Head In The Unremediated Sand

It’s sort of like not wanting to go to the dentist because you’re worried he’ll tell you you have a cavity . . . except we’re talking about up to 30 million gallons of oil:

Suspicious about long-delayed promises to clean up the massive Greenpoint oil spill, residents have not signed up to let state officials test their homes for cancer-causing vapors.

At a community meeting held Wednesday night by state environmental and health officials, homeowners repeatedly demanded guarantees their insurance policies would not be canceled and their houses would not be condemned if tests come back positive.

“What if . . . we have to vacate?” Ludwig Bauer, 51, asked from a crowd of 200 residents.

Despite pleas from elected officials to sign up for the testing, only 10 residents asked for more information about the program, state Department of Environmental Conservation officials said yesterday.

Some, including Bauer, said they will not sign up.

“I’m terrified,” said Bauer’s wife, Catherine. “What if they say my house is condemned?”