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Ithaca Enviro. Firm Says Petroleum Spill Never Fully Cleaned
ITHACA (WENY)-- An Ithaca environmental database firm Toxics Targeting is accusing a pipeline company of not cleaning up a petroleum spill that happened decades ago. But Dominion Pipeline, who owns the land, says New York State never said they had an obligation to clean it up. Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting talked to the media today about an unknown petroleum spill which occurred decades ago. When the DEC Investigated the spill in the 90's, Hang says they didn't meet standards when cleaning it up.
According to documents obtained by Hang, the unknown petroleum spill was discovered in 1998 by then pipeline owner CNG at their Ellis Hallow Creek Site in Ithaca. While only a gallon of oil was discovered, it was determined the problem was a lot bigger.
"When they initially saw the pollution, they said it was a gallon, but then when they subsequently investigated it, they dug out hundreds of tons of contaminated dirt, thousands of gallons of polluted groudnwater, but they didn't get it all," Hang says.
According to documents obtained by Hang, the spill contaminated wetlands on Ellis Hollow Creek road, which drains into Cascadilla Creek, a tributary to Cayuga Lake. When the DEC investigation and cleanup closed in 2000, Hang says it was not properly cleaned up all the way. Regional Spill Engineer for the DEC Richard Brazelle stated in an email to Hang the cleanup did not meet the standards.
"We knew that the contamination didn't meet the applicable standards. The Department of Conservation publically stated that these historic dumping problems had been fully cleaned up in strict compliance with state standards, and that is simply not true," Hang explains.
Currently the land is owned by Dominion Transmissions. Under the Dominion New Market Pipeline project, the company plans to expand the pipelines. According to Dominion Transmissions spokesperson Frank Mack, he says the project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulation Committee after their almost two year evaluation.
Mack released this statement in response to Hang's accusations: "Dominion Transmission has no outstanding site remediation or clean-up projects in New York State, as highlighted on the NYSDEC's Spill Incidents Database Search website."
Hang says he plans to send multiple letters to Governor Cuomo asking him to get the DEC to reopen the investigation into the matter.
REPORT: Divisive gas pipeline moving forward
Documents released by an Ithaca-area environmentalist show permits have been approved for the New Market Pipeline
Three Air State Facility permits have been granted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the Dominion New Market Pipeline, allowing the divisive project to move forward despite no remediation of contamination at current sites, according to documents released Thursday.
Ithaca resident Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting released documents revealing permits dated to start Jan. 1, 2017, for new compressor stations in Horseheads, Chemung County, and Georgetown, Madison County, as well as the current station in Minden, Montgomery County. The three stations are part of Dominion Transmission Inc.’s plan for a $159 million, 200-mile project that would add about 33,023 horsepower of compression to the existing interstate pipeline transmission system, which includes the Borger Compressor Station on Ellis Hollow Creek Road in Dryden.
“There were no announcements of the permits, it was basically done by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in secret despite the massive amount of support against it,” Hang said. “He has ignored environmentalists’ requests not to permit more massive fossil fuel infrastructure. Nobody has seen the permits until now.”
The governor’s office and Dominion Transmission could not be reached for comment. Last July, 22 state legislators signed a letter to Cuomo asking for a moratorium on fossil fuel projects, in addition to a coalition of 1,151 state residents asking for the same thing.
In an editorial for the Post Standard in Syracuse, director of operations at Dominion Transmission Ron Minnick said the project will help address a growing need for natural gas for both upstate and downstate New York customers. Opponents say the pipeline will be used to export gas out of the state.
Hang said the approval of the permits violates Section 401 of the Clean Water Act because the state has to certify the proposed project will not cause water quality violations, but it already has in the past. He also released documents showing spills at the Borger Compressor Station on Ellis Hollow Creek Road in the late 1990s were not remediated.
A spill was reported at the Borger Compressor Station in 1998 when it was owned by CNG Transmission, and an investigation showed the concern was from petroleum byproducts including light gas distillates, lubricating oil and glycol. The report shows the soil in a former liquid pit contained more than the accepted level of benzo(a)pyrene — a compound found in tobacco smoke — and groundwater contained more than the accepted levels of several concentrations: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, total xylenes and naphthalene.
Although a heavily redacted spill report from 2001 can be found on the DEC website, the complete report obtained by Hang includes several omissions from the report available to the public. Remarks from Mike Antonetti at Danes and Moore, an environmental consulting agency, are omitted on the website. In the full report, Antonetti said he “discovered an old disposal area where an unknown heavy petroleum has been dumped.” Under the category of meets standards for cleanup, regional spill engineer at the DEC Richard Brazell wrote “No,” which is also not in the public report.
“The (Borger) site has already caused violations the state is totally ignoring, and this project should not have been permitted to move forward,” Hang said. “The DEC had said they had cleaned it up to applicable standards.”
Hang also released a recent email from Brazell, who said the results of the testing by the consultant indicated there were exceedances of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and he elected at the time to check the box as not meeting the standards of cleanup. The DEC now uses a new standard for cleanup levels, and comparing the results to the current standards show exceedances in benzo(a)anthracene and chrysene.
Hang said concerned residents should contact their representatives and the governor’s office.
Environmental Advocates Credit 'Fracktivists' for New York Gas, Oil Production Drop
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Environmental advocates are in high hopes after recent EPA documents were released.
The group Toxics Targeting says New York state has led the country in reducing gas and oil production for the last 8 years.
Activists say the state's crude oil production dropped 30 percent, while natural gas production dropped 65 percent.
Some of the credit is due to the state's adopted hydrofracking policy. Officials credit people standing with the causes they believe in.
"That took the effort of literally tens of thousands of fracktivists to educate the public; work together to try and make sure these concerns are addressed. That's the only way to make public policy change," said Toxics Targeting Inc. President Walter Hang.
The group is now setting their eyes on Washington instead of Albany. He's calling on the president to ban certain disposal practices to prevent improper waste dumping.
Local fractivists applaud efforts to reduce fossil fuel production
BINGHAMTON, N.Y.
Local fractivists are applauding efforts that have significantly reduced fossil fuel production statewide over the past decade.
Walter Hang, President of the environmental firm Toxics Targeting, says gas and oil production in New York has plummeted.
According to the DEC, from 2007 to last year, natural gas production has decreased 65 percent, with oil down 30 percent.
Hang also says contaminated areas have been cleaned up across the state, specifically at contaminated sites in Independence, New York.
However, the wastewater from fracking is used throughout the U-S to de-ice roadways, remove dust and feed livestock.
Hang wants to take action and urge President Obama to ban wastewater dumping across the country.
"That's the only way to make public policy change. Whether it's Texas or Colorado, or the South where there is a considerable amount of natural gas and oil extraction, but you have to conduct your homework, know the law and mobilize people to take collective action and that's what we're going to do," said Hang.
Hang says over 750 signatures from people in 25 states have been collected for the letter he will send to President Obama.
Local Government Supports Contentious Seneca Lake Gas Storage Project
For years, there have been opposition, protests and even arrests in an effort to keep a controversial project from moving forward.
The plan to build a new gas storage facility on Seneca Lake has been called dangerous by activists -- a hazard to the water, and to people's health, a mistake that's been made one too many times.
"One of the most famous, the most historic, the most important lakes in the world, has been repeatedly polluted," said Toxics Targeting President Walter Hang.
But this week, local officials gave the project a thumbs-up. The Schuyler County Council of Governments unanimously passed a resolution supporting Crestwood's propane storage facility.
"There is no evidence that this has had or will impact water quality issues," said Schuyler County Administrator Tim O'Hearn.
The DEC has backed this claim, stating the project poses no significant threat to the water or public safety. It's an unconvincing argument for environmental groups, who say Crestwood has been polluting the water under the DEC's watch for years.
"DEC has a deplorable record of failing to prevent problems or to clean them up when they occur," said Hang.
It's hard not to fall in love with the lake, and that's why so many people advocate so passionately for its protection.
"I think this is a very emotional and sensational issue, and there's been a lot of emotion and fear-based efforts to influence decision makers, and that seems to be having an impact," said O'Hearn.
O'Hearn says the project will only serve to benefit the community. Other supporters say it will create jobs and provide affordable heating fuel for homes and businesses.
"Having it stored there, that location, will mean that there will be cheaper prices throughout the area and they'll be able to meet peak demands," said Darren Suarez of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
For now, both sides wait for the state to make the final decision.