Rowe Industries Ground Water Contamination

Overview

The Rowe Industries site sits on 8 acres in Noyack/Sag Harbor, New York. From the 1950s through the early 1980s, the facility made electronic devices and transformers, using chlorinated solvents to degrease metals. Waste solvents were dumped into cesspools and an open field, and drums stored in a wooded area behind the building became the main source of contamination. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL), the federal register of the country's most serious contaminated sites, in July 1987.

Testing in 1984 found a plume of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) about 500 feet wide and half a mile long. EPA identified 31 contaminants of concern in soil and groundwater. These include VOCs such as trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, benzene, toluene, and xylene, as well as metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium, beryllium, and selenium. Chloroform, dichloromethane, and various chlorinated ethane compounds were also detected.

Cleanup happened in stages. In 1985, EPA extended public water supply to 25 affected homes. Starting in 1998, crews excavated contaminated soils and ran soil vapor extraction wells, removing over 900 pounds of VOCs before shutting those wells down in 2004. A groundwater extraction and treatment system started in 2002, and several recovery wells were shut down after 2005 as contamination levels dropped. In early 2020, chemical reduction and anaerobic bioremediation reagents were injected into a 2,000 square-foot area of the former drum storage zone. Unsaturated soils now meet cleanup objectives.

Human exposure is under control, and the spread of contaminated groundwater has been stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Physical construction is complete across the entire site. The site reached "sitewide ready for anticipated reuse" status in August 2019, and several businesses now operate there, employing 73 people and generating about $18.2 million in annual sales. EPA's most recent five-year review, completed in January 2023, confirmed that cleanup actions protect human health and the environment. EPA is now proposing to delete the site from the NPL and issued a new Explanation of Significant Differences in September 2025 to document the latest remedy changes.

Community members can review site records at the John Jermain Library in Sag Harbor or at the EPA Region II Superfund Records Center at 290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10007. For questions, contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager.