Update 8/08

The neighbors on Wildwood and Oakwood Terrace continued to fight for the better part of a year to see a new water line installed in their neighborhood to remediate the MTBE spill that had occurred years earlier. The Borough Council, newly elected in November 03 on the heels of the first MTBE spill, helped secure the assistance of then-DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who committed the DEP's help. The DEP paid for a new water line to be installed and continued to press for remediation from the owners of the gas station thought to be the source of the contamination.

2nd Neighborhood suffers from MTBE contamination

December 2, 2004

Residents in the Oakwood and Wildwood Terrace section of Ringwood are the second neighborhood in as many years to suffer contamination of their private wells due to MTBE, a gasoline additive. Discovered in spring of 2004, residents have been working with borough and DEP officials who are trying to identify the source of the pollutant, with initial indications pointing to the Citgo gas station on Skyline Drive.

Residents have regularly appeared before the Borough Council, asking for assistance in obtaining bottled water and remediation of the site. As of this date, 5 homes have received POETs (point of entry treatment) systems due to MTBE levels in excess of 70 parts per billion in their drinking water.

In addition, other preliminary tests indicated the possible presence of Benzene, a known carcinogen. Subsequent tests had not confirmed these results, however, according to the Borough's environmental attorney, Gregory Coffey, who spoke at the November 30th council meeting on the subject.

Residents coming before the council stated that they only recently learned that a prior spill may have tainted their water as far back as 1998, and additional records show that wells may have been tainted as far back as 1990. Several residents stood before the council and noted that testing was conducted by the DEP in 1998, but they were never notified of the reason for the testing or of the results. They now question whether health problems of several residents are related to contamination in 1998, or even earlier.

Borough officials, representatives of the Wild-Oak Neighborhood Action Group, and DEP officials have met to try to obtain water supplies for the residents and work toward a long term solution for the problem, which will likely include public water supplies for the area to replace tainted wells.



Mobil Site Update from NJ DEP sent to residents

May 15, 2003

A recent site update sent to Ringwood residents from the NJ DEP Community Relations Office confirms that the Borough was notified of the spill at the Mobil Station on Skyline Drive in December of 2001, a year before the information was provided to local residents.

The newsletter, which also discussed outstanding issues from the April 9th meeting held with Borough officials and residents, reported the following:

"It was requested that we check the record of notification of the original spill at the Mobil station.

According to the Communications Center Notification Report in the file, DEP staff called the DEP hot line on 12/18/01, during the inspection of the Ringwood Mobil site. DEP notified the Ringwood Borough Police Dispatcher. Their normal procedure is to forward the information to the Ringwood Health Department."

Borough officials have denied knowing of the spill until a year later when residents were told.

The flyer also noted the presence of MTBE in surface water in the pond and stream in the undeveloped area behind the Ringwood Shopping Center. MTBE was detected in the two samples at levels of 42 ppb in the pond, and 24 ppb in the stream that drains the pond. The flyer goes on to say that this may indicate that part of the groundwater contamination plume is seeping into the pond. Based on this finding, several more test sites are being considered.

The flyer also included contact names at the DEP Community Relations office for residents with additional questions. Concerned citizens can all Mark Herzberg or Laura Colodner, Community Relations Coordinators 609-984-3081. NJDEP reports are also available at Ringwood Borough Hall, 60 Margaret King Avenue.

In a related story, water associations are fighting the new Energy Bill in Congress, as it contains provisions for relaxing protections for consumers who suffer contamination of the water supply from MTBE by providing product liability immunity for oil companies and polluters. See the story here.

Spread of MTBE Plume results in higher contamination levels - Residents to attend May 6th Council Meeting

May 4, 2003

Residents long-held fears that the melting of winter snow and the rising water table would result in higher levels of MTBE in their private wells have come to pass. At a recent meeting of Forsgate residents, they learned that not only had MTBE levels in a monitoring well near the station risen, but two residents had experienced increased levels in their private wells. One resident's well  now registered 70 ppb, the limit of safety prescribed by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Many other states have prescribed much lower thresholds of safety for MTBE, including New York and California.

Conoco/Phillips, the owner of the Mobil Station thought to be the source of the contamination, pulled out of meeting with residents scheduled for Tuesday, April 29th at the last minute, leaving residents wondering about the company's plan for the site. In an article in The Record on Friday, May 2nd, residents learned that the company has rejected the Borough's request to hook all Forsgate area residents to public water, at a cost to the company of $5.5 to$6.5 million, causing some to speculate that the withdrawal from the meeting was intentional. Clearly frustrated by the spiking contamination levels, residents plan to attend the upcoming Borough Council Meeting on May 6th to ask the council to address their concerns, which up to this point, have not been met. The residents are concerned that the tanks are still leaking, something Conoco denies. Even though they are receiving bottled water from Conoco, no long-term solution to their problem has been reached.
 
Another troubling aspect is the news that MTBE has now been found in surface waters of a swamp behind homes on Alta Vista, indicating that the plume is continuing to move. Now that is has appeared in surface waters, residents are concerned that the contamination may find its way into Skyline Lake, downstream from the site, or into the public water supply, as several public wells are near the contamination site, and different types of aquifers near the wells made prompt the plume to move in erratic ways.

All Ringwood residents should attend the meeting on May 6th and provide support to the Forsgate residents. All of the gas stations in Ringwood have had releases of contaminants at various times, and all the stations are too close to sensitive sites, including public wells, and the Wanaque Reservoir itself.

Borough holds resident meeting with DEP on MTBE risks

April 9, 2003
A meeting of DEP officials arranged by the Borough to discuss health risks to residents of the Forsgate section of Ringwood was held on April 9th. About 9 DEP staffers, a number of Borough officials, State Senator Henry McNamara, and Assembly members Kevin O'Toole and David Russo were on hand for the event. About 50 residents attended hoping to get answers to the problems they have experienced since contamination was found through routine testing of a public well near the shopping center in September 2001.

DEP officials were eager to downplay any health hazards posed by the substance, stating that the 70ppb limit offered a level of safety at even 10 times that level. They strongly defended their 70 ppb limit. However, the health officer at the event, who was there from Health and Senior Services, not the DEP, admitted that there have been no drinking water studies done, and that the only testing done occurred in Italy. Residents were unconvinced, stating that they didn't want to find out 20 years from now that the lack of available information results in their health being jeopardized down the road because of a false sense that the substance isn't harmful.  CLEAN held its own MTBE conference in March, where experts from Oxybusters, an MTBE education group who has fought for years to reduce the state and federal limit and ban the use of MTBE in gasoline, claimed that even at 70 ppb, a variety of health issues can be linked to MTBE, including asthma, cancers, and various skin rashes.

Several residents stood to complain that they feared the chemical would spike once winter snows melted and the water table rose. They also complained that they knew that something was wrong with their water by the smell and taste long before the contamination was found. Several stated that clothes in their dryers had a petroleum smell as early as last summer, leading them to believe that the contamination had been at a high level even then. Residents were not told of the contamination until December 2002, although it was detected over a year earlier.

Others feared for the health of the children and pets. When one resident stated that her dog suffered seizures when it was groomed at a local groomer near the contamination site, three other residents raised their hands saying their dogs had experienced the same condition.  Experts from Oxybusters at CLEAN's MTBE forum pointed to several health affects for pets, including those cited by the residents.

The discussion of the site remediation seemed to disturb residents even more. Several complained that they were just outside the boundary for bottled water and repeated well testing, and wondered why, since it was obvious that the contamination was spreading. Case Manager Mike Flite stated that he could put in additional test wells, but no decision had been made to do so. Others from the Erskine Lake section asked by only the Forsgate area had been tested, not the areas down hill from the site that bordered Erskine Lake, even though that section lies within the 1000 foot radius of the contamination. The reply was that the DEP felt that the contaminant plume would not be traveling that direction. In a similar line of questioning, residents wanted to know why the local public well, some four-tenths of a mile down hill from the station, had not been tested as part of the program. Borough officials stated that they were testing the well, but had just begun doing so on a regular schedule.  But the DEP's response troubled residents who felt that the complete radius of the contamination site should be tested.  


CLEAN holds resident meeting with MTBE experts

March 15, 2003
Residents of the Forsgate section of Ringwood and several borough officials packed a Skylands CLEAN sponsored meeting to discuss MTBE on March 15th at the Carriage House in the Skylands Manor section of Ringwood State Park.

CLEAN's event included a panel of experts who were on hand to discuss the health risks, legal aspects, geology of the area, and site remediation of this contamination problem.  The panel included:
 Residents were thrilled to have a forum where they were able to get answers to questions about the problem that has been plaguing them since early fall 2002, when they learned that their wells had possibly been contaminated by a leak at a nearby Mobil station over a year before.

Questioning health experts, they learned that several of the symptons of MTBE exposure include rashes, asthma, headaches, forgetfulness, and even cancer. Everyday activities such as showering, cooking, and doing laundry now present potential heath risks, as the chemical is easily vaporized and is harmful if breathed or ingested through drinking.  

Mr. Strickland discussed the role of the state as a trustee, charged with overall monitoring of the remediation process, but as station owner, Conoco is ultimately on the hook for the cost. He also spoke about the Natural Resources Damages process, whereby affected parties can press for compensation if they prove damages from the contamination. The process would be most applicable if a larger entity such as Skyline Lake became contaminated due to the leak.

The crowd was most engaged by Dr. Alex Gates, who explained that in a fractured rock aquifer such as ours in Ringwood, the plume of pollution may move in very unpredictable ways, both in terms of speed and direction. He noted that in cleanup of such an aquifer, time is of the essence, as gasoline tends to stay on the surface for a while and is easily vacuumed out. But once the gasoline breaks down and the MTBE becomes mobile, it quickly moves through the aquifer in unpredictable directions and is extremely difficult, if not impossible to remove.  Brian Papiernik, a Deer Trail resident who until very recently was the liaison between the council and the neighborhood, asked a question about whether the carbon filters used to trap the MTBE from the water supply  also capture radon, a radioactive gas very prevalent in our area often trapped in enclosed areas such as basements where the filtering equipment is likely to be located. Dr. Gates noted later that the question was an excellent once, since the filters will also trap the radon in the process of cleaning the MTBE contamination. He noted that over time, so much radon will be trapped in the filter that the radiation will be hazardous, and suggested that at a minimum, residents purchase a low cost radon detection canister for their basements and periodically test for the substance so it doesn't reach harmful levels. He also noted that if results of such a test come back positive, an additional more expensive test should be performed to validate the results and immediate action to correct the problem would need to be taken.

John McGowan, who works as a consultant for the DEP remediating contaminated sites for the NJDEP Spillfund, explained the various filtering techniques available for use in removing MTBE from the home water supply. He explained many technical aspects of a variety of systems from carbon filtering to reverse osmosis, and answered questions on how effective the processes might be at various levels of contamination. Residents peppered him with questions about the various systems Conoco is supplying to their homes, and how well these systems might function in their particular home setting.

Also discussed was Ringwood's public water report, which was released in June 2002. The report, which incorrectly presented test results for some contaminants as N/A or not applicable, was provided to residents with the corrected contaminant levels. The report also lists contaminants such as Strontium 90 and Tritium for which Ringwood is not required to test. It was noted that the state's required testing schedule is not stringent enough; a town such as Ringwood can be asked to test for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) either 4 times annually, or on a more relaxed schedule of 4 times every three years. CLEAN is calling for the Borough to conduct ongoing quarterly testing of all public wells for VOCs, especially MTBE, in excess of the state requirement. CLEAN also asks that the Borough report test results to the public on a timely basis.

For more background information on MTBE, please read on.

Ringwood Finds MTBE in local water supplies

January, 2003

In September 2001, a well operator found MTBE in the private well at the Pro-Mart shopping center on Skyline Drive. The source was the Mobil Gas station at the corner of Skyline and Alta Vista drives. it was over a year later before the local residents in the surrounding neighborhood of Forsgate, Alta Vista, and Buena Vista Drives as well as Deer Trail were told about the contamination.  

MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) is a chemical added to gasoline to increase octane and reduce harmful emissions from exhaust such as benzene and carbon monoxide. It was first used in the 1970s to replace lead in gasoline. It is a suspected carcinogen. Another reason to be concerned about MTBE is that it is highly water soluble and travels through the aquifer faster than other components in gasoline, such as the carcinogen benzene, so it may be a marker for other chemical contaminants that are yet to come into your water supply.

Sources of contamination (for MTBE and other chemicals)

Gasoline and heating oil are the major sources of MBTE as they are stored in underground tanks or are transported above ground in trucks. Leaks and spills provide the major sources of MTBE. Other sources may be typical uses of gasoline as it is stored in boats, cars, planes, and home and garden equipment such as lawn mowers. Spills and runoff from these sources can release MTBE into the environment.

Once in the environment, MTBE dissolves readily in water and moves easily through the soil. It also takes longer to break down than some other chemicals.

How will I know if MTBE is in my water?

Gasoline is one of many pollution threats to the ground water that supplies your well. The best way to make sure your drinking water is safe is to test it. You should also continue to ensure your water supply stays safe by taking steps to protect it from pollution. If you suspect contamination, the best thing to do is get your well tested for MTBE. The US EPA also recommends yearly testing of private water supplies for nitrate and coliform bacteria.

Water with MTBE will taste and smell bitter, like turpentine. Even a very low level of concentration could create this bitter taste and smell. Since the plume of pollution may move relatively slowly resulting in a very gradual change in the level of contamination, residents may not immediately notice a change in taste or smell, and may even become accustomed to the unusual taste and smell over time.

Keep in mind that gasoline contains many chemicals, some of which could be in higher concentration in your water and could pose even more serious health concerns. Immediately notify local health officials if your water tastes or smells suspicious, and if you own a private well, be sure to test on a regular schedule.

Is there a safe level of MTBE in water?

In Ringwood's case, most tests on private wells have resulted in readings of 5 to ten parts per billion, a very low level of contamination. The NJ Department of Environmental Protection has set an upper limit on MTBE at 70 parts per billion, at which point an alert would be triggered. You should be aware, however that the acceptable limits on this chemical are not based on medical evidence that MTBE would be safely consumed at that level.  

States such as California have a much different and much lower levels of MTBE contamination that would trigger an alert. Acceptable ranges for MTBE vary from 5 in California to 70 in New Jersey, and some states, such as Mississippi, have no upper limit at all for the chemical. Water quality experts from New Jersey Environmental Federation informed us that consumer confidence reports usually present data that has been averaged over the course of a year, you should be concerned if the level of any contaminant reaches one-half of the upper limit for that contaminant.  No formal studies on MTBE in drinking water have been done.  New York State recently conducted a study of ambient water quality, which looked to provide more definitive information on the contaminant.  Based on the results of that study, New York State lowered it's upper limit for MTBE contamination to 10 ppb.  To receive a copy of the New York State fact sheet giving supporting documentation, you can contact Scott Stoner, Water Quality Standards Coordinator, Bureau of Watershed Management, NY State Department of Environmental Conservation by email at sxstoner@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

The US EPA reviewed health studies in 1997 and noted that drinking water with MTBE levels of 20-40 ppb would probably not pose health risks. However, the elderly, small children, and those with compromised immune systems may be more susceptible to affects from the chemical than others.

If you have MTBE in your well:

If the presence of MTBE is confirmed, be sure to obtain a certified filtration system. NSF International, a non-profit organization, certifies products to meet national and international standards. You can view their web site at www.nsf.org.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has a list of certified well testers that you can access via the web. Visit the NJ DEP web site at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/pwta/pwta_lablist.htm.

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Office can also be helpful in this regard. You can visit their web site at http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/county/Passaic. This link will provide phone numbers and directions to the extension office, who can provide lists of qualified testers on request. Their list can be directly accessed at on the web at: http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/pubs/pdfs/fs343.pdf.


Protect your water supply

You can protect your water supply by carefully storing and using chemicals around your home and well. In addition to gasoline, pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals can contaminate ground water.

Use chemicals only as directed by the manufacturer. Never apply more than recommended and clean up as directed. Don’t store excessive amounts of chemicals around or near your home. Stockpiling these substances could be a contamination problem waiting to happen.

Protect your well by inspecting and maintaining your septic system. Maintain your well cap and surface seals, keep well maintenance records and don’t drink from flooded wells. New legislation just passed in New Jersey mandates that all wells be tested at the time of the sale of a home. In addition, pending legislation proposes to require annual well testing for all private wells on an annual basis.

Many states have eliminated the use of MTBE in gasoline. Contact your local legislators and ask that they do the same. 

email:clean@skyclean.org