The letter, dated March 20 and directed to Sen. Charles Schumer, was in response to a letter Schumer wrote on Feb. 28, calling on the EPA to order the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman to fulfill their responsibility to clean up the plume, which emanated in Bethpage and has spread south of the Southern State Parkway into northern Seaford.
Late last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation sponsored by State Assemblyman Joseph Saladino (R-Massapequa) mandating that the state Department of Environmental Conservation put in place a plan to contain and eventually remove the swath of toxins, which has been spreading since its discovery nearly 40 years ago. The contamination dates back to the 1930s, when the Navy operated a Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve at the Grumman site in Bethpage.
According to Schumer, the DEC notified Northrop Grumman in November that it was expected to participate, along with the Navy, in the cleanup of the plume. The DEC gave Northrop Grumman 30 days to sign an order of consent. When 90 days passed without its signing, Schumer sent the letter to the EPA.
Last month, Judith A. Enck, a regional administrator for the EPA, responded that an agreement was in the works between Northrop Grumman and the DEC, and that it is expected by the end of April.
"We agree that this is a matter of great importance, and that progress in addressing the full scope of contamination has been slow," Enck wrote. "Long Island residents rely primarily on groundwater as their source of drinking water. It is essential that this toxic plume be addressed in a timely and effective fashion to ensure that the people of Long Island can continue to have clean drinking water."
The plume has threatened several wells in the area, including in the Bethpage, Massapequa, Levittown and South Farmingdale water districts. At South Farmingdale's well, off Route 107 in northern Seaford, a water treatment plant was built to remove contaminants.
Last summer, monitoring wells were drilled in northern Seaford neighborhoods to gauge the spread of the plume. The Navy also completed a water treatment facility off Seaman's Neck Road, north of the East Broadway Elementary School.
Tom Kreidel, a spokesman for the Navy, said its monitoring of groundwater will continue, to see how the plume is moving. This will require the installation of additional wells, he said, and data from those will be used to decide what further steps should be taken.
The Town of Hempstead recently authorized the Navy to install several monitoring wells to collect groundwater and soil samples, noting the public interest in protecting citizens from contaminated water. The town also recently passed legislation prohibiting any agency, state or federal, from doing any excavation work related to environmental testing on private property without proper written notification.
The Grumman plume, which extended as far south as Hempstead Turnpike in 2000, has now spread under neighborhoods in northern Seaford, in the vicinity of North Wantagh Park.
"Now that the EPA is more directly involved," Schumer said, "I hope that Northrop Grumman signs a strong cleanup agreement by the end of April to take responsibility for the spill, and more aggressively clean up the toxic mess they left behind beyond the perimeter of the site. I will continue to hold Grumman's feet to the fire to make sure they do the right thing and protect our vulnerable underground drinking water sources."
