DEC Announces Plan To Begin Clean Up At Contaminated West Islip Superfund Site

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced a proposed plan to clean up a Superfund site in West Islip.

The DEC spoke about the plan to clean up the former Dzus Fastener site on 425 Union Boulevard after levels of cadmium and chromium were detected in 2016 during a public meeting on Wednesday night.

At the meeting, local residents "raised public health and environmental safety concerns" over the plan, according to a report in Newsday.

The plan includes:

• An investigation to refine excavation boundaries
• Removing the contaminated bank soil
• Removing sediment to native material in the zone of impact
• Restoring the excavated area of the stream will be to a stable riparian corridor with stable stream and floodplain wetlands
• Restoring the wetland habitat to the maximum extent possible while allowing sufficient flood capacity and appropriate stream flow
• Replacing excavated upland areas with topsoil, plantings, and grass seed

“Once the sediment is removed everything will be put back to its natural state," Payson Long, the DEC project manager told Newsday.

In January, the DEC began cleaning Willetts Creek near two local schools in West Islip after the water became contaminated from the Dzus site.

Photo: Google Maps