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EPA Selects Interim Action For Liberty Industrial Finishing Superfund Site Groundwater Problem in Farmingdale

Release Date: 04/02/1998
Contact Information:

(#98024) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected an interim plan to prevent contaminated groundwater underlying the Liberty Industrial Finishing Superfund site in Farmingdale, New York from moving beyond the site boundary. The action will also reduce concentrations of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals in the groundwater.

"We are taking this interim action to reduce any potential threats to public health and the surrounding environment from further movement of groundwater contamination, " EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox explained. "This action will address the most significant groundwater contamination at the site, while we continue to develop options for a long-term comprehensive soil and groundwater cleanup."

The action will involve the installation of a hydraulic system and innovative technologies for the below-ground removal of both organic and heavy metal contaminants. EPA has also developed a contingency plan that calls for a conventional above-ground system that would extract and treat the contaminated groundwater. The back-up plan would be used if treatability studies show the first approach is not effective in meeting the groundwater cleanup goals. The Agency estimates the first plan and the back-up plan will cost approximately $1.9 million and $4 million, respectively.

It is EPA's goal to have the selected groundwater cleanup system operational during the winter of 1998-1999; however, the schedule depends on the results of the treatability studies and the subsequent preparation of the design and the actual construction of the cleanup system, which EPA anticipates will be performed by the responsible parties for the site.

In January, EPA held a public meeting in Farmingdale on the interim plan. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has reviewed the plan and agrees with EPA's decision.

Currently, several responsible parties are conducting an investigation under EPA supervision to determine the extent and nature of contamination in site soils, groundwater and Massepequa Creek. These investigations are expected to be completed by late 1998. EPA will then develop long-term, comprehensive cleanup plans for the soils on the site and the groundwater contamination, which will be presented to the public for comment.

For more information contact:
Mary Helen Cervantes-Gross, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3673 FAX: 212-637-4445 E-Mail: cervantes.mary@epamail.epa.gov