3 more chemical drums unearthed at ex-Grumman site in Bethpage

Contractors working at the site of a former Grumman Aerospace dumping ground at Bethpage Community Park discovered three new chemical drums Monday, according to Oyster Bay officials, who called the drums “similar” to 16 concrete-encased drums unearthed there last month.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed the discovery later Monday.

It was made just days after the workers found six new concrete blocks underground. The DEC said in a statement Thursday that up to three new concrete blocks had been uncovered, but on Friday said it was double that number.

Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in an interview Monday that contractors had removed the six new concrete blocks from the soil, and while three drums had been found inside the blocks so far, work would continue in the coming days to break up the concrete.

Interim DEC Commissioner Sean Mahar said Monday that the contents of the three new drums have been “sampled, investigated, photographed” and the agency is awaiting the results.

“That will really determine the disposal of these drums moving forward,” he added during a Zoom news briefing. “ … Right now, there's no additional evidence that we've seen in the excavation work to say that any of the drums were compromised or caused any additional leakage to the environment.”

Initial tests showed the first six of the 19 drums found at the site contained waste petroleum and chlorinated solvents including trichloroethylene (TCE), a known carcinogen.

“We want a much more thorough plan put in place and carried out that will check every area to ensure … that all of these drums and different objects are found and that they are removed,” Saladino also said Monday.

Northrop Grumman, which is required to pay for the cleanup as part of an ongoing remediation effort at the former ballfields, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Last year the town sued Northrop Grumman, criticizing the pace and thoroughness of the cleanup on the grounds stemming from the company's 2013 agreement with the DEC to address the ballfield soil contamination.

A DEC project manager told Newsday last week the latest digging occurred “approximately 20 to 25 feet to the west, southwest” of the location where contractors removed 16 chemical drums in April.

Contractors working at the site also previously investigated “potential anomalies” at the site, but they were determined to be pieces of concrete and metal buried underground. The workers used ground-penetrating radar to discover the “anomalies,” but officials said that radar did not detect the latest concrete blocks.

Mahar said Monday the DEC is “continuing to ask” Grumman why the ground-penetrating radar didn't discover the new concrete blocks. 

In late March, Grumman contractors discovered one layer of concrete-encased drums under the former ballfields while drilling a well to check an existing soil sample system. Two additional layers were found later that contained more drums.

The DEC hasn't yet made public the final test results from the contents of the previously discovered drums and surrounding soil.

 Grumman donated land for the park to the town in 1962 and contamination was found in the soil starting in 2002.