Is the Department of Environmental Conservation stonewalling and not turning over reports about all the test wells it drilled adjacent to the Roebling Oil Field (as recently as this fall) where luxe condos are now on sale? That is what a neighborhood activist who’s been working through a State Assembly Member and a City Council Member is alleging. “We’ve been trying to get answers on what’s down there for a year and haven’t been able to get a document since last May,” he told GL. The most recent document that was obtained indicated that there was a “localized plume” of oil at N. 11th Street and Roebling rather than a bigger flow of oil that was coming from somewhere else. Yet, key documents that would indicate what has been found in more than a dozen test wells on N. 11th Street and on Roebling Street have not been released, although Assem. Joe Lentol’s office indicates that it’s believed the contamination is localized and not part of bigger problem. No one appears to know, however, if the source has been definitively identified or how much oil remains underground.
The most recent DEC documents that were obtained by GL were from last May and June, before a new series of wells were drilled by consultants on behalf of the state. Residents, who are concerned that residents around N. 11 & Roebling are still at risk and that there could be a broader threat in the neighborhood, are filing requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Law for the documents that would either indicate that no more oil is present or whether it continues to flow underground. Documents last spring suggested the state had been unable to identify the source of the underground contamination. A technician working on the wells had previously told a neighbor that the spill was on the large side.
In the meantime, the development that led to the discovery of the oil, which is now called Warehouse 11, is on the market and is having an kickoff party on January 31. The contamination may be coming from a site across N. 11 Street from Warehouse 11.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Jan 10, 2008 at 8:17 am
There is no health risk over there only a really scared and stupid person would every think there would be. Like toilet paper hanging out of your pant leg your desperate agenda is showing once again. Stop the speculating please.
2 Anonymous // Jan 10, 2008 at 9:38 am
Vapors from the oil are apparent in the air in Williamsburg. Only a greedy developer would suggest that there is no reason to worry. This is a very troublesome situation.
3 Anonymous // Jan 10, 2008 at 9:43 am
If there’s no problem there, the state could release all the documents showing there’s nothing there. People have the right to know what’s down there and can make their own decisions about whether the risk is acceptable or there’s none at all or whether they’d rather invest their $750K someplace else.
4 Anonymous // Jan 10, 2008 at 2:13 pm
i’m not a developer i’m just a homeowner who’s sick of this blog continually suggesting that i live in a toxic waste dump, that’s all. that’s all that’s ever here – suggestions and hearsay and i resent the spreading of rumors and absence of facts. but what do i expect from GL – that’s the MO here.
5 Anonymous // Jan 11, 2008 at 9:37 am
here’s what i mean about your relentless insinuating. pulled these right out of your “report” verbatim.
. . .is the. . .
. . . is alleging.
. . .have not been
. .no one appears to know . . . . . . . .there could be . . .
. . .documents suggested . .
nicely done!
6 Anonymous // Jan 11, 2008 at 9:55 am
If you live there (like I do), you smelled and saw the oil. Oil gurgling up from the ground isn’t healthy. It’s by definiton, toxic.