Washington Square Village Residents Brace for NYU's Cleanup of Heating Oil Spill

 

Slideshow

The site of the boilers in front of Washington Square Village.

DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

NYU's Washington Square Village, the site of last winter's heating oil spill.

Flickr/Padraic

Backer said she's been concerned about the health impact of the spill since it happened nearly a year ago.

DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

The view of the site of the underground oil tanks from Barbara Backer's balcony.

DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

Long-time resients Barbara Backer (left) and Judy Magida are concerned about the impact cleanup efforts on the community.

DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

The group will be holding a meeting Wednesday with NYU to hear about the cleanup plans.

DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

    1 of 6  

The site of the boilers in front of Washington Square Village.

Photo Credit: DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

RELATED ARTICLES

Advertisement

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

GREENWICH VILLAGE — Washington Square Village residents are bracing for a massive cleanup of an underground oil spill, which they've dubbed "BP in our own Backyard," that's nearly three times larger than originally believed.

Oil was discovered leaking from a 20,000 gallon underground oil tank serving 3 Washington Square Village on the day after Christmas last year. Reports at the time said that roughly 6,000 gallons of No. 6 heating oil had escaped, prompting an emergency clean-up effort.

But the spill was much larger, with 16,000 gallons of oil escaping into the soil, according to a Langan Engineering and Environmental Services report obtained by DNAinfo. The company was commissioned by New York University, which owns the property, to survey the spill.

The report found that, while the ground water had been spared, 3,200 square feet of soil had been "grossly contaminated" by the spill.

No. 6 fuel oil is among the dirtiest kinds of fuel oils. It is listed as a possible carcinogen, and its vapors are known to cause dizziness, drowsiness, and eye and skin irritation if breathed in, according to a report by Hess, the energy company. The city's Department of Environmental Protection is considering banning the use of No. 6 oil to heat NYC apartment buildings by 2015.

NYU spokesman James Devitt, who confirmed the amount of oil now believed to have leaked into the soil, said that approximately 4,000 gallons have been recovered so far. That leaves an estimated 12,000 gallons still in the ground after a year.

NYU is now set to begin a massive three-month clean-up effort to finish the job, which will include extensive excavations, the removal of the oil tank, and the replacement of contaminated soil with new fill, according to plans.

But residents who have long worried of the health and environmental impact of the spill, calling it the "BP in our own backyard," are raising red flags.

"We're very concerned," said Barbara Backer, a long-time resident and member of the Washington Square Village Tenants Association's Environment Committee, whose balcony overlooks the spill site.