By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 31, 2007

The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans yesterday to clean up gasoline that leaked from an underground storage tank and accumulated under a Northeast Washington neighborhood, causing strange smells and concerns about health problems.

The leak came from a tank at a gas station along Eastern Avenue in Chillum and lasted for years. In 2001, it was discovered that the spilled gas extended into the Riggs Park neighborhood in the District, creating a "plume" of gasoline underground that the EPA estimates is 1,400 feet long.

Yesterday, that agency said up to five homes in the neighborhood showed signs that gasoline vapor might have seeped into living spaces. But a mid-Atlantic EPA official said tests indicate no danger.

"There are no houses that present an immediate health threat," said Bob Greaves, an official who oversees remediation efforts.

The cleanup plan proposed by the EPA will include new systems in some homes' basements to block gasoline vapors.

Greaves said the agency also proposed sinking at least one well near the gas station to pump out contaminated groundwater before it reaches the District.

He said it was not necessary to pump out gasoline that had seeped into the neighborhood because it would eventually decompose.

The cleanup would be paid for by Chevron, which owned the gas station for many years, Greaves said.

The plan was derided yesterday by Cleo Holmes, a resident of the neighborhood who has been outspoken about the gasoline leak. Neighbors had complained of a gasoline smell in their homes for years before the leak was officially acknowledged.

"It's not a plan. It's a failure," Holmes said. "It does nothing to remediate the gasoline that's already on the D.C. side of the street."

Meetings about the plan will be held Thursday, Holmes said. EPA officials will be available to answer questions from 4 to 6 p.m. at LaSalle Elementary School, 501 Riggs Rd. NE, that day. A public hearing at the school will follow from 6:30 to 9 p.m.