The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has directed Chevron Environmental Management Company (CEMC) to conduct an expedited cleanup for the Former Gulf Oil Terminal site (“site”) located at 1 Industrial Place, Oceanside, Nassau County. Please see the map for the site location.
The site is listed as a Class "2" site in the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites (list of State Superfund sites). A Class 2 site represents a significant threat to public health or the environment; action is required.
Work at the site will commence this summer.
Interim Remedial Measure Work Plan
An IRM is a cleanup activity that may be performed when a source of contamination or exposure pathway (the way in which a person may contact contamination) can be effectively addressed without extensive investigation and evaluation.
The IRM work plan describes the proposed cleanup activities that include:
1. Excavate impacted soil from the former Vapor Recovery Unit (VRU).
2. Replace soil excavated as they are removed with a cement-bentonite slurry to maintain
stability of the excavation while mitigating the need for extensive watering in
conjunction with the targeted source area removal.
3. Complete Waste Characterization and Disposal of Excavated Soil.
4. Continuing the Groundwater Monitoring activities in conjuction with the IRM.
Summary of the Investigation
The former Vapor Recovery Unit (VRU) represented the principle source area of concern at this Site. The VRU had used TCE as a heat exchange fluid and was the source of Chlorinated VOC impacted in the soil and groundwater.
Next Steps
Upon completion of the work, an Investigation Report and a Construction Completion Report will be prepared. These will present investigation results and document the activities that were performed.
Investigation of the site will continue during and following this IRM. Additional cleanup activities
may be necessary depending on the results of the investigation. NYSDEC will keep the public informed throughout the investigation and cleanup of the site.
Background
Location: The Former Chevron/Gulf Petroleum Terminal property is located at 1 Industrial Place, Oceanside, Town of Hempstead, Nassau County. This site is approximately 7 acres in size.
Site Features: The site is currently a vacant lot.
Current Zoning/Use: Current use and zoning of the land is for industrial purposes.
Historic Use:
The Former Chevron/Gulf site operated from 1932 until the 1990s as a petroleum storage terminal. Nine large-quantity ASTs containing fuel oil, kerosene and gasoline; two small 550-gallon ASTs containing fuel oil for the on-site garage and office building; three underground storage tanks (USTs)
containing fuel oil (one 550-gallon, one 1,000-gallon and one 5,000-gallon); one 1,000-gallon UST containing waste oil; a loading rack; a retention pond; a maintenance garage; and an office complex were previously located on the Gulf parcel. Four of the nine large ASTs were demolished prior to 2000, with the remaining five large ASTs reportedly demolished in 2003. The two 550-gallon ASTs containing fuel oil for the maintenance garage and the office building were demolished in 2005.
The site has undergone extensive investigation and remediation since the 1990s under NYSDEC oversight (Spill No. 92-03883). In January 2007, the NYSDEC accepted Lowe’s Home Centers, Inc. (Lowe’s) as a volunteer under the Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) – Site No. C130165. Following the decision by Lowe’s to withdraw from the BCP in 2009; the NYSDEC transferred the site into the Hazardous Waste Program (State Superfund Site).
Historical soil and groundwater investigations indicate soil impacted with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at concentrations above NYSDEC Soil Cleanup Objectives (SCOs) have been observed primarily in the western and southern portions of the site. VOC-impacts in groundwater have been observed predominantly in the northeastern, central and southern portions of the site. Chlorinated VOCs (CVOCs), including trichloroethene (TCE), cis-1, 2-dichlorethene (cis-1, 2-DCE), trans-1, 2-dichloroethene (trans-1, 2-DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) were also detected in soil and groundwater at the site in proximity to the former Vapor Recovery Unit.
Site Geology and Hydrogeology: Subsurface soil conditions encountered during previous environmental and geotechnical investigations have revealed the site lithology to consist of the following: sand fill from the ground surface to approximately 8 feet bgs, meadow mat (silt with fibrous organics and trace clay) to approximately 15 feet bgs, underlying sand (coarse to fine sand, trace to some fine gravel) to approximately 85 feet bgs and Gardiners Clay.
Groundwater has historically been observed at elevations ranging between 2 to 5 feet above mean sea level (3 to 5 feet bgs). Groundwater flow in the shallow fill material is generally toward the south in the direction of Barnum Island Channel with a horizontal gradient of approximately 0.006 foot/foot (ft/ft). Alternatively, the potentiometric surface of the groundwater in the lower sand unit, the groundwater flow is generally to the west.
