On Wednesday, March 6, the Mineola Memorial Library will be holding a public meeting at 7 p.m. about the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYS DEC) effort to fix a contamination site at 40 Roselle St. where the former Garden Photoengraving Co., Inc. once operated. In 2017, a meeting was held about the site at the Mineola Middle School.
According to the NYS DEC and the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH), the disposal of hazardous wastes at 40 Roselle St., has resulted in threats to the village’s public health as well as the environment. Both the DEC and DOH are looking to remedy the situation with their Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP).
The former Garden Photoengraving site is located in a light industrial area and consists of a two-story commercial building on a 0.394 acre lot. The site is currently active and is occupied by a dental implants fabrication business and warehouse space. The closest residences are located in an apartment complex just 200-feet away.
The building was built in 1953 and has been used as office and warehouse space, pesticide storage and as a photoengraving facility. Fumex Pest Control reportedly stored pesticides and herbicides in cargo containers within the building and in sheds in the parking lot from 1992-97. A 2001 Phase II subsurface soil and groundwater investigation found three cesspools in the western parking lot, two in the eastern parking lot and two floor drains within the building, one which led to the recharge basin. An environmental audit performed in 2002 detected elevated levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), chromium and mercury in the eastern cesspools.
After cleanups and investigations were performed, the Nassau County Department of Health (NCDH) added 40 Roselle St., to the state’s Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites.
The proposed remedy at the site would include a ground water In-situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO) program, an on-site cover system, a soil vapor intrustion mitigation program as well as a site management plan. The remedies would help treat the on-site source area, the building and eastern parking lot, ultimately reducing contamination in the aquifer and protecting potentially threatened water supplies.
According to the DEC’s report, “low levels of contamination not addressed by the treatment systems will naturally attenuate with the expectation that levels will achieve ambient quality standards within a reasonable time frame.”
Residents are encouraged to review the reports and documents, which are available at the Mineola Memorial Library at 195 Marcellus Rd.
