sorts of crazy stuff happens with groundwater).
The spilled oil is in two phases: Free product (oil) floating on top of the groundwater; and dissolved nasty chemicals that have dissolved into the groundwater from the oil that has been sitting on top of it for 25 years. The free product will not pass underneath the creek b/c the watertable is at the same level as the creek waterline (which is why the creek is full of water). So instead of passing underneath the creek, it will seep onto the surface of the creek (hence the pretty sheens).
The dissolved product could conceivably pass underneath the creek. However, it is unlikely as groundwater generally flows in a direction consistent with surface topography and towards nearby waterbodies. I haven't studied groundwater flows in the area, but it seems likely that it's flowing north and west toward the East River. Groundwater on the Queens side of Newtown creek is likely flowing south and east toward the creek and the East River. One could see it going into the area near the canal across from the NCWPCP (where a historic creek was located) but probably not anywhere else.
Groundwater does funny things, but (admittedly in the absence of any real data from the site) this is probably where it's going.
And no I don't work for Exxon.
One correction and on addition to previous post.
Groundwater in Queens is probably flowing south and West, not East toward the East River.
also, the dissolved nasties will flow with groundwater, hence groundwater flow direction dictates contamination migration.
One correction and on addition to previous post.
Groundwater in Queens is probably flowing south and West, not East toward the East River.
also, the dissolved nasties will flow with groundwater, hence groundwater flow direction dictates contamination migration.
Cancer Cluster in Williamsburg- NY Post and Senator Schumer Mislead Where It Is Leaving Williamsburg Residents at Risk
As reported in the NY Post on Oct 15th by Angela Montefinise, reiterated by Senator Charles Schumer at a press conference on October 16 and posted on his website, there is a potential cancer cluster in Greenpoint on Devoe Street, near an oil spill that these cases are reported to be potentially linked to. However, three cases of an extremely rare sarcoma cancer are actually on a single block in Williamsburg (where Devoe Street is and nowhere near the oil spill, not even in the same zip code). One more case is five blocks away and even further away from Greenpoint and the oil spill. In fact, one victim got cancer after residing in the same apartment as an unrelated cancer victim and previous tenant. Sarcomas are a very rare form of cancer, and as reported in the Post article, "You don't see three in one block," Dr. Isaac Eliaz, a California expert on metal detoxification, said. "Someone should be paying attention to this." Dr. Kanti Rai, chief of oncology at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, agreed that it was "worth an investigation." Unfortunately, the Senator is calling for a health study with regard to the oil spill and is ignoring a potentially very serious heath disaster in the Williamsburg community. Neighborhood Roots has reached out numerous times to Senator Schumer's Washington office's communications director Eric Schultz, and Bret Rumbeck who handles environmental issues for the Senator, with no calls being returned. Curiously, at the same press conference Congressman Anthony Weiner stated that Greenpoint has a 25% higher asthma rate than the rest of the city. The only problem is that the two health studies done by the state and city show the asthma rate in Greenpoint to be between 25% and 50% lower than the rest of the city along with a 10% lower cancer rate. Where are they higher? You guessed it- Williamsburg. The State DEC is aware of toxic industrial sites in Willliamsburg near Devoe Street that could potentially be the cause of these rare cancers, but no one is calling for that study.
"Instead, there seems to be a no holds barred attack on Greenpoint and a blatant disregard for the health concerns of the Willamsburg community", says John Kupiec, founder of Neighborhood Roots, who wonders if Sen. Shumer and Congressman Weiner are in the pocket of Williamsburg real estate developers trying to cover up a serious health concern that may hinder the sales of their luxury condo developments. "Public officials are to serve and protect life and property- not serve and protect property of their cronies." Neighborhood Roots questions whether the recent support of massive residential development in Williamsburg and the historic resistance from Brooklyn politicians (including Borough President Marty Markowitz and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez) to residential development along the recently rezoned Greenpoint waterfront has anything to do with this dissemination of lies.
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