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EPA Names Three Long Island Sites That Have Contaminated Groundwater for Superfund Designation

Release Date: 02/03/2000
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(#00024) New York, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that two contaminated sites on Long Island will be added to the National Priorities List (NPL) commonly known as the Superfund list of the nation's most serious hazardous waste sites. The two sites -- Lawrence Aviation Industries, Inc. in Port Jefferson Station and Jackson Steel Products, Inc. on the border of Mineola and North Hempstead will be officially added to the Superfund list today. A third site -- the Old Roosevelt Field Contaminated Groundwater Area in Garden City has been proposed by EPA for inclusion on the list, and may be officially added in the future. Chemicals from all three sites have seeped into the groundwater, the sole source of drinking water on Long Island. Treatment in Garden City and an alternate supply in Port Jefferson Station are being used to maintain reliable drinking water service for the public in those areas. To date, the Jackson Steel site has not affected drinking water supplies. Inclusion on the Superfund list makes the sites eligible for extensive, long-term cleanups under EPA management, financed through the national Superfund Trust Fund. There are currently 29 federal Superfund sites on Long Island. "The inclusion of these sites on the National Priorities List is essential to the protection of the environment of Long Island and the health of the people who live there," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Regional Administrator. "Our expertise in addressing soil and groundwater contamination will improve Long Islanders' most precious resource -- drinking water, and we are anxious to get to work." The Old Roosevelt Field Contaminated Groundwater Area is an underground area of contaminated water located below the former site of the Roosevelt Air Field. The exact source of the contamination is unknown, but industrial solvents including tetrachloroethene, dichloroethene and trichloroethene have been identified. To ensure the continued safety of Garden City's drinking water supply -- a portion of which comes from groundwater wells in the area -- EPA is recommending that the area be designated a Superfund site, studied thoroughly and fully remediated. Jackson Steel Products, Inc., a former metal manufacturer located on the border of Mineola and North Hempstead, abandoned its site in 1991 and left volatile organic chemicals behind including perchlorothylene, trichloroethylene and trichloroethane in drywells and in drums on the property. These chemicals contaminated the soil below the property and eventually reached the groundwater under it. Lawrence Aviation Industries, Inc. is an active 125-acre manufacturing facility that has operated in Port Jefferson Station since 1959. The company produces titanium sheeting for the aeronautics industry. In 1980, the company crushed more than 1,600 drums of chemicals containing hazardous substances including trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene and other wastes, and allowed the substances to spill onto unprotected soil. From 1979 to 1997, trichloroethylene was detected in 11 residential drinking water wells north of the Lawrence Aviation site. Those wells were closed, and residents were connected to a public water supply to eliminate the threat of exposure to the chemical. "EPA intends to develop a good understanding of the groundwater plumes stemming from the Lawrence Aviation and Jackson Steel facilities," said Ms. Fox. "We will continue to work closely with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the county and state health departments to develop plans to clean up both sites." The official Superfund designation of the two Long Island sites and EPA's proposed designation of the third will be published in the Federal Register on February 4, 2000. 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 on the Superfund program can also be obtained from EPA's homepage: http://www.epa.gov.superfund.