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EPA Puts Smithtown Groundwater Site on Final Superfund Site List, Proposes Dry Cleaners Groundwater Site in Great Neck for Superfund List

Release Date: 01/19/1999
Contact Information: Rich Cahill (212) 637-3666 / [email protected]

(#99009) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has placed the Smithtown Groundwater site in Suffolk County, Long Island on the final Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), the federal list of the nation's worst hazardous waste sites. Sites that are placed on the final NPL are eligible for long-term "remedial action" or cleanups financed under the Superfund Trust Fund. EPA proposed the site to the NPL last September. The site is a contaminated plume of groundwater that threatens drinking water in an area that includes the Villages of Nissequogue, Head of the Harbor and the Hamlet of St. James.

At this time, many of the homes in the area affected by the contaminated plume get their drinking water from private wells and are not serviced by a public water supply. For affected homes where public water is not available for the foreseeable future, EPA is providing individual carbon filter systems. For affected homes where public water is accessible to residents who wish to hook up to the public system, EPA is providing service connections.

The Agency periodically proposes sites to the NPL and designates proposed sites as final. EPA also proposed the addition of the Stanton Cleaners Area Groundwater Contamination site in Great Neck to the NPL, bringing the total number of federal Superfund sites on Long Island to 25. The total number in New York State is now 85.

According to EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox, "The listing of these two Long Island sites will guarantee a permanent solution that will allow us to clean up the drinking water supply in both areas. Superfund addresses the serious hazardous waste problems that threaten health and local environments at communities like Smithtown and Great Neck."

The following provides some background on the sites:

The SMITHTOWN GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION site is a contaminated groundwater plume in the Smithtown, Suffolk County, Long Island. In October 1997, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) requested EPA's assistance through its federal Superfund authority to address the contaminated groundwater in Smithtown.

Analytical data from a Suffolk County Department of Health Services (SCDHS) drinking water survey of homes in these areas indicated that several wells were contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), primarily perchloroethylene (PCE). This and subsequent county surveys indicated that 23 residences were contaminated with PCE at concentrations exceeding state and federal safety levels of 5 parts per billion (ppb).

In April 1998, EPA sampled 295 homes in the area in an effort to determine the extent of PCE contamination and found unacceptable levels of PCE, or its breakdown products, in 34 residential wells. In July 1998, EPA authorized a Superfund Removal Action at the site. SCDHS has investigated several current and former commercial/industrial facilities east of the site in the area but has not yet determined the source or sources of the groundwater contamination.

The STANTON CLEANERS AREA GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION site is located inn the area of an active dry cleaning facility at 110 Cutter Mill Road in a commercial section of Great Neck in Nassau County. During a June 1983 Nassau County Department of Health (NCDH) inspection of the Stanton Cleaners facility, debris and empty drums were observed in the rear yard of the site and a pipe was observed protruding from the back of the building. This pipe was connected to the dry cleaning fluid-water separator that discharged fluids onto the ground in the rear yard, The fluids were eventually routed to the sewer in July 1983. Surface and subsurface soil samples collected by NCDH indicated the presence of perchloroethylene (PCE), which is used as a dry cleaning solvent.

Due to these elevated levels of PCE, NCDH ordered Stanton Cleaners to conduct a subsurface soil and groundwater investigation at the site. The site was referred to NYSDEC in January 1984. Subsequent investigations conducted by the state at the site identified a plume of contaminated groundwater, consisting primarily of PCE, moving off the site. PCE was detected in groundwater samples at concentrations exceeding the state and federal maximum contaminant level.

From 1996 to 1998, NYSDEC conducted a remedial investigation (RI) at the Stanton Cleaners facility, which included a soil vapor survey, soil sampling, and groundwater sampling. The results of soil sampling conducted in October 1997 showed high PCE concentrations. Groundwater samples collected from on- and off-site monitoring wells in January 1998 also showed high PCE concentrations downgradient of the Stanton Cleaners facility. In addition, nearby downgradient public water supply wells have been impacted by PCE above federal and state safety standards; water from this system currently undergoes treatment before distribution.

In April 1998, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) requested that EPA conduct a Superfund emergency response action at the site. In July of last year, EPA authorized such an action and the agency is installing a Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) system to reduce the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) trapped within the soils at the site.

Although the Stanton Cleaners facility contributes to the groundwater contamination in the area, monitoring wells placed in areas not expected to be impacted by the Stanton facility showed high concentrations of PCE, indicating that other sources may be contributing to this area's contaminated groundwater.

This NPL update was published in the Federal Register today. Members of the public interested in obtaining an updated NPL list or site descriptions, should contact the RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 1-800-424-9346 or 703-412-9810. Further information about the site and the Superfund program can also be obtained from EPA's homepage: www.epa.gov.superfund.

For more information contact:
Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]