(This letter was sent by Ray Cowen, the Regional Director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, regarding the remediation program for Lockheed Martin on the property located on the corner of Lakeville Road and Marcus Avenue, New Hyde Park, to the following (among others): Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello, all the members of the North Hempstead Town Board, the members of the TONH Lockheed Task Force, Village of Lake Success Mayor Robert Bernstein; Commissioners of the Great Neck Water District; Commissioners of the Garden City Park Water District; Legislator Lisanne Altmann; Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy; Congressman Gary Ackerman;; United States Senator Charles Schumer; New York Senators Michael Balboni and Thomas DiNapoli; Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta; John Walz, Commissioner, Nassau County Department of Public Works. )

The purpose of this letter is to follow up on two meetings held by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (Department) regarding options for discharge of water after treatment as part of the on-site groundwater remediation program at the former UNISYS site Lockheed Martin (LMC) has been identified as a potentially responsible party for the former UNISYS site and has been paying for the investigation and remediation.

The first of the two meetings was held on March 7 and involved water district officers and civic leaders. The second meeting was held on March 10 and involved local and state officials. At each of these meetings, I and my staff explained that there are three options for recharge of the treated water. To reiterate, the first of these options is to recharge the water through diffusion wells located on the former UNISYS site. This is the recharge method being used by the Interim Remedial Measures (IRM) currently in operation. The Record of Decision (ROD) for on-site groundwater remediation calls for capture of on-site organic contaminants by extraction, treatment and on-site recharge of groundwater at the rate of 1800 gallons per minutes (gpm), an increase over the 730 gpm being treated and recharged by the current IRM. However, data obtained since the ROD was finalized indicate that on-site recharge at 1800 gpm will cause the contaminant plume to split and spread somewhat to the south. This phenomenon is caused by the hydrostatic pressure of clean water being "piled" on top of contaminated water. Spreading of the plume will make it difficult, if not impossible, to remove all the contaminants through an on-site treatment system if it is operated at 1800 gpm.

Faced with the inherent complications of on-site recharge of 1800 gpm, the department instructed LMC to undertake an analysis of the efficiencies gained with off-site recharge of treated water. That analysis showed that pumping at less than one half the rate specified by the ROD, coupled with off-site recharge of treated water would yield significantly better contaminant capture. According, LMC has identified two potential off-site recharge sites. Treated water could be piped to diffusion wells installed north of the site, along the Northern State Parkway, between exits 24 and 25. This option would require installation of undergound pipes from the site to the diffusion wells. In the second off-site recharge option, water could be recharged through the Nassau County stormwater drainage system. Water would be carried via underground pipes to the stormwater recharge basin system and would flow through the system as does stormwater runoff to be returned to the underground aquifer.

The department had proposed pilot tests of either or both off-site recharge options. The purpose of the pilot tests would have been to confirm that the predicted contaminant removal would actually be achieved and that there are no negative impacts such as flooding. The purpose of the two meetings held in March was to inform both nonelected and elected community leaders of these options and to elicit comment on them. To date department staff have received no written comments on any of the three options. It was however, department staff's opinion that participants at both meetings were generally supportive of diffusion of treated water along the Northern State Parkway. Department staff, however, were left with the impression that there would be significant local opposition to recharge into the Nassau County basins if the Northern State Parkway option should be unavailable.

Unfortunately, since we met, the North State Parkway diffusion well option has been precluded by several circumstances. First, while we identified a reasonable and practical route for laying pipes, the route required tranversing a roadway on private property owned by We're Associates. LMC's consultant, Arcadis, Garaghty and Miller, Inc., (AGM) has made repeated attempts to persuade We're Associates' management to permit access for these pipes, but they have steadfastly refused. I have made several calls to We're Associates, but they have not returned my calls. In addition, as I noted during our meeting, there is insufficient room between the ponds along the parkway and the hillside to permit excavation. The alternative we preferred, horizontal drilling under the pond has been judged to be infeasible by companies that specialize in such drilling.

Given the apparent lack of public support for recharge of treated water into the county basin systems, I have directed AGM to begin design of the on-site treatment system with on-site recharge of the treated water. The groundwater recovery, treatment and recharge system will be flexible in its design and operation to adapt to pumping rates appropriate to achieve capture of on-site organic contaminants as determined by empirical data during its operation.

As indicated at the two meetings, I am committed to making the treatment system operational this summer. I expect that the construction of the treatment system will begin in about 30 days. Final design plans must be completed by then. Therefore, unless I am expressly informed by civic leaders and local elected officials that they are supportive of recharge through the county recharge basin system and that Nassau County Legislators Altmann and Nicolello will communicate that support to the Nassau County Department of Public Works, by May 19, 2000, I am directing AGM to prepare the final design plans for on-site discharge of treated water. Ray Cowen, Regional Director, NYS DEC