State devises cleanup plan for Superfund site in West Islip

State environmental officials this week unveiled a $20 million plan to clean up a Superfund site, part of which runs through a West Islip middle school property, and step up remediation efforts at an adjacent wetlands area.  

Department of Environmental Conservation officials said they selected the most rigorous remediation plan for Lake Capri and the lower portion of Willetts Creek after the area was found to have elevated levels of carcinogenic compounds chromium and cadmium during routine monitoring in 2016.

Officials will excavate more than 25,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment from the bodies of water, according to a decision released Wednesday. The creek runs through Beach Street Middle School property. The lake is adjacent to the school property and several houses.

The site was part of the former Dzus Fastener Co. facility, where fasteners and springs were produced from 1937 to 2015. Leaching pools used to dispose of manufacturing waste caused groundwater and soil contamination that spread downstream, the DEC said. The site includes six mitigation areas and was initially determined to be fully remediated in 1999.

The DEC selected the "most robust" plan for the Lake Capri section after a public meeting last month, officials said. The agency also amended a plan that was set last year for remediating wetlands near West Islip High School and the upper portion of Willetts Creek so they have "the same level of cleanup," said Michael Ryan, director of the DEC's division of environmental remediation.

Residents said at the Oct. 16 meeting that the DEC should remove more sediment by the middle school footbridge to reduce flooding, and that work is expected to begin later this month and last two weeks, the DEC said.

“We were trying to be reactive to the community in moving ahead,” said Michael Cruden, a DEC environmental remediation division bureau director.

Cadmium can harm the lungs and bones and result in kidney disease, and trivalent chromium can harm the respiratory system, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. 

West Islip Schools Superintendent Bernadette Burns said the district has asked the DEC to take additional precautions, including isolating the work area more rigorously and constantly testing air quality, which “guarantees that the work will be shut down if there is any indication that site safety has been compromised.” Remediation equipment will be kept on school property.

“The district is disappointed that the contamination was not cured permanently during the original project,” Burns said in a statement. “However, the district recognizes the importance of remediating the site for the good of the entire community.”

A restoration plan for the lower portion of Willetts Creek and Lake Capri is still being designed, and work is expected to begin in the spring, officials said.

The lake and creek are not used as drinking water sources, and both have advisories against fishing, officials said.

The estimated $20.7 million remediation will be funded under the state Superfund program, and the state attorney general will later seek to recover costs from any responsible parties, officials said.

Assemb. Christine Pellegrino, who lives in West Islip, commended the DEC for “taking appropriate action.”

“The voices of West Islip residents who want this area remediated once and for all have been heard,” Pellegrino said in a statement.

A remediation plan for the tidal area of Willetts Creek downstream of Lake Capri will be investigated and managed at a later date, the DEC said.  

By Rachelle Blidner

rachelle.blidner@newsday.com@rachelleblidner

Rachelle Blidner covers Suffolk County government, politics and breaking news.