What’s in your backyard?

Molly Koch

Maybe a swing-set, a sandbox, a garden, a pool, and… some toxic tanks? Yup, you read it right. Toxic, leaking tanks.

14 years ago, an underground tank at a gas station burst open in downtown Newport, leaking fuel into the ground. It went unnoticed, until some folks in a nearby courthouse noticed a bad smell.

It was removed immediately, but the contaminated soil was still there. The problem was only fixed when the city of Newport planned on re-paving the streets, and the federal government provided stimulus money to rehab the soil.

When asked if there was any idea how much fuel leaked out of the tanks, Paula-Jean Therrien, Principal Environmental Scientist at the Deparment of Environmental Management stated: "No, we don't. [There's] no way to estimate".

The $1 million stimulus grant is just to take care of 20 to 25 sites affected by ruptured underground tanks in Rhode Island. And while that only scratches the surface of the problem, without the stimulus money, it would be much less.

"Right now we have 300 that need some type of cleanup," said Terry Gray, Assistant Director of the Rhode Island DEM.

About 225 of those tanks are gas stations. Many of the tanks are clustered in densely populated areas such as Providence and Aquidneck Island.

The DEM has successfully gotten the number of leaking tanks down from 1,800 to 300 in just 10 years, but some are concerned that the shrinking fund will mean those responsible for cleaning up leaking tanks won't be able to get it done.

So, how do they know when a tank is leaking? The tanks have meters on them that measure how much fuel is put in, and how much is pumped out. If more is being put in than is taken out, they are checked for leaks.

Environmental assessments are also done, and the soil is tested by a lab to see if it’s contaminated.

It took 14 years to clean up the soil in Newport. And because of the stimulus money, it’s now a success story. But the money will soon run out.

Sources: WPRI.com, Brian F. Koch, PG Senior Geologist for Sage Environmental