Many people know Tully Park and land under the driving range are closed township landfills. What may not be well known is that since the mid 1990s Environmental Protection Agency has had these areas back listed, well on the way to becoming a Superfund site. Previously, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation had recommended the same to the EPA. Then, without any supporting data, the DEC removed them from its list of inactive hazardous waste sites and shifted them over to its solid waste division - which shelved the matter because the landfill is officially "closed" and had been referred to the EPA, thus, the DEC conveniently passed the buck.

The EPA on the other hand hasn't been much better. Two limited site investigations were performed, both of which revealed impacts to the environment and groundwater. Simply, the site rated high enough to be a Superfund site. Groundwater contaminants include the VOCs TCE and PCE, and high levels of metals like chrome and lead, some of which are carcinogens.

In addition, witness reports indicate bulk disposal of chemical wastes, and the possibility that low level radiation waste came from a facility that is now a Superfund site in Glen Cove. After a second limited study resulted in a "higher priority" rating, strangely all activity stopped. There's been no comprehensive investigation and certainly no cleanup.

Perhaps it's because EPA seems to have an unwritten policy of avoiding listing landfills, and, much unlike the Port Washington landfill which is a Superfund site and has a groundwater cleanup underway, Tully Park generates little community interest, few phone calls, and no political activity. So the issue literally sat on a shelf until a recent Congressional audit of EPA's back list once again forced EPA to do something - which has thus far involved going through an administrative exercise: taking files off the shelf, dusting them off, turning a few pages. The goal of which almost appears to be to find a way to say the site poses no risk to health and the environment.

However, this is hard to do given EPA's own records and the fact that The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry concluded otherwise. So while the DEC and EPA continue to play what amounts to a game of hot potato in the hopes the problem goes away, local groundwater is becoming more contaminated. The other issue is how two key government "oversight" agencies can so easily turn their heads or give the approving nod while potentially serious issues are shelved or "delisted" without a shred of supporting data and no contaminants have been cleaned up.

Stephen Cipot