The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, March 9 to present its proposal for the cleanup of environmental contamination at the 123 Post Avenue Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site. The meeting will be held at Westbury Community Center, 360 Post Avenue, beginning at 7 p.m. The 123 Post Avenue site is located in the Village of Westbury.

At the meeting, DEC and State Health Department staff will review the history of the site, describe the results of investigations completed to date, and the rationale behind the Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP).

The PRAP addresses offsite groundwater contamination in an area referred to as Operable Unit 2 (OU-2). An operable unit represents a portion of the site remedy that for technical or administrative reasons can be addressed separately to eliminate or mitigate a release, threat of release or exposure pathway resulting from the site contamination. Operable Unit 1 (OU-1), which was the subject of a PRAP and Record of Decision (ROD) signed in March 2003, is being addressed by the responsible party for this site and deals with onsite contamination that resulted from dry cleaning operations at this site. The PRAP for OU-2 is being carried out under the State Superfund Program. The 123 Post Avenue site has been used for dry cleaning operations since the 1950s.

Meeting participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments on the proposed cleanup plan. Written comments also may be submitted to Thomas Gibbons, Project Manager, DEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7016. The public comment period ends March 22, 2004.

Once the public comment period closes, DEC will document and respond to comments and outline the chosen remedy in a Record of Decision (ROD). Copies of investigation reports and other site documents are available at the Westbury Memorial Public Library and at the DEC's regional office in Stony Brook. Information is also available by calling Bill Fonda at (631) 444-0350.