East Hampton set to begin environmental study of airport acreage at Superfund site

East Hampton Town will soon begin a detailed environmental study of its airport property, a portion of which has been designated a state Superfund site, to determine the extent of water and soil contamination linked to firefighting foam.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation included 47 of the town-owned Wainscott property’s 570 acres to its Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites in 2019 based on detection of perfluorinated compounds. A 2018 DEC study found that historical use and storage of aqueous film-forming foam, a firefighting agent used in training exercises and to extinguish fires, had impacted the groundwater at the site.

The state Department of Health and the DEC will oversee the investigation, which will include sampling soil borings to identify on-site sources of contamination, collecting soil vapor and indoor air samples and sampling groundwater wells, according to a DEC bulletin.

The first phase of work is expected to begin in September and will take a month to complete. A second and third phase are expected to be completed in spring 2022, according to the DEC.

The information gathered will be summarized in a study, and then that information will be used to examine potential cleanup at the site. The DEC will select which cleanup plan it prefers.

"The goal of the [cleanup] plan will be to ensure the protection of public health and the environment," the DEC said in its bulletin.

The chemicals perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were also detected in more than 200 private wells nearby in Wainscott, prompting the town to finance an estimated $24 million project to extend 45,000 feet of public water main to the area. Some studies have linked the compounds to immune system problems, thyroid disruption and cancer, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The foam was not used or stored by the town, Nicholas Rigano, an attorney representing East Hampton in PFAS matters, noted during a May town board work session. It was used and stored by the East Hampton Fire Department, which is operated by East Hampton Village.

The town has sued the village for restitution and the lawsuit has been moved to federal court in South Carolina, where hundreds of PFAS-related cases are pending.

Rigano also pointed out that the amount of PFOS/PFOA detected at the airport — a combined 299 parts per trillion — is lower than at other sites, including the Hampton Bays Fire Department, where levels were detected at 2,400 parts per trillion.

"We don’t know the full extent of the problem at the East Hampton Airport yet, but based on the information we have today, the levels are far lower than many other sites in New York State," Rigano told the board.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.