Water Restrictions And Well Testing Continue In East Lyme

Well testing and mitigation continues at York Correctional Institution in Niantic following the discovery that both oil and diesel fuel were leaking from underground pipes at the facility. 

DEEP estimates that more than 3,000 gallons of heating oil leaked. (The average fuel tanker truck holds about 9,000 gallons). However, the subsurface investigation is ongoing and an exact amount has not been determined. 

The Department of Corrections (DOC) discovered the leaks on June 4 and reported the problem to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) on June 5. The DOC sent out the first press release about the problem on June 27. However, the leaks could have started long before the leak was detected. 

Kropp Environmental, a state licensed spill clean-up contractor that DOC hired to manage the remediation, continues to monitor wells, including sentinel wells it installed at the site. The release is in what DEEP describes as "the area of influence of the well that serves the drinking water supply." 

"The fuel leak is located in the Level A aquifer," East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica said. "That well provides almost half of the town's water supply." 

The DEEP said the area continues to be closely monitored and sampling has indicted that the drinking water has not been affected. As a precaution, the town also stopped using water from a well in the area to irrigate the playing fields located next to the correctional facility for about four days. When testing showed the well water was not contaminated, irrigation resumed, Formica said. 

DEEP does not yet know the extent of the problem or even when the leaks began but the source of the leaks, at least, has been determined. The facility's emergency generator was fed from one inch steel piping sleeved in fiberglass piping connected to a 20,000 gallon above-ground diesel fuel tank. It was determined that the subsurface feed line had failed due to corrosion. 

Additionally, the subsurface return line for a heating system boiler that was fed from one inch steel piping sleeved in fiberglass piping connected to a 44,000 gallon above ground fuel oil tank also failed due to corrosion. 

Both state and town officials said ensuring the safety of the water remains everyone's top priority. Although the residents directly across from the facility are on city water, which is safe, the DEEP said any private wells will be sampled as needed. 

In the meantime, summer water use restrictions are in effect for East Lyme to reduce water use while the testing continues. Ironically, Formica noted, this summer the water levels have been high enough that the usual water use restrictions would not have been needed if it hadn't been for the leak.