Date: Fri 06-Jun-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

gas-spill-clean-up

Full Text:

Town Leases Land For Long-Term Gas Spill Clean-Up

BY STEVE BIGHAM

A long-term project to clean up gasoline pollutants from groundwater is

expected to begin soon in an area of Dodgingtown hit hard by a fiery gas truck

spill last October.

The Board of Selectmen Monday approved the lease of a small plot of town-owned

land on Cemetery Road for a 15- by 20-foot testing station. The building will

house part of a permanent water treatment system that will include eight

bedrock wells that will pump water out of the ground for filtering at a rate

of 20-25 gallons per minute, according to William Warzecha of the state's

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

More than 9,000 gallons of gasoline gushed out of a fuel truck that careened

off Route 302 into the parking lot of George's Pizza & Restaurant October 7.

The truck exploded, killing driver David Wagnblas, 28, of Stratford, who

worked for the truck company Island Transportation of North Haven. Fuel poured

across the restaurant parking lot, down an embankment and into the Dodgingtown

Cemetery.

Last November, the Mr Warzecha told residents of the area that the disaster's

impact may be felt into the next century. It is hoped that clean-up work will

keep the environmental damage to a minimum.

Anderson Mulholland Associates, Inc, the catastrophic insurance company, has

been overseeing the multi-million dollar clean-up project. The insurance

company must now receive a variance from the town's Zoning Board of Appeals

(ZBA) before the filtration system can be put in.

According to Mr Warzecha, the bedrock wells extract groundwater, which is

treated to remove traces of the chemical MTBE and discharged into nearby Lime

Kiln Brook. Mr Warzecha said the plume of the gasoline has been moving in a

downward gradient since the spill.

The project could take as little as two years or as much as seven to ten

years, he said.

Attorney David Grogins said he reviewed the lease and has asked that a

requirement be included for removal of the concrete pad and piping once the

building is no longer needed and removed. He also called for the adding of a

provision that the property be restored to its original condition, and an

indemnity provision be put in to ensure that the company would be responsible

for any further contamination caused by the clean-up.