Hooker Chemical & Plastics Corp./Ruco Polymer Corp.

Overview

A chemical manufacturing facility operated on a 14-acre property in Hicksville, Nassau County, New York from 1945 to 2002. Industrial discharges, leaks, and spills released hazardous chemicals into on-site recharge basins and sumps. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in June 1986 and divided cleanup into three operable units covering on-site soil and groundwater, PCB soil removal, and off-site groundwater.

More than 140 chemicals have been identified as contaminants of concern. These include volatile organic compounds such as vinyl chloride, benzene, and trichloroethene, metals including lead, chromium, cadmium, and mercury, pesticides such as DDT and heptachlor epoxide, and polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs. Contamination affects both soil and groundwater on the site, and some substances including antimony, arsenic, and beryllium have migrated into off-site groundwater.

Cleanup has moved through several phases. PCB-contaminated soils were excavated and removed, with that work finishing in 1993. At the main facility, 310 tons of PCB-contaminated soil were excavated and sent off-site, a concrete tank was removed, and a soil flushing system ran from 2002 to 2005. A biosparging system, which pumps air and oxygen into the aquifer to help break down vinyl chloride naturally, became operational in September 2012 and continues to run. Off-site groundwater, which is commingled with contamination from two neighboring sites, is being treated at a groundwater treatment plant operated by another company.

Physical construction across the entire site was completed by July 2015. EPA issued a Preliminary Closeout Report that same month and completed a five-year review in August 2016 finding that cleanup actions remain protective of human health and the environment. An environmental easement was filed in June 2017 to control future land use. The site achieved sitewide ready-for-anticipated-use status in February 2019, meaning all cleanup goals for current and future land uses have been met and required controls are in place. A third five-year review was completed in February 2021, with the next review estimated between February and April 2026. Human exposure and groundwater migration are both assessed as under control. The site has not yet been deleted from the National Priorities List.

Community members with questions can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager. Site documents are available at the EPA's Superfund Records Center at 290 Broadway, 18th floor, New York City, and at the Hicksville Public Library at 169 Jerusalem Avenue, Hicksville, New York.