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EPA Cleanup Plan Will Help Part of Federal Superfund Site in Farmingdale Become Park Land and Recreation Area

Release Date: 04/01/2002
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(#02017) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected a final cleanup plan for soil contaminated with chemicals and heavy metals at the Liberty Industrial Finishing Superfund site in Farmingdale, Long Island that sets the stage for its redevelopment into park land and a recreation area. The plan also focuses on local ground water and Massapequa Creek pond sediments contaminated by the 30-acre site, at which improper disposal of hazardous waste took place during and after World War II. “Our thanks go to the Farmingdale residents for their active involvement in the Superfund process at this site, and to local elected officials for their role in helping to create a cleanup plan that will turn a neighborhood liability into the kind of community asset the public really wants,” said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny. “We will call upon a cooperative group of private responsible parties who have already cleaned up portions of the site under EPA’s direction, to conduct the upcoming cleanups with our oversight,” Ms. Kenny explained. This new comprehensive plan is the final step in the Agency’s overall strategy of phased cleanups to manage the complex contamination problems posed by the Liberty Industrial site. Earlier EPA decisions and cleanup work focused on the most significant threat present at the site --- soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on its eastern portion. Interim measures were taken to contain the off-site spread of contamination in ground water. This final plan covers future actions for site soils, on-site and off-site ground water problems associated with the site, as well as contamination in the Massapequa Preserve. It modifies EPA’s July 2001 proposed plan for cleaning up the soil on the site. The proposed plan called for covering some of the contaminated soils with an impermeable cap, which would not have been compatible with the town of Oyster Bay’s current plan for developing the western portion of the property. In response to community concerns and other factors, the goal in the final plan is to remove the contaminated soil from the property. This cleanup will make the property suitable for the recreational uses planned by the town upon their planned acquisition of the western portion of the property. The components of the final cleanup plan for the different contamination problems at the site include: ON-SITE SOIL AND SUBSURFACE STRUCTURE CONTAMINATION Under the final plan, more than 73,000 cubic yards of soil will be removed to levels that protect the underlying ground water and are below state and federal goals for recreational use. The soil will be shipped to an approved disposal facility. This will be followed by backfilling excavated areas with clean soil and site restoration work. All the liquid and solid hazardous material from underground storage tanks and subsurface structures on the site will also be removed and disposed of off-site. The selected remedy will require deed restrictions to limit the use of the property for commercial/industrial purposes or recreational uses on the western side of the site. GROUND WATER EPA’s remedy includes converting the existing ground water treatment system at the site to an extraction (pump) and treatment (treat) system that will address the contaminated ground water under the property. Off- site ground water contamination and on-site ground water contamination from a source that is not part of the Superfund site will also be addressed by extraction and treatment. The plan also requires that a long-term ground water monitoring system be established to gauge the effectiveness of the various cleanup systems. Finally, the ground water remedy requires deed restrictions to prevent the use of ground water under the site for drinking water purposes. MASSAPEQUA PRESERVE EPA’s cleanup plan for the Massapequa Preserve requires that an estimated 2,600 cubic yards of contaminated sediments be removed at Pond A of the nearby Massepequa Creek and Preserve and shipped off-site for appropriate disposal. A long-term monitoring system will be established in the Massepequa Preserve to measure the improvements in water quality in Pond A and the other ponds as a result of the cleanup.