More than 30 Hicksville residents showed up at the Hicksville Community Center to partake in the Hicksville Water District’s (HKWD) State of the Water Supply public meeting on May 16. Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Karl Schweitzer, treasurer William Schuckmann, secretary Nicholas Brigandi and Superintendant Anthony Iannone spoke about the most pressing issues currently facing the public water supply, such as ongoing capital improvements, resource management and how the district is working to remediate the emergence of 1,4-dioxane in source water present within the district.
Also to be taken on is the contamination related to the American Drive-in Cleaners, 418 S. Oyster Bay Rd. in Hicksville, which has been listed as a Class 2 site in the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites. Class 2 identifies a site posing a significant threat to public health or the environment that requires action. Work was set to start on May 17 to install monitoring wells between the American Drive-in Cleaners State Superfund Site and its Plant No. 11, located at the intersection of Plainview Road and Old Country Road. Land identified as a superfund site is land that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and is indentified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a candidate for cleanup because of its risk to human health and the environment. The month-long investigation of the groundwater is being conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) at the request of the HKWD.
The request for this investigation comes after the discovery of Tetrachloroethylene, Trichlorethylene and Dichloroethylene at concentrations greater than the New York State standard for drinking water of 5 micrograms per liter on and off the American Drive-in Cleaners site. The HKWD and its engineer have determined that the site is a threat to the raw groundwater quality at Plant No. 11. With the collaborative effort between the NYS DEC and the water district, results of the proposed onsite cleanup will be monitored and the extent of contamination expected to impact Plant No. 11 will be identified so necessary improvements can be made to the facility.
Cleanup efforts will include the installation and sampling of three sentinel wells—a well located between an area of groundwater contamination and drinking water supply wells to provide advanced warning of groundwater contamination moving toward drinking water supply wells—for the Hicksville Water District supply well 11-1. One well will be installed at the intersection of Adelphi Road and Vassar Lane, and two will be installed at the northwestern corner of the Our Lady of Mercy Church parking lot.
According to the Hicksville Water District, the groundwater from Plant No. 11 is “completely filtered and all contaminants are removed before reaching the tap.” The district plans to address any potential impacts from the site and expects to begin construction on an upgraded treatment system later this year.
