Captain's Cove State Superfund Site

City of Glen Cove
Glen Cove, New York

Roux Associates completed an extensive multi-phased remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) and risk assessment to investigate soil, soil gas, groundwater, wetlands sediment quality, and surface water at a former 23-acre municipal landfill. In the early 1980s, during development of the site for residential use, low levels of radioactivity above background were encountered. The presence of radioactive waste, combined with the subsequent identification of VOCs in groundwater, prompted the NYSDEC to place the landfill on the New York State Inactive Hazardous Waste Site List. The City of Glen Cove subsequently entered into a contract with the NYSDEC under the municipal assistance program and the project was funded under Title 3 of the Environmental Quality Bond Act (EQBA). The RI/FS was conducted under the terms of an Administrative Order on Consent between the city of Glen Cove and the NYSDEC. Roux Associates wrote and implemented the RI/FS Work Plan.

The field investigation of the RI entailed the excavation of test pits; the installation of soil borings, groundwater monitoring wells, and soil-gas probe points; and the analysis of groundwater, groundwater seep, surface water, soil and sediment samples. Using observations made during the RI to delineate the extent of buried waste, it was demonstrated that the waste material consists largely of construction and demolition debris and household trash, which are non-hazardous, and the waste is localized to a small (6-acre) portion of the site. Accordingly, the proposed remediation option for the buried waste is excavation, screening, and recycling instead of constructing a landfill cap. The remediation of these 6 acres freed up approximately 12 additional acres for unrestricted development, and allowed unconstrained future commercial water-related land use consistent with the Long Island Coastal Zone Management Plan, thus increasing its future redevelopment potential and overall real estate value.