EPA Issues Final Plan to Remove Groundwater Contamination in Nassau County, New York

The EPA has published a final plan to remove groundwater contamination at a Superfund site in Nassau County, New York.

The New Cassel/Hicksville Groundwater Contamination Superfund site was previously home to an industrial and manufacturing hub that dates back to the early 1940s.

“Ensuring access to clean drinking water is one of EPA’s most important missions and this cleanup plan will advance that goal,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia, in a statement. “Our final cleanup plan is a significant step forward in reducing the potential impacts from chemical contamination to residents in Nassau County.”

The area includes the Towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay. The groundwater is permeated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which impact drinking water from public supplies.

While current residents have access to treated water, the EPA's final plan reduces exposure to any contaminated groundwater in the future.The plan also helps "minimize the potential for the contaminated groundwater to spread further and treat the groundwater to meet strict federal and state standards for drinking water."

The EPA stated that the next phase includes catering specifications for the various components of the treatment system, which involves additional drilling and sampling of water wells and a new water treatment facility. A new network of wells and underground pipes in a residential neighborhood (Salisbury, New York) will collect and move contaminated groundwater.

During the cleanup plan's design, options for how the treated water will be released will also be determined, "including releasing treated water back to the ground, to surface water, to a recharge basin, or into the sewer," the EPA stated.

"The final cleanup plan also requires long-term monitoring of the groundwater quality and relies on existing county and state restrictions on groundwater use to ensure that public drinking water wells are not installed without a permit," the EPA concluded.