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Beach reopens following carcinogen contamination in tributary

Immediate tests following the accidental spill of one gallon of styrene mixed in with around 50 gallons of steam condensate into a storm drain resulted in "relatively high" levels of contamination.

Leddy Beach — Photo courtesy of Enjoy Burlington

The beach at Leddy Park in Burlington, Vermont, is open to the public again after a styrene spill forced officials to close the area for cleanup three weeks ago.

There are no conclusive maximum contaminant levels, or MCLs, for the carcinogen, but immediate tests following the accidental spill of one gallon of styrene mixed in with around 50 gallons of steam condensate into a storm drain resulted in "relatively high" levels.

Now, the styrene is at non-detectable levels in the stream closest to Lake Champlain, according to Robert Goulding from the Burlington's Department of Public Works. Leddy's stream pool, nearer to the storm water outlet, will continue to have a "closed" sign to further allow any remaining styrene to dissipate.

A spill contractor mitigated the potential damage and took additional samples to ensure that the water was no longer contaminated, writes NBC5 in their coverage.

Austin Keating is the editor of Remediation Technology, a BNP Media publication launched in Sept. 2022. Austin is from Mattoon, IL, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism. Following graduation in 2016, he worked as a science writer and videographer for the university’s supercomputing center. In 2018, Austin obtained a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where he was the campus correspondent for Planet Forward and a Comer scholar. He then served as an award-winning field editor for America's oldest continuously published magazine, Prairie Farmer, before joining BNP in 2021, becoming editor of SNIPS Magazine and the now discontinued Point of Beginning Magazine.