Urban Exploring: Lawrence Aviation

Inside an Abandoned Property

By Wander with Jill

August 6^th, 2015

Lawrence Aviation Industries, (LAI) is located in the Village of Port Jefferson Station, in Long Island New York. Founded in 1959, LAI was a manufacturer of titanium sheeting for the aeronautics industry.

One of my friends told me they entered this property before so I told them I wanted to check it out. We parked nearby and noticed construction workers outside of the entrance. We did not want to be seen, so we ran a bit further down the street with hopes to find a different opening in the property fence. After running into a thorn bush and crossing the Train Tracks (LIRR), we finally found a opening that lead us in and onto a road. We walked this road for about 10 minutes an it lead us to the remaining abandoned buildings of this former manufacturing plant. Here are some of the photos I captured…

About LAI

The property consists of 10 Buildings which have all been abandoned. Beginning in the 1980’s, LAI practices for disposal of containers and chemicals were found to have caused negative environmental impacts. Drums containing trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and other toxic wastes were allowed to leak onto the ground, making way to the underlying groundwater which caused this site to be shut down. The site was added to the EPA’s National Priorities List in 2000, while Suffolk County and the EPA worked aggressively to figure out a plan for the site’s remediation.In 2004, the drums and other containers were removed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Overall, about 1,300 drums and other containers were processed. Drums and containers in good condition were disposed of off site. Drums and containers that could not be removed from the site because of their poor condition were placed in an area behind a berm for evaluation.

In 2009 the Environmental Protection Agency used $4.7 million in Recovery Act funds to initiate the LAI property ground water remedy for the site, which consists of a groundwater extraction and treatment system and the in-situ chemical oxidation process. The groundwater extraction and treatment system on the LAI property is currently operating and is expected to stop any further migration of groundwater contamination from the Lawrence property.

Currently, the EPA is conducting the first five-year review and its purpose is to ensure that the implemented remedies at this site function as intended and continue to be protective of human health and the environment. It is anticipated that the five-year review will be completed this year.

My perspective

We were only able to enter 2 of the buildings. The main factory building which was full of equipment and drums that were left behind, and a Hangar in the back of the property which had a rusted boom truck in it but other then that was pretty empty. Judging by the amount of fresh graffiti all over the property, I wasn’t even close to being the first person to get into this place. We walked around the all the buildings to see if we could find a way to enter them, but we were unsuccessful so our visit was a short one. I came out with a couple of bruises and scratches from this adventure, but the thrill of urban exploring and going into places we are technically not supposed to be in is always so much fun. Please subscribe to stay updated on my next adventure…

References

NOAA- http://archive.orr.noaa.gov/book_shelf/1492_LawrenceAviationIndustries.pdf

EPA - Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/superfund/eparecovery/lawrence_aviation.html http://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/lawrenceaviation/ http://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/0201335c.pdf