Where is Republic Airport's environmental cleanup?

While the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Town of Oyster Bay focus on the industrial legacy of the Grumman-Navy plume in Bethpage, little attention is being paid to another World War II-Cold War legacy on Long Island — the Fairchild Republic plume beneath East Farmingdale.

Despite documented toxins in the soil, multiple development projects are being proposed for the area without any public official asking whether this is wise, much less how to protect the public.

A proposal by Acadia Republic Farmingdale LLC to build a trucking and storage facility has revealed to the community that property across Rt. 110 from Republic Airport south of Conklin Street is a declared state Superfund site. It was aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Republic's contaminant dumping ground for 47 years, earning the sobering local nickname “Blue Lagoon” for its inability to freeze during winter. No dollars have ever been earmarked for its remediation. Rather, it has been proposed that it simply be blacktopped to prevent rainwater from spreading contaminants into the aquifer below the surface.

Diagonally across Rt. 110 and Conklin Street are parcels adjacent to the Long Island Rail Road tracks on which Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes to build housing. She has pledged up to $4 million of federal and state aid to clean up legacy pollution there.

Why is there no cleanup of the Superfund site, but funding for remediating the less-polluted site? Under Hochul's plan, apartments will be built adjacent to the LIRR, but existing homes located close to the “Blue Lagoon” are ignored. Homes on East Carmans Road are 100 feet away from one of the two most toxic areas at the site, as identified by Acadia at a June 10 Babylon Town meeting. In 2015, the DEC estimated the Superfund site cleanup would cost $250 million, then recommended capping. The cost undoubtedly directed that recommendation.

Which begs the question: If cleaning the Superfund site would have cost $250 million nine years ago, what can be accomplished with the $4 million pledged to clean up the parcels proposed for apartments? The $4 million will barely pay for consultants’ reports.

What's more, additional proposed development of almost 60 acres being considered for Republic Airport will potentially contribute to the known plume that already exists there, while flight operations continue to add pollutants via deicing, use of solvents and gasoline, and aircraft maintenance. Levels of PFAS forever chemicals found in testing wells at the airport greatly exceed older New York State guidelines, as well as newer, tighter federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, per a DEC database provided to local civic associations by the Town of Babylon in a Jan. 4, 2021 letter. Other issues related to this construction have been glossed over or ignored, including greatly increased air traffic and noise pollution. More air traffic only increases the possibility of crashes.

Much attention has been paid to addressing contamination in Bethpage, Calverton, and at MacArthur Airport. Why has the Republic Airport area escaped similar scrutiny? The same activity — producing military aircraft — during the same time frame led to the same contamination issues as at those other locations. Yet no one has focused on Republic Airport. It’s time someone did. While an environmental expert speaking for Acadia at the June 10 meeting stated that toxins at the Superfund site have not reached the aquifer, this is the time to make sure that's true and to finally start the Republic cleanup.

This guest essay reflects the views of Nancy Cypser, a founding member of the Long Island Civic Alliance Inc.