Toxic cleanup technique challenged

A single sentence buried in a state report about a toxic gas-plant site in Sag Harbor is raising new questions about the effectiveness of a technique being used to treat a much larger polluted site in Bay Shore.

In a question-and-answer transcript in a report by the state Department of Environmental Conservation about the methods to be used to treat a highly toxic site in Sag Harbor, an unidentified person asks, "Have you looked at in-situ chemical oxidation for this site?"

The technique involves pumping oxidizing chemicals into a spill to help neutralize toxins in place, rather than remove them. Some experts have questioned the effectiveness of the technique, and the DEC's response to the question has fueled their skepticism:

"It was examined as an alternative but was not found viable as it has not been found to be effective in treating large concentrations of [coal-tar toxins] such as are present at this site," the report says.

The "in-situ" technique is currently being employed at the massive Bay Shore former manufactured natural gas plant site, where some have challenged its effectiveness and others suggest it could be making matters worse by "mobilizing" toxins into the air. Suffolk County's Health Services Department first broached the latter prospect in a letter to KeySpan last December.

"You're playing with fire if you mobilize \[the toxins\] and you don't get full destruction," said Suffolk Health Services' hydrogeologist Ron Paulson in an interview Wednesday.

He noted that the technique's use in Bay Shore is still effectively termed a pilot, and he called its effectiveness "still very questionable."
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