The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last Wednesday unveiled to the public its preferred method for a cleanup of the groundwater lying under the Liberty Industrial Finishing Site in Farmingdale.

Located on Motor Avenue, the Liberty Site was polluted by past manufacturing activities, and has been found to be contaminated with such hazardous wastes as volatile organic compounds, cadmium and chromium. In 1986, it was placed on the National Priorities List of hazardous substance releases, also known as the federal Superfund program.

The preferred groundwater cleanup, which the agency plans to conduct while studying how best to perform a comprehensive cleanup of the site, would involve the use of innovative technologies where removal of groundwater contaminants would occur below ground. The EPA prefers this method over another alternative it had detailed in a document released to the public in early January. That other alternative called for a more conventional method, involving treating the water after pumping it out.

During the public meeting, some residents expressed favor for the innovative method, which the EPA prefers, while others noted that they favored the conventional method. More residents seemed to express favor for the conventional method, however. "We're still evaluating all the comments we've received," said Doug Garbarini, a spokesperson for the EPA.

The public comment period about the groundwater cleanup method began Jan. 8 and will last until Feb. 8, after which time the EPA is expected to make a decision about it. The EPA is currently conducting studies at the site to determine which method would be more effective. The agency has noted that if the studies show that the innovative method would not be as effective, the conventional method would be implemented. "We're picking one with the contingency to go to the other," Garbarini noted.

If implemented, the conventional method might involve discharging the treated water into the Massapequa Creek. However, Garbarini noted that the water would be treated to meet state pollution standards before being discharged. The pollution levels, he noted, would be lower than those allowed in drinking water, he added. "They would be very, very low levels," he said. Furthermore, Nassau County officials have indicated that they want to meet with EPA officials before giving approval for the discharge, Garbarini said.

The conventional method has been used in many more cases than the innovative method, and therefore has more of a track record of success, Garbarini said. However, he noted that at those sites where the innovative method has been used, groundwater cleanup was completed more quickly than it usually is through the conventional method. The agency estimates that the preferred innovative method and the conventional method would cost $1.9 million and $4 million, respectively, to implement.

While studying the site to determine how to clean up the groundwater under the Liberty Site, the EPA plans to continue studying the environment there to determine how to do a comprehensive cleanup, agency officials noted. For this reason, the proposed cleanup of the groundwater underlying the site has been labeled an interim action. The comprehensive cleanup would include cleaning up the soil on the site and groundwater off site, which has been contaminated. It would be done after the interim groundwater cleanup, and is expected to integrate it.

As for the anticipated completion of the interim groundwater cleanup system, Garbarini said, "Hopefully, this system will be up and running by the end of the calendar year."

Further information on the Liberty Site may be obtained by viewing public documents about it, located in the reference section of the Farmingdale Public Library on Merritts Road. Written comments on the EPA's proposed interim groundwater cleanup plan for the site may be sent to Lorenzo Thantu, EPA Remedial Project Manager, USEPA, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.