Hearing set on plan for contaminated LIRR site

State environmental officials plan to cap a former Long Island Rail Road yard in Yaphank as part of the contaminated site's cleanup.

The LIRR dumped fill material and debris containing contaminants such as lead, arsenic, zinc and copper for parts of three decades at the 4-acre site near River Road, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said in a fact sheet describing the proposed cleanup plan.

The DEC said the LIRR used the site as an “unauthorized disposal area” until it was closed in the 1970s.

The state plans to cover parts of the contaminated property with soil, stone or concrete, and an asphalt cover would be built on an adjoining property. The plan also calls for removing contaminated fill from an adjacent, undeveloped residential property, and replacing it with clean fill.

New drainage would be constructed to divert stormwater runoff to nearby basins. About 9,500 cubic yards of soil and fill are expected to be excavated and removed as part of the cleanup.

The plan is to be discussed during a March 6 public meeting organized by the East Yaphank Civic Association, at Dowling College’s Brookhaven campus, 1300 William Floyd Pkwy., Building B, Room 201, Shirley. The hearing is to start at 7:30 p.m.

The DEC is accepting written comments on the proposal through March 14.