EPA Calls for Additional Excavation of the Li Tungsten Site

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a plan to do some additional excavation of contaminated soil in some areas of the former Li Tungsten Property in Glen Cove, N.Y.

EPA plan includes removing and disposing of arsenic and lead-contaminated soil from portions of the site and backfilling the area with clean soil or provide covering. The soil would be dug up and disposed of at facilities licensed to handle the waste. In total, approximately 7,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil will be removed.

The proposed Li Tungsten Superfund site soil cleanup plan builds on the previous work. The Li Tungsten site included an inactive tungsten processing facility on 26 acres of land, as well as portions of a nearby area known as the Captain’s Cove property where the tungsten facility operators disposed of waste tungsten material.

The EPA previously excavated about 120,000 cubic yards of contaminated waste, some of it radioactive, from Captain’s Cove and stored it on the property. The EPA removed the contents of approximately 270 chemical storage tanks and demolished two unstable buildings from the former Li Tungsten facility property.

This long-term cleanup included excavating and segregating ore residuals, soils and sediments contaminated with heavy metals and radionuclides, and disposing of this material out of the area. The EPA also required that pieces of radioactive slag in nearby Glen Cove Creek be removed.

The agency will hold a public meeting on June 13, 2016 to explain the proposed plan and is encouraging public comments. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Robert Finley Middle School Wunsch Center, One Forest Avenue, Glen Cove, N.Y. Public comments will be accepted until July 1.

[mappress mapid=”22476″]