Bethpage-Tribune_2007-06-22

              BETHPAGE PUBUC LIBRARY
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Volume 45 Number 23 329Broadway.,Bethpage>HYlt714 Jline 22-28, 2007 (516)681-0440 ext. 21 FAX (516)681-9354 Email; Nd22u@aol.com 50 Ceil tS
Bethpage Community Park Update
Availability Session and Public Meeting Scheduled
An Availability Session will be held
addressing information in regards to the
Bethpage Community Park at the
Bethpage Public Library, Powell
Avenue, Bethpage. An availability ses­sion
is a gathering of program person­nel
and members of the public in a
casual setting, without a formal presen­tation
or agenda. Various representa­tives
will be on hand to answer your
questions and hear your concerns. You
may stop by at any time on June 27,
2007 between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.
A Public Meeting regarding the
same issues will be held at Bethpage
High School, June 27, 2007 at 7:00
p.m. Representatives from the New
York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYS-DEC)
and the New York State and
Nassau County Departments of Health
will be present to discuss the status of
the remedial investigation, interim
remedial measures (IRMs) being under­taken
by Northrop Grumman, NYS
Superfund work for soil vapor intrusion
evaluation and the overall site informa­tion
available to date.
Recent Site Developments:
The Bethpage Community Park,
located on Stewart Avenue, Bethpage in
Nassau County has been undergoing a
remedial investigation. The purpose of
this remedial investigation, or RI, is to
determine the extent of environmental
contamination from former site activi­ties
conducted by its previous owner,
the former Grumman Aircraft
Engineering Corporation, now known
as the Northrop Grumman Corporation
(Grumman). The NYSDEC is sending
this public notice as an update on the
following activities related to the site:
1. The field work for the onsite part of
the RI is complete and Grumman is
preparing the RI report.
2. The upcoming Grumman soil gas and
groundwater Interim Remedial
Measures (IRMs).
3. Soil vapor testing and the vapor
intrusion evaluation.
Site Description:
The 18-acre Bethpage Community
Park is located in Bethpage, NY, on the
west side of Stewart Avenue near
Cherry Avenue. The Park is currently
owned by the Town of Oyster Bay and
includes a swimming pool, a baseball
field, tennis courts, playgrounds, picnic
areas and a parking lot. The old ice
rink, which had refrigerant leaks, has
been demolished in preparation of con­structing
the new ice rink.
Site History:
Grumman donated the current park
land to the Town of Oyster Bay in 1962
for use as a park. Prior to this,
Grumman used the southwest portion,
or ball field area of the current park, as
sludge drying areas, or settling ponds.
Once dried, the sludge was removed
and sent offsite for landfill disposal. A
portion of the site was also used for fire
control training. Prior to Grumman's
investigation of the Bethpage
Community Park, limited environmen­tal
investigations within the park found
that contamination exceeded cleanup
levels adjacent to the park on Grumman
property. Grumman notified the NYS­DEC
of elevated levels of PCBs found
as a result of several rounds of testing
on the Grumman access road immedi­ately
south of the park. As a followup
to the access road sampling, Grumman
proposed, and eventually implemented,
additional investigation of surface and
subsurface soil inside the Bethpage
Community Park. Ultimately, Grumman
signed an order on consent to conduct a
complete remedial investigation and
feasibility study.
1. Grumman Remedial Investigation:
Grumman is conducting a remedial
investigation and feasibility study
(RI/FS) related to the Bethpage
Community Park, also known as
Operable Unit 3 or OU3, of the
Grumman site. Grumman has now com­pleted
the on-site portion of the investi­gation
to characterize the lateral and
vertical extent of any potential impacts
from site-related contamination. The
Grumman RI fieldwork started in 2006
and included soil, groundwater and soil
gas sampling. Grumman is preparing
the RI report. Field work continues for
groundwater down gradient of the
Bethpage Community Park. The NYS­DEC
expects the remedial investigation
report in late summer 2007. New
groundwater monitoring wells down
gradient (south) of the Bethpage
Community Park within the residential
area are now being installed. These
wells are being installed as part of the
program to determine the extent of
impacted groundwater. It is important to
note that all public water in the vicinity
of the former Grumman and U.S. Navy
Bethpage facility and the surrounding
community is from the Bethpage Water
District (BWD). These supplies are rou­tinely
monitored and treated, if neces­sary,
to ensure that drinking water dis­tributed
to the public meets federal,
state, and county requirements. The
Bethpage Water District also maintains
a non-detect policy for site-related con­taminants.
2. Interim Remedial Measures
fIRMs):
a. An IRM, or in this case IRMs, are
sometimes implemented at a site so that
discrete corrective actions can take
place while the overall site investiga­tion,
remediation, and decision making
process, moves forward. Grumman has
agreed to undertake two IRMs for the
Bethpage Community Park. Design is
proceeding for a soil vapor extraction
system IRM along the southern and
western sides of the Park. Also,
Grumman is reviewing options for
intercepting and remediating contami­nated
groundwater in the park,
b. The Town of Oyster Bay separately
entered into an order on consent to do
an Interim Remedial Measure (IRM).
The town IRM, consisting of investiga­tion
and remediation of a portion of the
park, is now substantially complete.
The Town elected to enter into an IRM
in order to proceed with their plans to
construct the new ice rink in the
Bethpage Community Park. The data
generated by the Town will also be
incorporated in the Northrop Grumman
remedial program. A Report from the
Town of Oyster Bay is forthcoming.
3. State Funded Offsite Soil Gas
Survey and Vapor Intrusion Testing:
The NYSDEC now requires soil gas
sampling be included in the remedial
investigation. Soil gas results for
volatile organic compounds such as
trichlorethene, dichlorethene, freon and
toluene have identified areas where
areas that are recommended for screen­ing
for the potential for vapor intrusion.
The results of this testing will be evalu­ated
to determine what the next course
of action will be.
Both Northrop Grumman and the
Town of Oyster Bay have declined to
undertake specific sampling for vapor
intrusion. Therefore, a NYSDEC con­tractor
will be undertaking this work
using State Superfund.
Citizen Participation
Planning:
The public will be kept informed
and involved as investigations are con­ducted,
alternatives are evaluated and
remediation gets underway. Northrop
Grumman has prepared a Citizen
Participation Plan, included in the
RI/FS Work Plan, which outlines steps
and procedures that will be followed.
Document Repositories: All Northrop
Grumman RI/FS work plans and reports
are available at the document repository
and on-line at
http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8431 .h
tail. Results from the RI field testing
are also available at the document
repository as attachments to the month­ly
reports.
Documents related to the investiga­tion
and potential remediation of con­tamination
at Bethpage Community
Park will be made available at the
Bethpage Public Library, Powell
Avenue, Bethpage. Information related
to the project can also be viewed on the
NYSDEC website at:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8431 .h
tail
Bethpage Public Library: Powell
Avenue, Bethpage, NY 11714 (516)
931-3907 Hours: M-F 9:30-9:00, Sat.:
9:30-5:00, Sat. 9:30-1:00 (After 6/30)
(Karen Gruskin or Lois Lovisolo -
Reference Librarians)
NYSDEC Region 1 Headquarters:
SUNY Campus, 50 Circle Road, Stony
Brook, NY 11790-3409, Attn: Bill
Fonda, Citizen Participation Specialist
NYSDEC Central Office: 625
Broadway, 11th floor, Albany, NY
12233-7015, Attn: Steven M. Scharf,
P.E.
For More Information regarding this
site and site related issues, please con­tact
the following:
Project Engineer, Environmental
Concerns, NYSDEC, Steven M. Scharf,
P.E., NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, 11th
Floor, Albany, NY 12233-7015 (518)
402-9620
Community Outreach, NYSDEC, Bill
Fonda or Aphrodite Montalvo, NYS-DEC-
SUNY Campus, 50 Circle Road,
Stony Brook, NY 11790-3409 (631)
444-0350
Public Health Concerns, NYSDOH,
Jacquelyn Nealon, NYSDOH, 547
River Street, Troy, NY 12180 1-800-
458-1158 Extension 2-7880