Homeowners want DEC to expedite remediation of Speonk plume

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Guy Bobersky, from the DEC, Richard Baldwin, Ron Paulsen and Rob Decandia, assured residents that they are doing all they can to find the source of the plume.
Photos by Hallie Martin

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Worried about their health and decreasing property values, Remsenburg and Speonk residents said they want the state to start cleaning up a large plume of contaminated groundwater in Speonk, even if it means that the work will begin before the source of the pollution is identified.

But officials with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Suffolk County Department of Health told those attending last week’s Remsenburg/Speonk Civic Association meeting that they cannot begin remediation efforts until the cause of the contamination has been determined.

State officials also said they hope to pinpoint the source before this February or March, when they expect to release a final report of their investigation.

“We’re going as fast as we can, but are bound by law,” said Guy Bobersky, chief of the remedial section of the DEC’s Division of Environmental Remediation, during the meeting held on September 17 at the Remsenburg/Speonk Elementary School.

Dubbed the Speonk Solvent Plume, the contamination runs about 1.5 miles, north to south, and starts near the west side of Speonk-Riverhead Road and terminates near Montauk Highway. The contamination has been designated a Superfund site, meaning that the state cannot begin cleanup efforts until it finds the source of the contamination and a responsible party, said Rob Decandia, the DEC’s project manager for the Speonk plume.

The groundwater contamination is moving south at the rate of about a foot a day, or about 300 feet a year, according to Ron Paulsen, a hydrogeologist with the Suffolk County Department of Health. The plume contains a mixture of cleaning solvents, including trichloroethane, tetrachloroethene and carbon tetrachloride, as well as chloroform, and was first discovered in 2001. Scientists say that those chemicals were last used around World War II, the approximate date when they think the groundwater in the area was first contaminated.

The plume, which has tainted local groundwater, is expected to reach parts of Remsenburg by 2020, though pollutants have not yet reached Moriches Bay, according to the DEC.

DEC officials said they still have more work to do before they can identify the source of the contamination. Mr. Decandia did note that the state has identified two areas of interest: a patch of land located just south of Sunrise Highway, on the west side of Speonk-Riverhead Road, that was once used as a military bombing range; and a site located directly south of the former bomb range, referred to as “the crop circle,” where oil drums may have been buried. The DEC is also collecting groundwater samples to make sure the contamination does not originate north of Sunrise Highway, according to Mr. Decandia.

The state agency, he said, is aiming to have a final report done by February or March. Then, Mr. Decandia said, DEC officials can decide on possible remediation options.

“It’s frustrating that we can’t find it sooner,” Mr. Decandia said of the source of the contamination.

The officials attending last week’s meeting assured residents that the state is doing what it can to contain the plume until remediation begins. About 80 monitoring wells have been installed in the area since 2004 to delineate the contamination, Mr. Paulsen said.

Many of the 75 people attending last week’s meeting said they want the state to start some kind of remedial action today in order to protect local homeowners and the values of their land. Some said they are worried about people getting sick if they are exposed to or accidentally drink water that has been contaminated by the plume.

“If there’s something available now, we want it now,” said one Remsenburg resident who declined to give his name.

“We’re doing what we can with the constraints we have,” Mr. Bobersky said. “We have to follow the procedures, I don’t know what else we can do. If it needs to be cleaned up, it gets cleaned up.”

Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot, who attended last week’s meeting, said she would be willing to go as far as introducing a resolution at the town level demanding that the state begin some sort of remedial action.

“This is an unacceptable delay,” said Ms. Kabot, who also encouraged residents to write letters to Suffolk County and New York State officials demanding that they expedite the remediation process.

Southampton Town Board members Sally Pope and Chris Nuzzi also attended the meeting and said they’d be willing to sign the resolution.

“We appreciate the work they’ve done, but nine years is far too long,” Mr. Nuzzi said, referring to when the plume was first discovered.

Still, Ms. Pope questioned how effective a resolution would be. “A resolution is just words,” she said, noting that she is writing a letter to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer to find out if Southampton Town can secure federal funding to start the remediation work.