The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the opening of a 30-day comment period on the proposed plan and preferred alternative to address contamination at the Old Roosevelt Field Contaminated Groundwater site in Garden City. The comment period began Aug. 22 and ends Sept. 20.

As part of the public comment period, EPA is holding a public meeting Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at Garden City Village Hall - not Monday, Sept. 10, at the Garden City Public Library, as previously announced. Contact Cecilia Echols, EPA's Community Involvement Specialist, at 212-637-3678 for more information or visit www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/oldroosevelt to receive a copy of the proposed plan.

The site is listed on the Superfund National Priorities List. EPA recently concluded a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) for the site to assess the nature and extent of contamination in site media and to evaluate alternatives to clean up the groundwater. Based upon the results of the RI/FS, EPA has prepared a proposed plan, which describes the findings of the remedial investigation and potential remedy evaluations detailed in the feasibility study and provides the rationale for recommending the preferred remedy.

During the Sept. 11 public meeting, EPA representatives will be available to further elaborate on the reasons for recommending the preferred remedy and public comments will be received.

"It is a shame that Roosevelt Field, with its rich aviation history aiding America's efforts in World Wars I and II, must today address hazardous waste contamination from the past," EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg said. "Today, the property is flourishing as an area of business, and EPA's proposed cleanup plan sets out to ensure the safety of everyone who visits, works or lives near this area."

The Old Roosevelt Field site includes the land formerly utilized as an airfield, which currently consists of a thin strip of open space along the eastern side of Clinton Road, a large retail shopping mall with a number of restaurants and a movie theater. Several office buildings are located on the perimeter of the mall. One of EPA's main cleanup goals is to extract groundwater contaminated by trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE), which has impacted two of Garden City's drinking water supply wells, known as 10 and 11, that are located just east of Clinton Road. The plan proposed by EPA calls for the extraction of groundwater to prevent the contaminated groundwater from spreading further. Groundwater with high concentrations of TCE and PCE would be pulled out through a well to limit the impact to Garden City's supply wells and would be treated to remove contaminants. The treated water would then be discharged to a nearby recharge basin.

According to the EPA, the Village of Garden City installed supply wells 10 and 11 in 1952 and put them into service in 1953. TCE and PCE have been detected in both wells. A treatment system, which uses a process called air stripping, was installed in 1987 and modified in the late 1990s to remove contaminants from the drinking water supply. The water supply is routinely tested to ensure compliance with federal and state drinking water standards.

Chlorinated solvents such as TCE and PCE were used for aircraft manufacturing, maintenance and repair operations since the 1930s. The Roosevelt Field site was used for aviation activities from 1911 to 1951. By 1932, Roosevelt Field was the country's largest and busiest civil airfield consisting of paved runways and 50 buildings. The United States Navy and Army used Roosevelt Field during both World Wars I and II, after which the property reverted to a commercial airfield before closing in 1951.

The RI Report, FS Report, Risk Assessment, Proposed Plan and other site-related documents are available for public review at the information repositories established for the site at the following locations: Garden City Public Library: 60 Seventh Street, Garden City, 742-8405; Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday closed.

Hempstead Public Library: 116 Nichols Court, Hempstead, 481-6990, Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday closed.

USEPA Region II: Superfund Records Center, 290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866, (212) 637-4308, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

EPA relies on public input to ensure that the selected remedy for each Superfund site meets the needs and concerns of the local community. It is important to note that although EPA has identified a preferred remedy for the site, no final decision will be made until EPA has considered all public comments received during the public comment period. EPA will summarize these comments along with EPA's responses in a Responsiveness Summary, which will be included in the Administrative Record file as part of the Record of Decision.

Visit http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0204234c.pdf for further information on the site. For more information on the Superfund program, visit http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund.

Written comments and questions regarding the Old Roosevelt Field Contaminated Groundwater site, postmarked no later than Sept. 20, may be sent to Caroline Kwan, project manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866 or by fax to (212) 637-4284 or via email at kwan.caroline@epa.gov.