By Nick Buglione
Preliminary tests have indicated that a chemical plume, consisting primarily of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, used commonly in the dry-cleaning process, originated from Melody Cleaners at 2050 Hempstead Turnpike and is slowly spreading south toward McVey Elementary School.
Although there are three Town of Hempstead wells near the source of contamination, tests show that only low levels of the contaminants have been detected in two of them.
Were these chemicals to appear in water samples at concentrations exceeding 5 parts per billion, New York State health regulations would require that the wells be closed or equipped with special treatment facilities. Town officials, in a Jan. 30 letter to residents, have reaffirmed that the water is safe for drinking and all other household uses.
"This isn't impacting drinking water at all," said Mike Fraser, spokesman for the DEC. Still, additional tests will be conducted over the next few months to determine how far the contamination has spread from the original site and whether it will have any future health implications for area residents.
"They have indicated to us that the chemicals can percolate through the soil and become a vapor, and that can make people dizzy," said Leon Campo, East Meadow School District assistant superintendent. "That doesn't necessarily mean that's going to happen, but it could."
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says there are myriad health problems that can arise from contact with trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene (see boxes).
Campo noted that while DEC officials have said the contamination appears to be heading toward McVey Elementary School, at 2201 Devon St., it has not yet reached school grounds. "At this point it's not there, and we don't know if it will ever get there," he said, adding that if the plume were to release noxious gases into the school, there would be options to consider. "Say it percolates up into the building. You can change your ventilation system so that doesn't happen."
The contamination was first discovered after an environmental assessment of Melody Cleaners in October 1999 indicated the presence of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene in the soil and groundwater beneath the dry cleaners.
"In October of 1999, the owner of the dry cleaners was looking to refinance his business, and part of the regulation required that he have his site environmentally assessed," said Fraser. "That's when it was discovered, and that's when he notified the DEC."
Since then the company Lowden Properties, in conjunction with the New York State Voluntary Cleanup Program, stepped in to voluntarily investigate the contamination and clean it up under DEC supervision.
A closer look at the cleaners in March 2000 revealed that the chemicals had been discharged from the store's on-site cesspools. "How it got there is kind of water under the bridge right now," Fraser said. "It could have been accidental or equipment failure."
More than 500 tons of contaminated soil has already been removed from three of the store's polluted cesspools.
Calls to Melody Cleaners were not returned.
Although news of the contamination seemed to shock residents, school administrators and elected officials last week, Fraser said the DEC has not held this information back. "The fact sheet on this went out in July of last year, including to residents and all public officials, and that's standard practice," he said. "This went out to several hundred people."
Assemblywoman Maureen O'Connell (R-East Williston), who was unaware of the situation until recently, said she recently contacted the DEC and asked it to expedite future tests. O'Connell, Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City) and Legis. Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) also plan to hold a public hearing with the DEC on the matter, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 26.
"The DEC told me there's no immediate danger to anybody," said O'Connell, adding that she found out about the contamination through East Meadow constituents who received an alarming Jan. 23 letter from the school district.
Some residents living in the area of the contamination were extremely concerned when they learned the news. "I got a letter from the school district in the mail," said a resident who lives near McVey Elementary and asked not to be identified further. "I called the Health Department, the DEC and the water department and nobody had anything to say about it. If I want to sell my house and I have these chemicals underneath it, who is going to buy it?"
Residents with specific questions regarding the contamination and future tests can contact project manager Hayden Brewster of the DEC at (518) 402-9564 or Mark Lowery, regional citizen participant of the DEC, at (631) 444-0350. Health-related questions can be directed to Ian Ushe of the New York State Department of Health at (800) 458-1158, extension 27880.
Documents regarding the contaminated site are also available at the Levittown Public Library, 1 Bluegrass Lane, and the DEC Region I Office, Building 40, SUNY Campus, Stony Brook.
Trichloroethylene is a colorless liquid used as a solvent for cleaning metal parts and in dry cleaning. Drinking or breathing high levels of it can affect the nervous system and cause liver and lung damage, abnormal heartbeat, coma and even death.
Tetrachloroethylene is a manufactured chemical used for dry cleaning and metal degreasing. Exposure to high concentrations of it can cause dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, confusion, nausea, difficulty in speaking and walking, unconsciousness and death.
