Judge: MTA Must Clean Up Contaminated LIRR Rail Yard Near Carmans River
EAST YAPHANK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A judge has ruled in favor of Brookhaven town officials demanding the cleanup of a shuttered Long Island Rail Road yard full of toxic chemicals in East Yaphank.
On Wednesday, Feb. 10, Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice H. Patrick Leis ruled in favor of the Town of Brookhaven in a case that demanded the cleanup of contaminated soil and hazardous materials from the old rail yard, which is located just 1,000 feet east of the Carmans River and near the Wertheim Wildlife Refuge.
Arsenic, lead, copper, mercury, zinc, chromium and "a slag-like material of unknown origin" are among the toxins sitting in the rail yard, which was once used as a dump site, according to the Town of Brookhaven.
At a July 2014 news conference, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine said that the site must be cleaned up at once.
"Clean up this mess. Excavate it. Take the threat away," Romaine said at the time.
In March 2014, Kim Kelly, whose home is near the site, said she is afraid that underground water supplies are already contaminated.
"Very – and the table is so high here," she said.
The town had sued to compel the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to clean up the dumpsite rather than just covering it up with a cap, the town said.