Supervisor says 'pressure is on' to negotiate deal to clean up Bethpage plume
Federal and local elected officials on Monday said the cleanup of toxic pollution from Grumman's former Bethpage operations had a new sense of urgency following a Newsday investigation that found the company long withheld information that could have helped stem the environmental crisis.
"I think today has been a turning point," Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said following a closed-door meeting between polluters and regulators at a town public works building in Syosset. "Newsday's exposé has made a big impact. And we're beginning to see the results of that, because the responsible parties are more amenable to negotiation. So the pressure is on."
Grumman's successor, Northrop Grumman, and the U.S. Navy — which owned a sixth of the once-600-acre Grumman facility — are responsible for cleaning the area's contaminated soil and groundwater. The parties agreed Monday to advance some aspects of the remediation that had been signed off on years ago under state Department of Environmental Conservation plans, but not completed.
They include treatment systems for areas of the now 4.3-mile-long, 2.1-mile-wide groundwater contamination plume with the highest concentrations of toxic chemicals, as well as for contaminated soil at Bethpage Community Park's long-closed ballfield. The plans have been delayed over issues such as easements, permits and additional testing.
Not yet resolved is who will pay for the state's $585 million plan to fully contain and clean up the plume.
Still, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said the Newsday series "helped to accelerate, I think, and made the parties want to negotiate in goodwill."
Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), who also attended the meeting, added, "There was definitely a sense of urgency in the room."
The meeting, which already had been scheduled, put Navy and Northrop Grumman representatives together with state officials overseeing the cleanup and town officials.
Northrop Grumman spokesman Tim Paynter said in a statement Monday: “Northrop Grumman takes its responsibility to the environment and communities in which we operate very seriously. Today we participated in another productive meeting with Representatives Suozzi and King, the Town of Oyster Bay, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation [NYSDEC] and the Navy, aimed at expediting access to implement state-approved remediation projects.
“We will continue to work constructively with elected officials, the NYSDEC, the Navy, and other stakeholders to help protect public health and the environment.”
A Navy representative confirmed the meeting, but did not immediately offer further comment.
As a result of the meeting, Saladino said the town board will consider emergency approval Tuesday to provide the Navy access to additional land — including a storm basin and utility right of way for piping — for its system to treat a "hot spot" of highly contaminated groundwater.
The negotiations also made progress on implementing other parts of the cleanup, including using a right of way at a King Kullen parking lot to pipe water from a Northrop Grumman hot spot treatment system; expediting the community park ballfield cleanup; and possibly using one of Bethpage Water District's plants, inside the plume, as part of the overall cleanup.
The state also told the elected officials that talks are ongoing with Northrop Grumman and the Navy over the state's latest cleanup plan, which marks the first time regulators are seeking a comprehensive plume containment.
"We were assured that that plan is not losing momentum," Saladino said.
State Department of Environmental Conservation Deputy Commissioner Martin Brand, who also attended the meeting, said in a statement that the state is overseeing cleanup and holding the Navy and Northrop Grumman "accountable for the mess they left behind. DEC continues to work with our local, state, and federal partners to expedite this cleanup using the best available science and data and we’re not leaving until the job is done."
Northrop Grumman didn't directly address Newsday's investigation in the Monday meeting, the elected officials said. But in a statement sent early Monday to at least one other state representative, the company said “we reject allegations that Northrop Grumman’s predecessor, Grumman Corporation, regulators and other officials somehow attempted to cover up environmental impacts.”
Newsday did not allege that the company and regulators engaged in an active cover-up. Rather, the investigation found that Grumman, over the course of decades, made numerous public statements that did not fully match — or in some cases directly contrasted — information it held privately about the severity of the pollution and its own role in it. Coupled with regulators who long downplayed the pollution and falsely blamed another manufacturer, these actions contributed to the problem’s worsening at a time when local water providers believed it could have been addressed more aggressively.
The Northrop Grumman statement added that Grumman “was at the forefront” of environmental awareness when it opened its first system to treat its wastewaters for chromium contamination in the late 1940s and that it was the company that first alerted regulators to the groundwater contamination at its site in the 1970s. These points were both noted in Newsday’s investigation.
The Bethpage Water District, which for decades has pushed for a more aggressive cleanup, said it was hopeful after Monday's report from King, Suozzi and Saladino — but would wait to see if the words turn into action.
“Once again, the water district is going to continue doing what we’re doing. And when we see it, we’ll finally believe it,” Bethpage district superintendent Michael Boufis said. “Do I think there was a little bit of fire lit under them? Yes. Do they follow through with it? That would be the best thing for Bethpage residents and the Bethpage Water District.”
Paul LaRocco is a reporter on the investigations desk. Since starting at Newsday in late 2010, he has also covered Nassau and Suffolk county politics and government and the Town of Oyster Bay.
