DEP checks gas odor Problem with wells in Towamensing

The Department of Environmental Protection is looking into complaints of gas odors coming from two Towamensing residents’ well water.

Dane Schaeffer, who lives next to the Sunoco gas station on Interchange Road, said that he noticed his water had a butane-like smell about a week ago.

Schaeffer bottled the water and took it over to the gas station, where an employee told him that they would look into the matter.

“The DEP sent someone out, and they think it could be petroleum. If you smell the water, it really smells like it,” Schaeffer said.

Originally, Schaeffer thought that the smell could have been from a bacterial buildup that made its way through his filtration system, but after bleaching the water, the smell remained.

Colleen Connolly, community relations coordinator for the DEP’s Northeast Regional Office, confirmed that they did receive two complaints about a gas odor in water from two residents living near the Sunoco station, but that they do not identify parties involved in complaints.

“The department’s Safe Drinking Water staff has taken water samples from both residences. The samples have been sent to DEP labs in Harrisburg for analysis. Also, inspectors from our Storage Tank Division are taking a look at the gas tanks at the Sunoco station,” Connolly said in an email.

A manager at the Sunoco station who did not identify himself said that the DEP had been looking for leaks at the station on Monday, and that they did not find anything.

Currently, Schaeffer can only use his water sparingly.

Connolly said that the DEP is investigating the complaints, but they have yet to determine where the odor is coming from, or who the responsible party may be.

After living at his home for about six years, Schaeffer said that this is the first time something like this has happened.

“Moving next door to a gas station, it was one of the things I was paranoid about,” he said.