3/25/2025
WT Staff
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March 25, 2025 206 pm EDT
Home heating oil mishap contaminates a private well
A video posted on Reddit shows oil-slicked liquid running from a hose into a bucket. The NY resident and Reddit subscriber "Dylcop" says a home heating fuel delivery was deposited into the well rather than the underground storage tank (UST). The resident says the family "went 2 months without noticing and was never notified about what happened (Southern Tier of NY). The first thing DEC asked was if I had any enemies."
Mistakes happen
Another Reddit subscriber responding to the fuel delivery debacle says, "This is a good reminder, label your (bleep) well/fill covers. I’ve been in the environmental field for 10 years, and mistakes like these make it so I’ll always have work. Petroleum “deliveries” into groundwater monitoring wells, deliveries into tank interstitials, mixing up products and contaminating 10,000 gallons of fuel, list goes on."
According to Dylcop, "The well now has a lock lid, and the DEC hasn't given out the code, and honestly, I'm not sure if I want the code for it. The normal driver retired, and the fuel oil company has denied everything.
So far in 2025, NY DEC has logged 76 petroleum spills in the Southern Tier counties of Steuben, Chemung, Tioga, Schuyler, Tompkins, Broome, Chenango and Delaware. Of these incidents called in to , 17 occurred at private residential properties. Nine of the 76 are recorded as human error, deliberate acts or vandalism. Six incidents are listed impacting surface water bodies. The largest spills on the record are 250 gallons and two sites declaring 200 gallon spills.
Anyone with knowledge of a spill is required by law to call it in, NY Emergency Spill Response Hotline 1-800-457-7362.
See our prior article In-home drinking water filters are certified to reduce PFAS, what happens to the forever chemicals in the filter?
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)protects public health through the administration and delivery of quality drinking water supplies across the USA. The US EPA establishes standards for drinking water, monitors and enforces treatment techniques for surface water and groundwater, sets maximum limits for around 100 contaminants ensuring public disclosure of deviations and discrepancies.
WaterToday opens the record books of the federal drinking water regulator to bring awareness to the local raw water supply and the compliance record of licensed water treatment facilities. The New York Department of Health inspects 8,180 licensed and active public drinking water facilities, reporting the results to the EPA. Check back here for drinking water news and alerts as they arise in NYS.
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