EPA Presents Plan To Clean Contaminated Site
By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented their plan to clean up the Old Roosevelt Field Contaminated Groundwater Area Superfund site at a public meeting on September 11th.

The site being discussed is located on the eastern side of Clinton Road at the intersection of Old Country Road, and includes a thin strip of open space along Clinton (known as Hazelhurst Park), Roosevelt Field Mall, and several office buildings in Garden City Plaza. The groundwater in that area was contaminated by trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE), two chlorinated solvents which were widely used for aircraft manufacturing, maintenance and repair operations, some time during and after World War II.

Caroline Kwan, EPA remedial project manager, recommends installing a well in the area with the highest levels of TCE and PCE contamination to pump the water out for treatment. The extracted water will be treated via air strippers for 10 years and discharged to a Nassau County recharge basin. It will cost approximately $13.16 million over 35 years.

Kwan offered two other alternatives. The agency can choose to take no action. It is estimated that it will take 46 years for the contaminant concentration to naturally decrease to acceptable levels.

The other alternative the EPA presented is to monitor the area and place controls that restrict future use of groundwater at the site. The EPA will take annual water samples in nine area wells. Land use will be restricted to commercial industrial uses. The cost of this alternative is estimated to total $2.29 million dollars over the course of 46 years.

The EPA will review all public comments after the Sept. 20th deadline and make a decision as to the best course of action. The next phase will be to design a plan, which Kwan estimated will take up to a year.

Several officials from the Village of Garden City attended the meeting. Frank Koch, superintendent of the Village's Water Department, assured residents that the water supply is closely monitored and safe. For more than 20 years, the Village has been treating the water from two wells (numbers 10 and 11) near the site so that they meet all EPA and New York State Health Department standards.

Mayor Peter Bee asked the EPA to help the Village get funding to treat the contaminated wells either from the Superfund program or the U.S. Navy. Mayor Bee said the Village is prepared to take legal action against the potentially responsible party. He said the Village has spent more than $3.8 million in capital, operation and maintenance costs to treat the contaminants in wells 10 and 11. "The Mayor and Board of Trustees are tired of having the residents continue to pay this cost," he said.

"We have cooperated with the U.S. EPA and their consultant in the preparation of this study," he continued. "Now we suggest it is time for the U.S. EPA to cooperate with the Village."

An attorney for the EPA explained that the agency is currently trying to determine the responsible party. The Roosevelt Field site was used for aviation activities from 1911 to 1951. The United States Navy and Army used the site during both World War I and II, after which the property reverted to a commercial airfield before closing in 1951. In addition, there were several private companies that operated on the site. The attorney asked the Village for any documentation they may have that can help prove who is responsible.

An EPA representative explained that the Superfund program does not provide reimbursement for monies already expended. It is primarily a program for the clean up of hazardous waste sites.

Copies of the EPA's proposed plan can be found at the Garden City Public Library, the Hempstead Public Library, or at the EPA's Superfund records center located at 290 Broadway, 18th floor, in Manhattan (phone: 212-637-4308).

Written comments on the proposed plan should be submitted by Sept. 20th and addressed to: Caroline Kwan, remedial project manager, New York Remediation Section, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866. Her fax number is: (212) 637-4284 and her e-mail address is: kwan.caroline@epa.gov.

More information on the EPA's site plan can be found at www.EPA.gov/region02/superfund/npl/oldroosevelt.