Release date: 10/03/2011 (New York, N.Y.) The…
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency today finalized a plan to clean up
ground water at the Peninsula Boulevard Ground Water Plume
Superfund site in Hempstead, N.Y. by removing and treating
contaminated ground water from the site. The ground water is
contaminated with the volatile organic compounds
tetrachloroethylene and tricholoroethylene, chemicals used in dry
cleaning that can seriously impact people’s health.
EPA’s cleanup plan entails extracting ground water from the
site using pumping wells and treating the water to remove the
contaminants before it is disposed of at a public wastewater
treatment facility or sent back into surface or ground water.
Earlier this year, EPA held a public meeting and encouraged the
public to comment on the four options the Agency developed to
address the contaminated ground water.
“Volatile organic compounds can
pose serious health risks – especially in drinking water
– and EPA’s plan to remove them from ground water at
the Peninsula Boulevard site is the best way to protect the health
of people who live and work in the area,” said EPA Regional
Administrator Judith A. Enck. “After considering public
comments, EPA has selected a final cleanup plan for the Peninsula
Boulevard site that provides a clear course of action for
protecting the environment in Hempstead.”
Volatile organic compounds can easily
evaporate into the air and many are known or suspected to cause
cancer. The extent and nature of the health impacts depend on many
factors, including the level and length of exposure.
Residents in the area get their
drinking water from the Long Island American Water Company, which
operates a drinking water well field approximately 1,000 feet north
of the Peninsula Boulevard site. Water extracted from this well
field is treated to remove contaminants before distribution and is
sometimes mixed with water from other sources. EPA did not detect
any contaminants above acceptable levels in ground water from the
Long Island American Water Company during its investigation of the
Peninsula Boulevard Superfund site.
The Peninsula Boulevard site sits
adjacent to a number of commercial and residential properties, with
the Woodmere Middle School located at the western site boundary. A
series of investigations in the 1990s, performed by the New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation at the site of the
former Grove Cleaners, revealed an extensive ground water
contaminant plume extending both to the north and the south of
Peninsula Boulevard.
The site was added to the Superfund
list of the most contaminated hazardous waste sites in 2004. EPA
conducted an investigation at the site from 2005 to 2010, and
identified ground water contaminated with tetrachloroethylene and
low levels of other volatile organic compounds. Information
obtained from the Long Island American Water Company and from EPA
sampling indicates that one of the company’s well fields may
have been impacted by the contamination from the Peninsula
Boulevard site. A treatment system was installed at this well field
in 1991 to ensure any contaminants reaching the well field are
removed.
For more information on the Peninsula
Boulevard Superfund site, visit
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/peninsulablvd/index.html.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2
and visit our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.
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