Toxic Chemicals Found Again At West Islip Superfund Site: Report

WEST ISLIP, NY — New York State has again detected high levels of cadmium, a carcinogenic heavy metal, at a Superfund site in West Islip four years after the waste was initially cleaned up, according to a report from Newsday.

The outlet reported that the cadmium was found "on and around the former Dzus Fastener Co. site on Union Boulevard and in the sediment and surface water of nearby Willetts Creek," the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said in a public notice in March.

According to Newsday, in mid-2022 the DEC announced that pollution from the site had been successfully removed during the 2020 cleanup.

But, it wasn't that simple, said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE).

"In 2018 the DEC permitted Dzus to leave some of the toxic soil in place and cover it with a 'impermeable cap.' This remediation option was identified as being $2 million cheaper than fully excavating the site and removing all the soil contaminated with cadmium," Esposito told Patch.

She added that the cap wasn't "sufficient to prevent toxins from spreading" and that it was "somehow removed from the site," possibly from heavy rain.

"CCE is once again asking DEC to require a comprehensive remediation plan for this superfund site so that we don’t have a third incident of allowing contamination to spread," Esposito added.

Read more from Newsday here.