Water quality advocates pushing Navy to test for chemical drums at former Grumman site
An aerial view of the former Grumman airport at Calverton seen in May 2011. Credit: Kevin P Coughlin
Water quality advocates in Calverton, prompted by recent discoveries of chemical drums at Bethpage Community Park, are calling on the U.S. Navy to investigate whether similar barrels also are buried in the hamlet, where Northrop Grumman once operated an aerospace facility.
Grumman contractors in late March discovered the first layer of concrete-encased drums under the Bethpage park’s former ballfields while drilling a well to check a soil sampling system. Since then, a total of 22 drums filled with toxic waste have been removed at the site. Grumman, which manufactured aircraft in Bethpage, used the location as a pit for wastewater sludge and solvent-soaked rags between the 1940s and 1960s, Newsday previously reported.
Forty-five miles east along Middle Country Road, the aerospace giant assembled, fueled and tested Navy jets on a 6,000-acre site until 1996. Remediation is underway at the property, where pollutants have been found in the groundwater.
On June 24, members of the Restoration Advisory Board, a liaison between the Calverton community and federal government, wrote to the Navy, asking the agency to ramp up testing for potential drums on the property using the ground-penetrating radar scans, drilling and sampling methods used in Bethpage.
Kelly McClinchy, 46, a member of the citizen board, lives about a mile from the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton, and has been advocating for speedier cleanup of the site for years. Watching TV news reports of drums being removed in Bethpage raised concerns about her community, she said.
“If it happened in Bethpage, could it have happened in Calverton?” McClinchy said. “In our minds, it’s reasonable. Calverton was a lot less populated. A lot more could have been done without eyes on them.”
The group's concerns are driven by similarities between the two sites, particularly because of existing groundwater contamination.
In Bethpage, contamination contributed to a plume, which Newsday reported is moving south by about a foot a day.
The extent of pollution in Calverton is a source of contention between clean water advocates and the Navy, which is responsible for cleanup efforts. Last year, Navy engineers identified 15 “areas of concern,” to be further investigated, including former hangars and fueling areas.
Cleanups at a fuel terminal site and location of a fighter jet crash that required firefighting foam to be used are slated to begin in 2027, according to a July 2023 Navy newsletter.
Navy engineer Nicole Cowand said the Navy had no involvement at the Bethpage site, which was owned and operated solely by Northrop Grumman.
“The Navy thus has no comment on the sufficiency of the investigation of that private site,” she wrote in a response to the restoration board on Thursday.
For years, advocates have pleaded with the Navy to expand testing beyond a 1-mile radius, a policy that Adrienne Esposito, director of the Farmingdale-based nonprofit Citizens Campaign for the Environment, called "inexplicable." She said, “It’s not based on science or logic. It’s based on a policy of hiding the truth."
A treatment system was installed a decade ago to prevent contaminants from leaving the property.
Navy spokesman David Todd said Friday the investigation follows the federally mandated cleanup process.
Contamination in Calverton is mainly attributed to PFAS chemicals found in solvents, fuel and firefighting foams used there. They are known as “forever chemicals,” because they don’t break down naturally. Scientists have linked exposure to the chemicals to cancers, liver damage and fertility problems.
The chemicals have been detected in test wells within the site, and in 15% of private wells nearby, though the Navy has maintained it is not responsible for off-site contamination.
Cowand said the Calverton site was investigated for buried debris and drums between 2008 and 2015 using ground-penetrating radar and other methods.
“Using this process, the Navy successfully identified, excavated and removed munitions, drums, and debris,” Cowand wrote.
A Navy spokesperson did not elaborate on how many drums were found and whether they were buried.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is overseeing the investigation and cleanup at the Calverton property.
In a statement to Newsday on Friday, officials said they’ve directed the Navy to investigate the “nature and extent” of PFAS contamination on- and off-site to “prevent any potential public exposure to contamination.”
The restoration board’s request has drawn support from lawmakers.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine wrote to the Navy earlier this month, requesting that reports about pollution at the site — including landfills, burn pits and buried drums — be shared with the county.
“The residents deserve to know everything about their environment, and we will get them the answers they deserve,” Romaine said in a statement to Newsday.
The county is testing groundwater at the former Grumman site. Riverhead Town approved spending $40,000 in May to fund the water sampling. County costs weren’t immediately available.
Riverhead Water District Superintendent Frank Mancini said there’s “justification” to further investigate if contaminated groundwater will impact public water supplies.
“If there are buried drums and they just haven’t leaked yet, that could be a catastrophe,” Mancini told Newsday.
The request to scan for buried drums comes after the Navy canceled a highly anticipated Restoration Advisory Board meeting in May. Residents want to know how the Navy will comply with new PFAS limits, — set by the EPA in April — of 4 parts per trillion.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) wrote a letter July 15 asking the Navy to immediately reschedule the board meeting and investigate the site for buried barrels.
“I’m a lifelong Long Islander and have seen first hand the water quality issues our communities have faced, including at the former Grumman sites," LaLota said in a statement to Newsday Friday, pledging to continue advocating for cleanup efforts.
Todd said Friday that the Department of Defense hasn’t updated its policies based on the EPA ruling.
A date for the next restoration board meeting has not been set.
Water quality advocates in Calverton, prompted by recent discoveries of chemical drums at Bethpage Community Park, are calling on the U.S. Navy to investigate whether similar barrels also are buried in the hamlet, where Northrop Grumman once operated an aerospace facility.
Grumman contractors in late March discovered the first layer of concrete-encased drums under the Bethpage park’s former ballfields while drilling a well to check a soil sampling system. Since then, a total of 22 drums filled with toxic waste have been removed at the site. Grumman, which manufactured aircraft in Bethpage, used the location as a pit for wastewater sludge and solvent-soaked rags between the 1940s and 1960s, Newsday previously reported.
Forty-five miles east along Middle Country Road, the aerospace giant assembled, fueled and tested Navy jets on a 6,000-acre site until 1996. Remediation is underway at the property, where pollutants have been found in the groundwater.
On June 24, members of the Restoration Advisory Board, a liaison between the Calverton community and federal government, wrote to the Navy, asking the agency to ramp up testing for potential drums on the property using the ground-penetrating radar scans, drilling and sampling methods used in Bethpage.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Water advocates are asking the U.S. Navy to probe whether chemical drums were buried in Calverton, where Northrop Grumman once operated an aerospace facility, after 22 drums were discovered in Bethpage.
- The aerospace giant assembled, fueled and tested Navy jets on a 6,000-acre site, where pollutants have been found in the groundwater.
- The Navy is responsible for cleaning up the Calverton site.
Kelly McClinchy, in an undated photo, has been advocating for speedier cleanup of the Calverton site for years. Credit: Drew Singh
Pollution concerns in Calverton
Kelly McClinchy, 46, a member of the citizen board, lives about a mile from the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton, and has been advocating for speedier cleanup of the site for years. Watching TV news reports of drums being removed in Bethpage raised concerns about her community, she said.
“If it happened in Bethpage, could it have happened in Calverton?” McClinchy said. “In our minds, it’s reasonable. Calverton was a lot less populated. A lot more could have been done without eyes on them.”
The group's concerns are driven by similarities between the two sites, particularly because of existing groundwater contamination.
In Bethpage, contamination contributed to a plume, which Newsday reported is moving south by about a foot a day.
The extent of pollution in Calverton is a source of contention between clean water advocates and the Navy, which is responsible for cleanup efforts. Last year, Navy engineers identified 15 “areas of concern,” to be further investigated, including former hangars and fueling areas.
Cleanups at a fuel terminal site and location of a fighter jet crash that required firefighting foam to be used are slated to begin in 2027, according to a July 2023 Navy newsletter.
Navy engineer Nicole Cowand said the Navy had no involvement at the Bethpage site, which was owned and operated solely by Northrop Grumman.
“The Navy thus has no comment on the sufficiency of the investigation of that private site,” she wrote in a response to the restoration board on Thursday.
Navy: Agency followed federal process
For years, advocates have pleaded with the Navy to expand testing beyond a 1-mile radius, a policy that Adrienne Esposito, director of the Farmingdale-based nonprofit Citizens Campaign for the Environment, called "inexplicable." She said, “It’s not based on science or logic. It’s based on a policy of hiding the truth."
A treatment system was installed a decade ago to prevent contaminants from leaving the property.
Navy spokesman David Todd said Friday the investigation follows the federally mandated cleanup process.
Contamination in Calverton is mainly attributed to PFAS chemicals found in solvents, fuel and firefighting foams used there. They are known as “forever chemicals,” because they don’t break down naturally. Scientists have linked exposure to the chemicals to cancers, liver damage and fertility problems.
The chemicals have been detected in test wells within the site, and in 15% of private wells nearby, though the Navy has maintained it is not responsible for off-site contamination.
Cowand said the Calverton site was investigated for buried debris and drums between 2008 and 2015 using ground-penetrating radar and other methods.
“Using this process, the Navy successfully identified, excavated and removed munitions, drums, and debris,” Cowand wrote.
A Navy spokesperson did not elaborate on how many drums were found and whether they were buried.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is overseeing the investigation and cleanup at the Calverton property.
In a statement to Newsday on Friday, officials said they’ve directed the Navy to investigate the “nature and extent” of PFAS contamination on- and off-site to “prevent any potential public exposure to contamination.”
Lawmakers also push for testing
The restoration board’s request has drawn support from lawmakers.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine wrote to the Navy earlier this month, requesting that reports about pollution at the site — including landfills, burn pits and buried drums — be shared with the county.
“The residents deserve to know everything about their environment, and we will get them the answers they deserve,” Romaine said in a statement to Newsday.
The county is testing groundwater at the former Grumman site. Riverhead Town approved spending $40,000 in May to fund the water sampling. County costs weren’t immediately available.
Riverhead Water District Superintendent Frank Mancini said there’s “justification” to further investigate if contaminated groundwater will impact public water supplies.
“If there are buried drums and they just haven’t leaked yet, that could be a catastrophe,” Mancini told Newsday.
The request to scan for buried drums comes after the Navy canceled a highly anticipated Restoration Advisory Board meeting in May. Residents want to know how the Navy will comply with new PFAS limits, — set by the EPA in April — of 4 parts per trillion.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) wrote a letter July 15 asking the Navy to immediately reschedule the board meeting and investigate the site for buried barrels.
“I’m a lifelong Long Islander and have seen first hand the water quality issues our communities have faced, including at the former Grumman sites," LaLota said in a statement to Newsday Friday, pledging to continue advocating for cleanup efforts.
Todd said Friday that the Department of Defense hasn’t updated its policies based on the EPA ruling.
A date for the next restoration board meeting has not been set.
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