A 16-pump gas station and 7-Eleven development on 25A/Northern Boulevard in East Norwich has seized residents’ attention due to environmental concerns and site work that has begun on the property.
“We want to know what contaminants were found—what levels—and how they’re being cleaned up, and what is going to be done going forward,” said Daniela Crocchiola, a member of the civic group Concerned Citizens of East Norwich, Muttontown, Oyster Bay, Oyster Bay Cove and Brookville.
She said there have been trucks on the property since January rigging and drilling, and residents have not been looped in to the development’s progress, despite promises from the town that they would be.
The lot, located at 6261 Northern Blvd., is 1.35 acres and was previously two separate sites. The eastern side of the lot was formerly a Country Kitchen pancake house, which was closed and demolished in 2021. The western section was developed in the 1960s as a four-pump gas station with a 1800-square-foot repair garage and a small convenience store.
The approved site development includes a nearly 4,000-square-foot 7-Eleven store and a 16-pump gas station.
“This site was historically a public garage, restaurant, auto repair, convenience store and gas station. We are consolidating from four uses to two uses,” said Judy Simoncic, a lawyer with Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP, which is representing 7-Eleven, at the September town board meeting about the site.
At the meeting, Scott Yanuck, president of Laurel Environmental, said there was previous contamination on the site. He said there were spills on the site from 1994 and 2008, both closed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 2013 when the site was deemed satisfactory.
Yanuck said in August, an “insignifacnt” amount of contamination was found and less than one truckload of material was removed from the site. He said Nassau County inspectors were at the site during the sampling and removal.
He said there has not been any contamination to regional groundwater.
“So everything’s been pretty much done at this point,” Yanuck said. “The tanks are gone. There’s a small pile of soil that needs to be removed.”
Crocciola said the town assured residents that they would be “in-the-know” regarding the development, but that has not happened.
“Everything that was promised to us did not happen,” she said.
Crocciola said “things weren’t done the proper way,” and that residents felt in-the-dark about the proposal.
She said before the public hearing in September, residents had only found out about the proposal days beforehand. Over 20 residents spoke against the project at the meeting. Crocciola said the town has been unresponsive to residents since the development was approved.
The Town of Oyster Bay and state Department of Environmental Conservation said the site-work is in the hands of the Nassau County Department of Health.
A town representative said the state Department’s role is “strictly” to ensure any spillage is addressed. The representative said the state has confirmed that it has been addressed in completed through “applicable environmental standards.”
The state Department said according to its records, there are no active spills at the site. The department said soil sampling at the site indicated semi-volatile Organic Compound contamination in the sediment’s top layer in the vicinity of the dry wells and tank dispenser of the former gas station.
The DEC said proper material removal and disposal were underway and that the department would monitor the clean-up process to ensure public safety.
The Nassau County Department of Health was unable to provide comment prior to publication.
