Cost of tank removal project goes through the roof in New London

Contaminated soil cited for sharp price increase

New London — Costs associated with the removal of an underground fuel tank at fire department headquarters have ballooned from an estimated $13,108 to $160,000.

And city officials hope the cost does not continue to climb.

The cost is related to the truckloads of contaminated soil pulled from the site off Bank Street and not directly tied to the more than 60-year-old heating oil fuel tank that was removed, said city Risk Manager Paul Gills.

Tests are ongoing, but the contamination in the soil surrounding the tank appears to be a result of the former gasoline and/or diesel fuels tanks that were located near the site but since removed. Two gas stations were located in the area prior to the reconfiguration of the intersection of Bank and Tilley streets. One gas station formerly stood at the site of the aptly named Octane Café at 9 Tilley St.

“It’s pretty clear it’s gasoline residue,” Gills said of the contamination. “The gas tanks were removed but the pollution remains in the ground. We hit several hot spots and removed all of the contaminated soil, to a point.”

Environmental consultant Paul Burgess, hired by the city to perform the work, is awaiting a soil analysis and word from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection about how far the remediation must go.

Gills said DEEP may require further samples but thinks the city has “gone above and beyond and in good faith removed a lot of the contaminated soil.”

He said the 1,000-gallon fuel tank that was removed showed no signs it had leaked.

The tank removal was part of an ongoing initiative by the city to identify, inventory and register all underground tanks to remain compliant with the strict federal and state guidelines in place to prevent leaks and pollution.

The state also requires reports with every tank removal, along with soil samples and potentially groundwater samples to check for contamination. There are approximately 45,000 commercial underground tanks registered in Connecticut and only about 12,000 are still in use, DEEP says.

State environmental officials cited the city earlier this year for problems with the underground tanks at New London High School. Gills said the state had outdated information on the tanks, which had been removed in 1992 and replaced with a 20,000-gallon tank. Several inches of water were removed from that tank to correct one of the violations.

In a pre-emptive move, the city has also removed a 5,000-gallon underground fuel tank at Harbor School off Pequot Avenue. The tank was abandoned in 2014 when the school switched to natural gas. The tank was also inadvertently filled with oil, which had to be removed before the tank was removed.

Gills said the next projects involve a 1,000-gallon heating fuel tank and a 4,000-diesel fuel tank that feeds an emergency generator at police headquarters.

The city does not carry pollution insurance. Gills said the work being completed now will help avoid any future costs related to contamination.

The city’s finance office is working to identify a funding source for the new costs and investigating the possibility of grant funding.