State Looks At MacArthur Airport In Ronkonkoma As Possible Superfund Site

RONKONKOMA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Another Long Island location may be named a toxic superfund site – this time in Ronkonkoma.

As WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported, the Department of Environmental Conservation will be looking at MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma as a potential superfund site. This comes after revelations that firefighter foam that was stored there could have contaminated drinking water supplies.

That foam, said Adrienne Esposito of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, has cancer-causing chemicals known as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

"People of Suffolk County Water Authority should not panic, because that water is tested and treated, and this chemical can be filtered out through those treatment technologies," Esposito said. "If people have a private well anywhere on the island, they need to immediately get that private well tested, because that water is not treated."

There are similar problems in East Hampton at the airport and at the Hampton Bays Fire Department. The Town of Islip runs MacArthur Airport; a representative did not return Hall's request for comment.