EPA Seeks Public Input on Plan to Clean Up Peninsula Boulevard Superfund Site in Hempstead, New York; Chemicals Used in Dry Cleaning to Be Cleaned Up Next to Woodmere Middle S...
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency today announced a plan to clean up the Peninsula
Boulevard 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 adversely impact people’s health. Residents
in the area get their drinking water from the Long Island American
Water Company, which operates a 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.
EPA is encouraging public comments on the
proposed plan and will hold a public meeting to discuss the plan
and receive comments at 7:00 p.m. on August 3, 2011 at the Village
of Hewlett High School, 60 Everit Avenue, Hewlett, N.Y. The plan is
available on EPA’s website at:
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/peninsulablvd/index.html.
“Volatile organic compounds can pose
serious health risks – especially in drinking water –
so removing them is the best way to protect the health of people
who live and work in the area,” said EPA Regional
Administrator Judith A. Enck. “We encourage community
residents, business owners and area workers to give us feedback on
EPA’s proposed plan to clean up the contamination on the
Peninsula Boulevard site.”
Four cleanup options for addressing the
contaminated ground water are described in EPA’s proposed
plan for the site:
· Extracting
ground water from the site using pumping wells and treating the
water to remove the contaminants before the water is disposed of at
a public wastewater treatment facility or sent back into surface or
ground water. This is EPA’s preferred option for the
cleanup.
· Using
microorganisms to break down the contaminants in the ground
water.
· Installing
devices that aerate the ground water and capture contaminants in
air vapor, which are then treated or released into the
atmosphere.
· Taking no
action, which is an option that EPA is required to consider for any
cleanup plan.
The Peninsula Boulevard Superfund site is the
former home of Grove Cleaners, which operated at 1274 Peninsula
Boulevard from 1987 to 1992. A series of investigations from 1991
to 1999 revealed an extensive ground water contaminant plume
extending to the north and south of Peninsula
Boulevard.
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. 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 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.
Comments on EPA’s plan will be accepted
until August 27, 2011. Written comments may be sent
to:
Gloria M. Sosa
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
290 Broadway, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10007-1866
[email protected]
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