More concrete blocks 'similar' to ones that contained chemical drums found in Bethpage park, DEC says

Northrop Grumman contractors Thursday found concrete blocks that are “similar” to the ones that contained chemical drums that were unearthed at Bethpage Community Park in recent weeks, a top state official said.

Workers dug about 7 to 8 feet below the surface at the former Grumman Aerospace dumping ground and found two to three blocks, which were located using historical overhead photos of the site, interim Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Sean Mahar said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. 

“We have no evidence yet that there are drums in these concrete blocks, but because they're similar to what was found in other portions of the site, we're requiring additional and immediate actions to be conducted,” Mahar said. He added the DEC is requiring Northrop Grumman to develop a work plan to complete the excavation effort, which is expected to continue Friday.

Northrop Grumman, which is required to pay for the ongoing cleanup effort, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jason Pelton, the DEC’s project manager, said Thursday the latest digging occurred “approximately 20 to 25 feet to the west, southwest” of the location where 16 chemical drums were removed last month.

Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in a statement Thursday that while the "continued discoveries are unsettling, we surmised all along that more would be found hidden in the park."

“Potential anomalies” detected by contractors using ground-penetrating radar were investigated this week and found to be various pieces of concrete and metal buried underground at the park.

It was not immediately clear why the concrete blocks found Thursday were not seen on ground-penetrating radar, Mahar said. “That's what we're asking Grumman and their contractors right now,” Mahar said in response to a question about the use of old photographs to conduct the latest dig. 

Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said it is not uncommon to find buried chemical drums at remediation sites but stressed the importance “that the environmental regulatory agencies provide strict oversight” at the locations of the dig sites.

“This is way too slow,” Enck said of the ongoing cleanup at the park. “A lot of it depends upon how responsible the polluters are … and sometimes there's a vested financial interest in not finding much.”

Grumman contractors in late March discovered the first layer of concrete-encased drums under the park’s former ballfields while drilling a well to check an existing soil sampling system at the park. Two other layers of drums were found in the following days.

The DEC has said results from soil and drum samples show petroleum hydrocarbons, metals such as chromium, polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorinated solvents.

State officials said those results are expected since the drums were found in the former settling pond areas used by Grumman when it was in operation.

The DEC has not yet made the final test results of the drums and surrounding soil public, pending review.

“We're not happy that this park has been out of the town's use for as long as it has,” Mahar said. “We want to get it back to them as quickly as possible. But we need to do that in the most thorough, scientific way that we can."

With Paul LaRocco

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ