New York State Assemblyman Marc Herbst (R, C, I - Hicksville) recently announced that he is outraged by the proposed transportation method of removing hazardous waste from the former Sylvania Electric Products Incorporated Facility on Cantiague Road in Hicksville.

According to a report issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), excavated contaminated soils from the site, primarily used between 1952 and 1967 for the manufacturing of atomic fuel elements for reactors, will be placed in large bags and shipped to an approved off-site treatment, storage and disposal facility in Utah. The bags will be moved by truck to a railroad siding on West John Street, approximately a half-mile from the site, and loaded immediately on railroad cars. There will be no waste storage at the railroad siding.

"It infuriates me that the private freight operator, New York and Atlantic Railway, publicly and personally assured me that I would be apprised of any future plans at the Hicksville rail yard," said Herbst. "I was never notified that contaminated soil would be shipped by train and stored in Hicksville before making its final destination to Utah. This is totally unacceptable."

On Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. a public meeting will take place at the Burns Avenue Elementary School. At this time, the DEC plans to present a proposal for soil remediation at the site. Staff from the DEC and the State Department of Health will also review the history of the site, describe the results of soil investigations completed to date and the proposed remediation work plan. Meeting participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments on the proposed plan.

Herbst has also requested that the DEC provide answers to the following questions:

* When did the Department of Environmental Conservation first communicate with the freight operator regarding the shipment of hazardous material?

* Has the freight operator agreed to ship the hazardous material and, if so, when was that agreement reached?

* Since the shipment of material is apparently already scheduled for routing to the state of Utah, what is the cost of shipping and what precautions are in place to ensure safety of the communities surrounding the route?

* Have alternative measures of shipment been considered? If, so, what are those measures and the safeguards?

* How many truckloads and freight carloads of material are expected to be removed and transported?

* What is the planned time frame for the transportation of the material?

Herbst has also written to New York State Commissioner of Environmental Conservation Erin M. Crotty seeking an investigation. He informed the DEC that he believes information has not been properly shared with the community. In his letter to Crotty, Herbst stated, "I suspect your office may have unwittingly been embroiled in potential efforts to shield information from the pubic. I am asking your office to assist me in exposing any possible activities that have purposely been veiled from the public view."

Herbst said that during an Oct. 25, 2001 meeting with railroad officials and community leaders he asked that a moratorium on the transfer of solid waste previously enacted in Garden City be enacted in Hicksville as well. The freight operator announced that his freight company did not transport any solid waste and had no plans to ship any in the future. The freight operation, however, would not agree to the moratorium in Hicksville.

At the request of several community leaders, Herbst introduced Assembly Bill A1082a prohibiting the trans-loading of waste at the Hicksville rail freight yard. Currently, the bill is in the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee.

"Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly support the remediation effort," said Herbst, "but I am concerned about the manner in which information regarding removal of the hazardous waste from the site was divulged. I am angered that I learned of the plans only by reading information buried inside a report about the remediation project at a nearby site. "

Herbst also said, "The use of the local rail facility has been a major concern of area residents and I believe that information has not been properly shared with the public. Why were the community leaders and I not informed when we met just five months ago to discuss this issue?"

The public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. at the Burns Avenue Elementary School. Written comments can be sent during the 30-day comment period (March 27 to April 27) to Robert Stewart - Project Manager, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, SUNY Building 40, Stony Brook NY 11790-2356. The comments must be submitted by the April 27 deadline. Based upon the public comments received, the DEC may modify its proposal or select a different course of action.

"It is very important that residents voice their opinion because final approval cannot be granted until all public input is heard," said Herbst.

For more information call Assemblyman Herbst's district office at 938-3168.

During its 15-year operational period, uranium and thorium were the primary elements used for the manufacturing of atomic fuel elements for reactors. Process wastes were reportedly discharged to four on-site recharge basins and to two industrial leaching pools.

In December 1986, buried drums containing waste solvents that attributed to former operations involving the manufacture of reactor fuel elements were discovered on the southernmost parcel, which was operated by Air Techniques. Approximately 57 drums and 80 to 90 cubic yards of contaminated soils were removed in 1987. An investigation revealed groundwater contamination by tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene, both common industrial solvents used for degreasing metal parts. This contamination was discovered in both up gradient and down gradient test wells. Radiation contamination was discovered on parts of the site in 1995.

The proposed soil remediation consists of excavation of all the affected soil with levels of contamination above the proposed cleanup objectives for the site. These cleanup objectives have been selected to allow unrestricted future use of the site. The planned extent of initial soil excavation is based on numerous soil samples. The excavation will be expanded if sampling from the sides and bottom of the excavated areas show remaining contamination levels above cleanup objectives.

The DEC has announced that several measures will be used to ensure that workers, the general public and the environment will be adequately protected during the remedial activities.

Security personnel will ensure that unauthorized personnel are not allowed on the site. In addition, areas under excavation will be covered with a temporary enclosure to prevent dust and vapor migration and the air inside this enclosure will be treated, as necessary, to remove air contaminants. A community air monitoring plan will also be implemented to monitor air emissions and to prevent exposures to the public and continuous monitoring for both chemical and radiological contaminants will be performed during all excavation activities. Dust and volatile organic vapors will also be monitored.

Copies of investigation reports and other site documents are available at the Hicksville Public Library and at the DEC's regional office in Stony Brook. Information is also available by calling Mark Lowery at (631) 444-0350 or at www.dec.state.ny.us/website/reg1/hazwaste.html. To view the Environmental Notice Bulletin go to www.dec.state.ny.us/website/enb.