Public input sought on Garden City site

The state's Department of Environmental Conservation is inviting public comment on a brownfield cleanup measure at a site in Garden City where a developer proposes to build a shopping mall.

The soil, dry wells and leach pools at the former Avis headquarters on Old Country Road contain hydrocarbons, PCBs, metals or pesticides that exceed acceptable state standards, according to the DEC.

The developer, Equity One Inc. of Manhattan, has proposed removing up to 5 feet of the soil and disposing it off-site. The work would take place at the same time when existing buildings are demolished, the DEC said.

Removing contaminated soil will not affect areas adjacent to the 21.8-acre site, which contains five buildings and a parking lot, according to the DEC, which said three of the site’s buildings were used for military electronics manufacturing and sonar testing from the 1940s to the 1960s.

More information about the cleanup plan is available at the Westbury Memorial Public Library.

Comments can be submitted by mail to Jeffrey Dyber, NYSDEC-Central Office, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7015; by calling 518-402-9621; or by email to jldyber@gw.dec.state.ny.us.