Community Corner

Question of the Day: Liberty Site

Do you think the former Superfund site is safe?

This week, TOBAY held a hearing to rezone the former Liberty Industrial Site from an industrial to a recreational use.

The site has been controversial for decades. In 1940, Liberty Aircraft Products Company occupied the site, producing aircraft parts and metal finishing work during World War II and the Korean War. After the wars, the site was converted to an industrial park and, later, to light industrial and warehouse uses.

Liberty and other companies left behind a toxic legacy: a groundwater plume contaminated with organic and inorganic substances lies beneath the 30-acre industrial area and extends about a mile to the south, according to the EPA. Portions of the Massapequa Preserve, a nature preserve located about one-half mile to the south, are also contaminated from the old plant, according to the EPA.

Find out what's happening in Farmingdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The property was deemed a federal "Superfund" site, a designation that provides federal money to clean-up or contain the contaminated area and prevent it's further spread.

Today, the eastern-most parcel of the property is home to a  and the remaining 22 acres are town property. An extensive town cleanup is nearing completion at an estimated cost of $32 million and the town is deciding what will be built there.

Find out what's happening in Farmingdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Do you feel the area is safe for use? Tell us in the comments.


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