Cuomo sues over Newtown Creek spill

The State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has recently begun legal proceedings to force several oil companies to clean up a 28-year-old oil spill in Newtown Creek.
On Thursday, February 8, Cuomo sent ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, KeySpan, and Phelps Dodge notices of intent to sue under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), charging that the companies created an “imminent and substantial endangerment to health and the environment.”
In addition, the Attorney General plans to file additional suits against ExxonMobil and Chevron for violating the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) by continuing to discharge pollutants into Newtown Creek without a permit.
“This is one of the worst environmental disasters in the nation, larger than the Exxon Valdez and slower in the cleanup. ExxonMobil must and will be held accountable,” Cuomo said.
“I feel like the cavalry just arrived,” said Councilmember Eric Gioia, who became involved in a lawsuit against the ExxonMobil more than one year ago. “I’m thrilled that Attorney General Cuomo has joined the fight to make ExxonMobil pay for their negligence.”
In January, Gioia, along with environmental advocates, filed their notice of intent to sue the company for adding semi-treated water into the creek while cleaning up the spill that dumped an estimated 17 million gallons of oil into the 3.5-mile waterway in 1978.
“Putting toxic water into the creek after running it through a few pipes simply adds insult to injury,” Gioia said, explaining that he believes the company has been discharging contaminated groundwater into the creek.
Environmentalists charged that the treatment system currently used to purify polluted creek water does not sufficiently remove contaminants, and pollutants being discharged include benzene, tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and vinyl chloride.
However, ExxonMobil denied the accusations of dumping contaminated water back into the Creek.
“ExxonMobil’s groundwater treatment systems have been in full compliance with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) discharge limits and we sample the treated groundwater every month to insure compliance with these discharge limits,” said an ExxonMobil spokesperson in a statement.
Recently elected officials have called for more extensive studies of the effect of the spill on the surrounding communities - particularly in Queens County, where no testing has yet been performed.
After a recent study by the DEC found elevated levels of cancer-causing benzene and methane gas near homes in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Gioia has asked that similar testing be done in Queens. Although contaminants from the oil spill are less likely to have seeped into Queens soil than into neighboring Brooklyn, environmentalists admitted that it would be possible.
As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would conduct a Congressionally-mandated study of the creek due out in July 2007 - testing the area’s soil, water, and air for hazardous materials.