Green Point Oil PollutionBy:

Grant Wells

Andrew Tyshovnytsky

Introduction Occurred between

1950s until 1978 Approx. 20 mil Gallons

Spilt Covered Area of 55

Acres Spill Encompassed both

Residential & Commercial Zoned Regions of Green point

Parties Found Guilty in Oil Spill All three co’s

operated in spill vicinity between 1950 and 1979

True guilty party is still unknown

Total Cost of Oil SpillCosts Associated to Polluters

Prolonged cleanup created increased legal fees

Damaged image due to reluctance to remedy spill

Cleanup completion determined by EPA and NY State Government

Est. $15-20 Million spent in 2008 by Exxon

$58 Million+ in Remedies sought by class action groups

Costs Associated to Environment

Hazardous levels of benzene

Layers of oil underneath affected areas

Extreme levels of Methane Decreased property values

relative to surrounding area

Ecological Damage Newtown Creek was once a

fresh ground water-fed creek, can never be cleaned to previous state

Sediment samples of area are 1/10th oil

Lack of Oxygen in Water due to high concentrations of oil

Raw sewage continues to be dumped into creek as a result of poor living conditions

In 2002, Empire Transit Mix dumped concrete slurry into creek, changed pH to 12 until the slurry was cleanup up in 2005

Newtown Creek in 2002 after concrete leakage

Polluter’s Reconciliation Efforts ExxonMobil installation of

groundwater filtration tanks

Increased placement of oil booms in Newtown Creek area

Placement of grout walls to block further oil penetration into Green Point soil

Estimated cleanup of area is between 2015 and 2020

ExxonMobil Filtration Tanks

Health Disturbances to Affected Area Benzene Soil

Concentration: 3.7-200ppm v. EPA Safe Level of 1ppm

Methane Air Pollution: 23.1k-290kppm, levels in EPA “Upper Explosive Limit”

Effects of Pollutants in AreaBenzene

Causes certain blood cancers such as Lymphoma and Leukemia

Levels in Newtown Creek/Green Point area could increase such cancers by 4 more reported cases for every 100,000 people

Prolonged exposure may result in reproductive and menstrual problems in women

Methane Hazardous to humans above 5%

in air levels Causes asphyxiation or the

deprivation of oxygen to the body

Extremely hazardous at 12% and above, in which breathing and pulse rate are increased, and unconsciousness may occur

Levels found in Green Point lie ranging from 2.5% to 30% presenting a large risk to inhabitants of area

Further Coverage of Spill and Green Point Area Information

CBS News Piece 11.28.2006

Additional current information may obtained at: http://www.riverkeeper.org/

Looking Forward… Cleanup Efforts

Continued?? Health Risks to

Residents

Class Action Decision

Public Awareness