The Brewster Well Field Superfund Site is located on the northern bank of the East Branch of the Croton River in the Village of Brewster, Town of Southeast, Putnam County, New York. The well field, originally developed in 1954, is the source of the Village’s water supply. In 1978, evidence of volatile halogenated organic (VHO) contamination from an unidentified source first appeared in the Village water supply. Concentrations of certain VHOs violated New York State Department of Health guidelines. The VHOs detected in 1978 were tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at 166 and 174 parts per billion (ppb) and trichloroethylene (TCE) at 5 and 220 ppb.

In an effort to deal with the impaired water quality, alternative water supply sources were added to the Village water system and a packed column air stripping system was constructed to treat the entire Village water supply. The Site was placed on the National Priorities List in December 1982. Remedial work at the Site was addressed within two operable units (OUs). The two OUs are: OU1 – management of the migration of contamination through the groundwater, and OU2 – control of the contamination source. The source of the contamination was found to be a drywell adjacent to Alben Cleaners where dry cleaning fluids were discharged to a floor drain until 1983.