Politics & Government

EPA Water Treatment Plant in Port Jeff is "Greenest" in Region

Fully functioning water treatment plant was built to not only clean up toxins but with a mind toward being greener, more efficient and less wasteful, according to EPA officials.

After and years of planning, the Environmental Protection Agency’s water treatment plant built to clean up the toxic plume underneath Port Jefferson village officially went operational on Monday and environmentalists have more than one reason to be happy.

Not only will the pump and filtration system clean up groundwater polluted by Lawrence Aviation, the new building itself was built to be "green."

Lawrence Aviation was a facility that once produced titanium sheeting for the aeronautics industry. According to the EPA website, contaminants were released into the environment due to improper storage and disposal of waste over time, causing a toxic plume in the aquifer.

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The structure that houses the water pump and filtration units was built with the input of village committees to ensure it was environmentally safe and designed to fit in with the scheme of the surrounding architecture.

“It’s the most green plant that I’m aware of in the region,” said Walter Mugdan, regional director of the EPA’s emergency response division.

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The building was insulated using a spray-on soy-based foam, the exterior was sided with low maintenance Hardie Board that is made from environmentally friendly wood pulp and sand and the ceiling tiles are made from 23 percent recycled material and 45 percent rapidly recycled materials.

To cap off the structure, a highly reflective metal roof sends more of the sunlight back into the atmosphere, thereby reducing heat build up. The driveway is made from pervious concrete blocks that allow for grass to grow through and water to seep into the ground, but also supports the weight of trucks that need to service the machinery inside.

Along with being well insulated, a geothermal unit inside the facility uses the groundwater it sucks up to both heat and cool the interior.

“The water is at a constant of approximately 56 degrees,” said Keith Glenn, the on-scene coordinator for the EPA who managed the project during a tour of the facility.

This means that the water can be used to make the room cooler in summer and warmer in the winter.

Attention was also paid to concerns about noise in the surrounding area. Glenn promised that the sound from the plant would be below any noise ordinances in place in both the village of Port Jefferson and the Town of Brookhaven.

"It will be below 50 decibels," he said at a meeting introducing the original plans. "You'll hear a subtle hum emanating from the structure."

Local architectural firm John A. Grillo designed the building, back in October of last year during a public meeting of the village board. Glenn said the EPA wanted to work with local resources as much as possible.

"It was important to hire an architect that is in Port Jefferson," he said. "We tried to acquire materials locally and we used sources within 5 to 15 miles of the site."

Most of the pump and filtration equipment used in the Port Jefferson facility was recycled and refurbished from other recently decommissioned EPA plants in Great Neck and Farmingdale, helping to keep down costs.

The plant cost $2 million to build, according to a statement released by the EPA. The program is under the EPA’s Superfund, a federal government's initiative to clean up hazardous waste sites across the country. Lawrence Aviation is one of 87 sites in New York State that come under the government program and according to the EPA website, as of August, 2011 there are 1,287 sites in total in Superfund.

In 2009, the project received money from the American Resource and Recovery Act to build the treatment plant. The EPA says that it is also trying to recover some of the costs of remediation from Lawrence Aviation.


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