‘I’ve had headaches since Thursday night’: Aftermath of NAS Oceana fuel spill leaves residents distressed.
Representatives from the Navy, United States Coast Guard, Virginia Beach Department of Health, the state Department of Environmental Quality, and more gathered in the gymnasium of the church Monday to provide worried residents information on the status of their neighborhoods and the remaining clean-up.
“They are walking down my street in full hazmat gear, meanwhile they are telling me ‘you’ll be okay,” said Mark Lam who lives by Arrowfield Road.
“I got a garden in my backyard.
According to Heidi Kulberg, Health Director at the Department of Health, while residents are concerned about adverse health effects because of the fumes, air monitoring tests in affected areas have proven to be non-threatening.
A threatening reading would be 14 ppm and above she said.
“There has been one reading, of all of the myriad of readings that have been taken, there was one that I believe was 17 [ppm], and it was at a water site, I’m told, where one of the booms was collecting all of the chemicals,” she said.
“Within the neighborhoods and along the street level, my understanding and looking at the information the highest was 4 ppm, so within the neighborhood and street level it has not reached the health concern threshold.” According to Coast Guard officials in an earlier press conference, much of the fuel was contained on the naval base, but an undetermined amount made its way into waterways and traveled into Wolfsnare Creek before guardsmen were able to stop it using earthen dams and hard barriers known as booms.
Other residents are concerned about the impact the fuel spill is having on their pets and other wildlife in the area.
“They boomed off at the end of Wolfsnare Creek, and they boomed off over at London Bridge, but they have not come down near the marsh behind our house where there is jet fuel on the trees and on the cattails … I have two dogs in my home that will not eat and have not eaten since Friday.” Jordan can be reached at jordan@localvoicemedia.com