When news broke last spring that a former Village of Hempstead gas plant spawned a groundwater plume, nearby Garden City residents became angered at state officials for failing to alert them of the incident and became wary of the safety of their drinking water.

Even though Garden City officials have assured residents the water is safe to drink, they still want answers. Residents will hear firsthand about the proposed cleanup of the site - which is located south of Second Street, between Franklin and Hilton avenues - from the owners themselves, KeySpan, along with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) during a scheduled public hearing Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. at Hofstra University's Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center, Building 31 (north side of campus).

The meeting, which follows up a meeting held last spring, will particularly focus on how these agencies propose to remove the residual coal tar from the soil as well as the schedule for the work.

Even though the site and its underground plume is heading away from Garden City and is wholly contained within the Village of Hempstead, the site is adjacent to Garden City water wells on Hilton Avenue, which is why village officials retained water consultant H2M Group to investigate.

H2M Group advised that there is no danger of contamination to village water supplies. Further, Village Administrator Robert Schoelle and Director of Public Works Robert Mangan continue to interface with representatives of both agencies to continually assure steps are in place to mitigate and avoid inconvenience and disturbance to Garden City residents. Both Schoelle and Mangan plan on attending Thursday's meeting.

The 7.5-acre Hempstead Intersection Street former MGP site is primarily located within the Village of Garden City. The site's border between Garden City and Hempstead is located "just within" the site's southern property boundary and only a small portion is located within Hempstead. Residential properties are located north of the site, along Second Street in Garden City. The area of the site-related groundwater plume is bounded approximately within Second Street to the north, Sealy and Terrace Avenue to the east, Hilton Avenue, Kensington Court and Cathedral Avenue to the west and Front Street to the south.

Last June, KeySpan and the NYSDEC attempted to ease residents' concerns of possible vapor intrusion and water contamination during a meeting held at Adelphi. According to Karen Young, a KeySpan representative, the former Hempstead Intersection Street manufactured gas plant (MGP) did in fact spawn a groundwater plume, which is flowing generally south from the site and is approximately 600 feet wide and extends for about 3,800 feet. It starts at a depth of between approximately 24 feet and 30 feet beneath the ground surface -this depth provides some buffer between the ground surface and the surface of the groundwater, Young added.

Investigations and exposure assessments indicate there are "no open pathways between the potentially harmful materials associated with the site and the people who live and work nearby. Any risk of health effects would be directly related to the presence of such open pathways."

The final remedial investigation report found the presence of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene), PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and total cyanide, materials typically associated with gas manufacturing, in both soil and groundwater. According to the report, "most of the materials were found either in shallow soils in the upper 8 feet of the site near where the actual MGP operations were located and/or in a zone approximately 24-34 feet below grade both on and off-site."

The investigation also showed non-KeySpan related, off-site sources that are contributing chemicals to the plume path. The NYSDEC is responsible for ensuring that all responsible parties address these non-KeySpan related sources.

Despite these findings, chemical constituents from the site "have not adversely impacted the drinking water supply wells serving the nearby communities and are not expected to adversely affect those wells based on anticipated normal pumping rates," the report stated.

"There is no risk of exposing people to potentially hazardous materials," Young assured, adding that a feasibility study has been prepared to present the recommended remedial action plan and an interim remedial measure to the public.