The Greenpoint oil spill is one of the largest oil spills ever recorded in the United States. Located around Newtown Creek in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, between of oil and petroleum products have leaked into the soil from crude oil processing facilities over a period of several decades. The spill was first noticed in 1978, and soil vapor tests were still reported as returning positive in 2008. History of the area The areas of the northeast industrial section of Greenpoint along Newtown Creek were home to oil refineries from the 1840s, and by 1870 boasted more than 50 petroleum processing plants, many of which were incorporated into the Standard Oil Trust towards the end of the century. Standard Oil's successors (Mobil and later ExxonMobil) used the refining facilities until 1966 and later operated a bulk petroleum storage facility and a distribution terminal on the site until 1993. Other petroleum companies operating in the area were Amoco (later part of BP) and Paragon Oil (now part of ChevronTexaco). Discovery of the spill In September 1978, a United States Coast Guard helicopter on a routine patrol discovered a plume of oil flowing in the creek, originating from a bulkhead at Meeker Avenue. A subsequent study revealed the large-scale soil contamination, which was estimated in excess of and a spillage volume of more than . Cleanup efforts and seepage mitigation The first pumps were installed at the site in late 1979, and recovery efforts have increased over the years. The pump systems are operated by the site owners ExxonMobil, BP and, more recently, ChevronTexaco. Environmentalist organizations have said that there was little effort until the early 1990s and have labelled the clean up operations "rudimentary". In January 2006 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, backed by the involved companies, asserted that of spilled oil had been recovered and cleaned up. In 2007 a report by the United States Environmental Protection Agency on the spill raised the estimated size of the contaminated area to and the estimated spillage volume to , three times larger than the Exxon Valdez spill. The report also criticized the recovery efforts and a recent slowdown of the clean up. According to an Environmental Protection Agency study, "the American Petroleum Institute (2002) indicates that 40% to 80% of a product spill may be retained in soils as residual product". The Department of Environmental Conservation's