Tronic Plating Co., Inc. operated as an electroplating and metal protective coating facility on a half-acre industrial park site in Farmingdale, New York from 1968 to 1984. The company discharged roughly 1.25 million gallons of wastewater per year into sanitary pits and four underground leaching pools. That practice contaminated groundwater, soil, and sediment with heavy metals including copper, silver, iron, zinc, lead, and cadmium, as well as volatile organic compounds. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in June 1986.
A remedial investigation conducted from 1988 to 1992 found the site did not pose a significant threat to human health or the environment. Commerce Holding Company, the responsible party, removed about 9,000 gallons of contaminated groundwater and 10 tons of sediment in 1992. Additional low-level contaminated soils and sediments were removed in 1993. Those soils were determined to pose no risk to human health. The final cleanup decision, issued September 27, 1993, called for no further action on the one designated cleanup area, known as Operable Unit 01. Construction was completed that same month.
EPA deleted the site from the NPL in October 2001. Current assessments show that human exposure pathways are controlled and groundwater contamination is no longer spreading beyond the original area. All cleanup goals have been met for current and reasonably foreseeable future land uses. Three small businesses now operate on the formerly contaminated portion of the industrial park.
Community members who want to learn more can review site records at the Farmingdale Public Library at 274 Main Street, Farmingdale, New York, or at the EPA Region 2 Superfund Records Center at 290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York City. The Records Center can be reached by phone at 212-637-4308.
