Shell Oil Hid Montvale, N.J., Spill, Lawsuit Alleges.

Byline: Catherine Holahan

Jan. 9--MONTVALE, N.J. -- The owners of 10 homes sued Shell Oil Co. on Thursday for a spill at a gas station that they claim has threatened their health and crushed the value of their homes.

The spill, first reported to the state in 1988, resulted in a $2 million clean-up effort that is ongoing.

Gasoline oozed from underground storage tanks at the station, 98 Kinderkamack Road, for more than a decade, according to Shell's reports to the state. Eventually, it seeped into an underground stream, which carried it across the street to cul de sacs lined with homes.

"I worry a bit," said Ellie Cauwels, whose home on Quail Ridge Road is being monitored for gasoline-related carcinogens in the soil and air. "We are older now .... Our children are grown and we have this big house."

That house -- last assessed in September at $394,000 -- is now …