The source of the contamination was a 1977 spill of approximately 25,000 gallons of fuel oil and mineral spirits, which were released through a ruptured line attached to a storage tank at the Lab's central steam plant. At that time, soil in the area was excavated, but residual contamination remained. The contamination in soil and groundwater includes breakdown products from the fuel oil, and a common solvent, tetrachloroethene. The contamination is confined to the Laboratory site, and no public, private or BNL supply wells have been impacted by it. The resulting air bubbles trap the compounds and ferry them upward.
Carbon filters remove the contamination from the air before it is released.
The combination of the two technologies has been very effective at other sites around the country. At Brookhaven, this system is expected to operate for at least two years. Environmental remediation at BNL is carried out under requirements of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, commonly known as the Superfund Law. BNL is on the Superfund list due to past operations that have resulted in soil and groundwater contamination. DOE owns the BNL property and oversees and pays for all cleanup costs.