NEW YORK – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the public comment period for its proposed cleanup plan to address contaminated groundwater at a portion of the New Cassel/Hicksville Groundwater Contamination Superfund site in Nassau County, New York to September 22, 2023. The original public comment period was scheduled to end on August 23rd. EPA held a public meeting at the East Meadow Public Library on August 10, 2023, to explain the cleanup proposal to the public.
EPA’s proposed plan will prevent people from potentially being exposed to the contaminated groundwater in the future, help minimize the potential for the contaminated groundwater to migrate further and treat the groundwater to meet strict federal and state standards for drinking water.
The cleanup plan proposes installing a network of wells and underground pipes in a residential neighborhood and parkland to move contaminated groundwater to a new water treatment facility. Options for how the treated water will be released will be evaluated during the design of the cleanup plan. The potential options outlined in the proposed plan include that treated water can be returned back to the ground, released to surface water or a recharge basin, or released into the sewer.
Once the cleanup plan is finalized, EPA will decide where the wells and water treatment facility will be built and where the treated water will go. The plan also requires long-term monitoring of the groundwater treatment program and relies on existing county and state restrictions on groundwater use to ensure that public drinking water wells are not installed on site without a permit.
Written comments on the proposed plan may be mailed or emailed by September 22, 2023 to Aidan Conway, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway – 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007, Email: conway.aidan@epa.gov.
For additional background and to see the proposed cleanup plan, visit the New Cassel/Hicksville Groundwater Contamination Superfund site profile page.
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