A total of about 2,000 gallons of jet fuel from the Air National Guard base spilled on at least three separate occasions over the last 30 years. Contaminated soil was excavated and removed, and the area was backfilled with crushed stone and gravel. That project was completed last year.
But monitoring wells set up after the spills revealed that the fuel had seeped into the groundwater. The plume of chemicals, mostly benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene, has migrated off the base and is now under nearby properties to the south. Only toluene was detected at levels that did not exceed health standards.
All the chemicals evaporate easily into the air from soil or water. But if the vapors build up inside an enclosed space, they can cause serious health problems for the people inside.
Benzene and ethylbenzene, for example, are believed to cause cancer, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Animal studies show that even exposure to low concentrations of ethylbenzene can cause kidney damage and irreversible damage to the inner ear and hearing.
The properties, in a largely industrial area, are hooked up to public water supplies, so there is no danger people will drink the chemicals. But the jury is still out on whether vapors will accumulate in factories and offices south of East Molloy Road if the underground plume spreads further. And the last tests indicate that the chemicals are moving toward the northern branch of Ley Creek, though it's unclear whether the contaminants could seep into the creek.
Ley Creek flows into Onondaga Lake.
The Air National Guard has begun a pilot study to examine whether chemical oxidation would be effective in treating the contaminated groundwater. In that process, chemical oxidants like hydrogen peroxide or ozone are pumped into the groundwater to turn the contaminants into innocuous compounds commonly found in nature. Meanwhile, groundwater, some of it treated, some of it not, is pumped back out.
The Guard also is continuing to refine the size and extent of the plume.
Much has been done to clean up the air base. In 1990 and 1994, the Defense Department undertook two inquiries as part of the military base realignment program. Those inquiries revealed PCB contamination in the soil, in addition to the jet fuel spills. The PCBs are now gone, and all that's left is the groundwater problem.
That needs to be wrapped up quickly. The base cleanup has already dragged on too long.