EPA Proposes Plan to Expand Cleanup of Contaminated Groundwater at the Old Roosevelt Field Contaminated Groundwater Area Superfund Site
EPA to Hold Public Meeting on March 7, 2018
New York, N.Y. (Feb. 26, 2018) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a plan to clean up contaminated groundwater in the eastern area of the Old Roosevelt Field Contaminated Groundwater Area Superfund site in Garden City, N.Y.
“Old Roosevelt Field’s storied history includes supporting our nation during World Wars I and II and other aviation milestones. Today, the property is a vibrant commercial area. This cleanup plan advances our progress as we protect the people who visit the area,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez.
Under the proposed cleanup plan, EPA will use a treatment process to remove contaminants where trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were detected by EPA. This will reduce potential threats to people’s health by removing and treating the chemicals in the groundwater. The plan expands on the finalized 2007 cleanup plan and is estimated to cost approximately $13.5 million.
EPA will hold a public meeting on March 7, 2018 to explain the proposed cleanup plan, and take public comments on the proposal and other alternatives considered. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Village of Garden City Village Hall, 351 Stewart Ave., Garden City, New York. Comments will be accepted until March 26, 2018.
Written comments may be mailed or emailed to:
Sherrel Henry, Remedial Project Manager
290 Broadway, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10007
Tel. 212-637-4273
Background
Solvents such as TCE and PCE were used for aircraft manufacturing, maintenance, and repair operations since about the 1930s. Charles Lindbergh began his famous 1927 flight across the Atlantic Ocean in the “Spirit of St. Louis” from Roosevelt Field. The U.S. military began using the site as an airfield prior to World War I and continued to use it as a commercial airport until it closed in May 1951. The area of the former Roosevelt Field airfield is currently the location of the Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall, office building complexes, and other small shopping centers.
A treatment system, which uses a process called air stripping, was installed by the Village of Garden City in 1987 and upgraded in the late 1990s to remove contaminants from two public drinking water supply wells just south of the airfield after TCE and PCE were discovered in the Village of Garden City public supply wells. The site was added to the Superfund list in May 2000. In 2007, EPA finalized a cleanup plan for area groundwater contamination which included extraction of groundwater contamination predominantly in the western portion of the site. In 2011, EPA constructed the groundwater treatment system called for in the 2007 cleanup plan that pulls groundwater beneath the site, treats it to remove contamination and discharges the treated groundwater to a nearby basin. The public water supply for Garden City is routinely tested by the Garden City water district to ensure that all federal and state drinking water standards are being met.
Throughout the cleanup process being implemented at the site, monitoring will be conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the cleanup technology. Groundwater will be sampled and the results used to verify that cleanup goals are being achieved. EPA will conduct a review within five years to ensure the effectiveness of the cleanup.
The cleanup proposal is available at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/roosevelt-field-groundwater
Contact: Elias Rodriguez, 
