The members of the Garden City Park Water District sent a statement to The Illustrated News commenting on the cleanup procedure as outlined by the Department of Environmental Conservation (D.E.C.) for the Lockheed property to be developed, bordered by Lakeville Road on the west, Marcus Avenue on the north and Union Turnpike on the south.

The following is the statement by Garden City Park Water Chairman Frank Boccio and Commissioners Alan Cooper and Richard Finke:

It was recently brought to the attention of the Garden City Park Water District that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is considering the discharge of treated contaminated groundwater from the Lockheed Martin Superfund site to the Nassau County storm drain and recharge basin system within close proximity to the Garden City Park Water District service area.

The Board of Commissioners of the Garden City Park Water District are very disturbed that the district was not notified of NYSDECs intentions nor invited to any public meetings or hearing concerning the status of the hazardous waste site cleanup. We understand that meetings were held with other governing agencies and citizen groups, however, the Garden City Park Water District was never notified. It was not until our residents contacted our office did we know anything about the proposal to recharge this water near our community.

As elected officials, the Board of Commissioners of the Garden City Park Water District is committed to provide our community with the highest quality drinking water. With several of our supply wells already impacted by contamination from "unknown" sources, the district has spent million of dollars in constructing state-of-the-art treatment systems to ensure that our water meets all Federal, State and County standards.

The residents of the Garden City Park Water District should be assured that the Board of Commissioners will force NYSDEC to listen to our concerns and ensure the public that we will not let anyone compromise the water quality of our public water supply wells.

The Illustrated News contacted DEC Project Manager for this site, Girish Desai, and the following is his statement:

Subject: Off-site recharge of treated water from Lockheed Martin Site:

Off-site recharge of treated water from the Lockheed site is one of several options being evaluated at this time and this particular option is at a very preliminary stage. The water to be recharged will meet all applicable New York State Water Standards. No decision has been made yet.

If the option to recharge treated water off-site is considered further, the DEC will conduct a public outreach program and will inform any affected water districts prior to making a final decision.