1  Who is Resource Environmental LLC?

Resource Environmental LLC (RELLC) is an independent organization formed by several major oil companies for the purpose of responding to and managing the clean-up of certain releases of petroleum fuels into the ground from retail sites, pipelines, terminals, and other petroleum fuel related facilities throughout the United States. It has been in operation as an environmental management company for 20 years.

2  Where is the investigation conducted?

The current RELLC Plainview investigation area is in Plainview in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County, New York State. It consists of two Sites that were former gasoline service stations on the south side corners of Old Country Road at the intersection with Plainview Road. The investigation work is conducted in areas south and southeast of the Sites on both sides of Old Bethpage Road extending south to the Trail View State Park area. There are monitoring wells used to collect groundwater samples throughout this area, which is known as the Project/Study Area.

3  Why is there an environmental investigation in Plainview?

An area of groundwater impacted by fuel leaks, typically referred to as a groundwater plume, is being tracked starting from two former gasoline service stations located at the south corners of Old Country Road and Plainview Road in Plainview, New York. The underground storage tanks leaked at some point in time and led to the release of petroleum hydrocarbons into the soil and groundwater beneath the properties. The state agency tasked with protecting the soil and waters of New York State is the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). The NYSDEC assigned environmental cases to these releases and requires investigation and remediation before these cases can be closed and no further action is needed. This work is performed under the direction of the NYSDEC.

Groundwater is naturally flowing under the properties to the southeast and south and has carried hydrocarbons dissolved in groundwater in those directions. The original sources of hydrocarbons were eliminated by the removal of the Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) at the sites. Work continues to monitor and evaluate groundwater for the presence of hydrocarbons throughout the Project Area.  Monitoring wells to collect groundwater samples and evaluate conditions to the south and southeast have been installed (click on the tab for the Study Area map to see current well locations).

4  What is a monitoring well?

A monitoring well is a pipe installed vertically into the ground with an opening at the bottom. When it is installed deep enough, it fills with groundwater which can be sampled for the presence or absence of hydrocarbons. By varying the depth, different depths of groundwater can be sampled to give a fuller picture of conditions underground.

5  What time of day do investigation activities take place?

Activities are typically performed Monday through Friday, during business hours.

 6  Who is overseeing the Plainview environmental investigation?

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is overseeing the environmental investigation of the Project Area. Their Central Office is in Albany and the Department is divided into nine geographic regions covering the entire state.  Plainview is in Region 1 which covers the Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk. The Region 1 office is in Stony Brook, NY. The NYSDEC has assigned a Case Manager, Matthew Egli, for this investigation who directs RELLC and is regularly informed of activities and results (click on the Contacts tab to see NYSDEC contact information).

 7  What is RELLC’s role in the NYSDEC’s environmental investigation?

Under New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) direction, RELLC and its subcontractors have been conducting the environmental investigations and monitoring since 2011. Findings are posted at the following website: Plainviewsite.com. RELLC has and will continue to communicate with the NYSDEC concerning this environmental investigation work and the testing results to confirm that the NYSDEC and key stakeholders are fully informed about this environmental investigation.

8  Are there any health concerns?

The data has shown there is no health concern from this investigation or the hydrocarbons at or near the surface for any residential or commercial properties in the area. We are evaluating groundwater conditions between 70 to 500 feet below the ground surface.

Under the direction of the NYSDEC, investigations and evaluations have indicated that there are no identifiable human health effects presented by this situation. Furthermore, RELLC evaluated potential impacts in the vicinity of nearby residences and commercial properties, and the evaluation results showed no evidence of impacts. There are no known vapor intrusion concerns at residential and commercial boundaries.

9   Is my drinking water safe?

Yes. Drinking water in the Plainview and Old Bethpage areas is provided by Plainview Water District (PWD) and Bethpage Water District (BWD), respectively. In operation since the early 1930’s, both Districts have multiple drinking water wells located throughout the districts. The districts use a variety of treatment processes to be sure that the tap water is safe to drink. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have enacted regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. To comply with regulations, the water districts routinely monitor drinking water for numerous parameters including constituents found in petroleum products. Both of the closest downgradient water supply wells (PWD Plant 5 and BWD South Park Drive well) have activated carbon or other hydrocarbon treatment processes in use. There is an upgradient water supply well, PWD Plant No. 1, north of the Plainview Road and Old Country Road intersection where the sites are located. The groundwater naturally flows to the southeast from this plant and so hydrocarbons from the sites are not expected to flow north and therefore are not expected to affect this water supply location. Each water district provides an annual report summarizing sampling results and detected parameters, refer to their websites here:

• https://plainviewwater.org/
• https://bethpagewater.com/

10  What are the contaminants that are being investigated?

Petroleum hydrocarbon compounds are the main constituents being investigated.

11  Is this part of the Grumman Bethpage Superfund Site?

No, the plume in this investigation is separate and distinct from the Navy and Grumman plume in Bethpage.

12  What is planned for the future?

Firstly, accurate mapping of the extent of the hydrocarbon plume needs to be completed, which will substantially complete the investigation phase of this project. Once that has happened, the NYSDEC will direct RELLC to study different cleanup strategies with the goal of returning the Project Area to pre-spill conditions. The conclusion of that study will be the agreement with the NYSDEC and RELLC on a path forward.  There are many factors that are being considered in developing the plan to complete the investigation and assess viable remedies.

• The plume location is in a highly developed, residential, and commercial area.
• The depth to contamination is from 70 to 360 feet below ground surface, which is very deep.
• Additional monitoring wells need to be installed in residential areas to allow mapping of the hydrocarbon plume.
• Some tests have been performed that prove that naturally occurring bacteria are present and are biodegrading the hydrocarbons.

Until agreements can be reached with NYSDEC for remediation, RELLC will remain diligent with its ongoing investigation and monitoring activities.

13  What environmental investigation work is being performed?

Ongoing environmental investigation activities in 2024 include:

• Additional monitoring well installations.
• Annual groundwater sampling and analysis.
• Water level gauging in monitoring wells.
• Assessment of where and how hydrocarbon levels are increasing, decreasing, or stable
• Use of computer modeling to predict future location of hydrocarbons.
• Continue to gather information Identify and compare different remediation strategies and technologies and ultimately produce a report with these discussions and conclusions.
• The NYSDEC will confirm the remediation actions to be performed.
• Gather information necessary to ultimately develop a long-term monitoring plan to support the remediation actions.
• Once a plan is in place, some monitoring wells that are no longer needed will be abandoned.
• Monitoring of soils excavated by new property owner during upcoming property redevelopment of 1099 Old Country Road.

14  How do I get more information?

If you have any questions or concerns about this environmental investigation, feel free to contact Matthew Egli, NYSDEC Case Manager, at 631-444-0323 or by email at [email protected].

If you would like more information about RELLC or RELLC’s approved environmental investigation activities, you may contact Greg Vogelpohl, Vice President and General Manager of RELLC, at 805-286-4076. For more information concerning RELLC, the company’s website is at (www.rellc.net).

If you have project specific inquiries, you may call Megan Dascoli, one of RELLC’s environmental consultants, at 908-623-0145, or leave a voicemail at the project hotline at 646-452-5830. In either case, someone will respond to your inquiry.

For additional information, please visit the project website: www.PlainviewSite.com.