Family Forum: The Expansion of Allen Park

Family Forum is a feature on Farmingdale Patch where we invite you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for local families right here in Farmingdale.

So grab a cup of coffee and settle in as we start the conversation today with a discussion about the property behind Allen Park:

The Town of Oyster Bay maintains Famingdale's 16-acre . Located just to the east of the park is a former industrial site known as the Liberty Site. As Supervisor John Venditto , between 1940 and 1957, operations at the site included aircraft parts manufacturing. The federal government owned a portion of the site during World War II.  Hazardous substances were disposed of throughout the period of operations on the site.

The property was eventually deemed a federal "superfund" site and two decades ago became a national priority for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which assumed the role of lead agency for the purposes of documenting the extent of the contamination and determining the best remediation plan.

Ultimately, the EPA was developing a remedial plan which would clean up the property only to commercial/industrial standards, limiting cleanup efforts to full removal of only some areas of contamination and capping others. This all changed when the Town announced its intention of acquiring portions of the property.

Today, the eastern-most parcel of the property is now home to the and the remaining approximate 22 acres are officially Town property. An extensive cleanup is nearing completion, and soon the expansion of Allen Town Park will become a reality. Community meetings will be held in the Fall for residents to share with the Town what facilities they would like to see in the expanded park.

What would you like on the expanded property at the park? Are you satisfied with the clean-up effort or will you be concerned for your kids safety there?  Add your opinion to the comment section below.