Green Point Oil Pollution By: 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 Spill Costs 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: ppm v. EPA Safe Level of 1ppm  Methane Air Pollution: 23.1k-290kppm, levels in EPA “Upper Explosive Limit”

Effects of Pollutants in Area Benzene  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 CBS News Piece  Additional current information may obtained at: 

Looking Forward…  Cleanup Efforts Continued??  Health Risks to Residents  Class Action Decision  Public Awareness