DEC Continues Abatement at Waldbaum’s Shopping Plaza
At the recent public meeting of the Village of Farmingdale Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Sept. 6 Nassau County Legislator Joseph Belesi stopped by to present a check in the amount of $200,000 for the Environmental Bond Fund. The Board approved a resolution to approve the Village of Farmingdale entering into an Inter-Municipal Agreement (IMA) between the Village and Nassau County for the funding of projects in the Village Green, Main Street Triangle Park and new greenspace on Front Street at the proposed hotel site.
Trustee Ralph Ekstrand proposed to set a public hearing for proposed changes to Village codes to be held on Monday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. during the regularly scheduled public board meeting. All residents and business owners are invited to attend.
A second public hearing was set, proposed by Deputy Mayor Patricia Christiansen, to hear from residents about a stop sign installation at Jefferson Road and Sherman Road in the Village of Farmingdale. Mayor George Starkie encouraged residents who live in the area of the proposed stop sign to attend the public meeting on Monday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. to have their comments entered into public record.
The public hearing about Farmingdale Local Law 3 of 2011, regarding taxicab licenses, was continued. The Village code presently allows for 20 taxi licenses to be issued each year. Yellow Cab holds 14 of the licenses; Checker Cab holds the remaining six.
Checker seeks to have the law amended to allow more licenses issued to accommodate their growing fixed point-to-point services. Farmingdale State College recently lost their MTA Bus service that transported staff and students between the Farmingdale LIRR train station to the campus. According to Starkie, FSC and Checker met, creating an agreement for Checker to begin providing this transport service. Checker would need an additional license for the transport van it would use for the FSC campus service; without it, Checker would have to reduce or cut service to the Hardscrabble Apartments’ seniors, which is currently free for seniors on specific days between fixed locations. Yellow Cab also offers a reduced rate service to the seniors.
No representatives from either taxi company were present for the public hearing. The new law will increase the number of permissible taxi licenses which the Village will issue each year from 20 to 28. Permits are renewable each year, in March, for $75 each. Drivers are also required to be licensed within the Village, $50 for new drivers, and $25 for a renewal license. Taxi companies which operate a point-to-point service, such as the transport between FSC campus and the train station, will also be required to use one of their licenses against that service. The amendment to the Local Law was approved and the public hearing was closed.
The Village Board approved the expenditure of $10,450 from Residential Rehab funds for “Resident #4” leaving a balance of $5,897 remaining in the Village’s Residential Rehab funds for the remainder of the year. The Mayor reminded residents that there are funds available. The Village has a list of residents who have applied and qualify for the Federal funding.
The Village also participates in the ABLE Program, handicapped accessibility funds that were previously distributed through Nassau County. ABLE Program does qualify for Residential Rehab funds.
Signage was approved to be posted at the Waldbaum’s remediation site, at 480 Main Street, in Farmingdale. Trustee Ekstrand explained that the Farmingdale Plaza Cleaners had been a tenant of Waldbaum’s for many years, in the south end of the shopping plaza. A contamination plume of residue from the dry cleaning chemicals, had been identified by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
According to Ekstrand, the DEC is actively cleaning the toxic waste, including the soil and vapor remediation. The trenches have been dug around the contaminated area, machinery is in place at the site, and 8-foot fences have been erected. The DEC estimates this cleanup project will last one year.
Ekstrand said, “We want the toxic waste cleaned up as much as possible because it has been seeping into the underground of the businesses, like McDonald’s and the businesses on the south side of 109; the chemicals are actually permeating through the concrete.”
The DEC will provide weekly reports about the progress of the cleanup, including the environmental impact to the surrounding areas. The superfund site ID for this project is 130107. Information about this project can be accessed by the public at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/brownfields.html. Click on the ‘Site Database Search’ link and enter the site ID code (130107).
The DEC has published the following information about the site:
“The site is a dry cleaner located in the Waldbaum’s Shopping Plaza on Main Street in Farmingdale. This site is directly upgradient of the Liberty Industrial Finishing site, an NPL site. Investigations conducted at the Liberty site indicated that there was a significant source of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) upgradient. Additional investigation around the shopping plaza (referred to as the Plume B investigation) indicates that the source is associated with this dry cleaners. PCE is in groundwater at low levels directly upgradient of the drycleaners (7ppb). PCE has been detected in the past at several locations directly down gradient from the dry cleaners at levels as high as 3600 ppb. The configuration of groundwater contamination indicates that the source is related to the dry cleaner at the Waldbaum Plaza. Remedial Investigation conducted at the site revealed high sub-slab soil vapor concentrations, but marginal levels of indoor air vapor concentrations. An Interim Remedial Measure (IRM) is currently under way to remediate any potential for vapor intrusion at or near the site. A downgradient groundwater Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study is underway to deal with any PCE plume that has migrated off-site.
“Past operations at the site have contaminated the groundwater and soil vapor with mainly tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Groundwater contamination at the site is at levels slightly above standards. This site overlies a sole source aquifer.
“No contact with contaminated soils is expected since contamination is deep and under buildings or pavement. No one is expected to drink contaminated groundwater because the surrounding area is served by public water. No one should be exposed to contaminants in indoor air because a soil vapor extraction system is currently planned to remove contaminated soil vapors before they reach site buildings and surrounding buildings.”
A resolution was approved to award the paving requirements contract in the amount of $541,905 to Roadwork Ahead of Westbury. Seven companies participated in the bidding for this project.
The Board members approved the acceptance of a donation of the use of a large dump truck, including fuel, from Mayor George Starkie, for four days during the clean-up after Tropical Storm Irene. The Village Board of Trustees recognized and thanked the Mayor for his unselfish commitment to the community.
The next public board of trustees meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. at Village Hall, 361 Main Street, in the conference room. It will be preceded by a work session, beginning at 7 p.m. A change is being made to an earlier scheduled work session. The work session scheduled for Monday, Sept. 26 is being moved to Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. Copies of the past minutes and future agendas can be found on the village website. Regular meetings are typically on the first Monday of each month at 8 p.m.
