Long Island

Jo'Anna Bird main story

INBIRD

An officer failed to monitor a prisoner’s safety on the day his partner sexually assaulted her

inPAVxxxx

Most organ transplants stopped due to COVID-19 last year, often with dire results

INORGAN210919_photos

James T. Madore

Joseph Stewart has never owned a business, but in October a notice arrived at his Northport home saying he had to repay a $9,900 federal loan from a program meant to help businesses survive the pandemic. 
Stewart, a bond underwriter, is among 846,600 people nationwide whose name, Social Security number and other personal information were used to fraudulently obtain disaster loans and grants, according to an estimate from the U.S. Small Business Administration's inspector general. 
Fraud in SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, or EIDL, may total as much as $79 billion, the inspector general said. That’s 35% of the $225 billion in pandemic-related EIDL disaster loans and grants approved since the coronavirus struck last March, according to a Newsday analysis of SBA data. 
Long Island's top federal prosecutor called the EIDL grants "catnip for criminals" because they required little documentation from the applicant and were deposited into their bank account within three days. 
Stewart, 54, a retired New York City police officer, said of the bogus loan in his name: "The fraudsters said I was the sole proprietor of a restaurant with four employees — but I’ve never owned a business in my life." 
The restaurant supposedly had 2019 revenue of $310,000 and opened three years ago at an address that's actually Stewart's home address, according to a copy of the fraudulent EIDL application, which Newsday reviewed. 
"The SBA should verify who the person is and that they have a business before giving them the money," he said. "I only found out about this when the loan statement came to the house in the mail." 
Stewart, who spent 20 years in the NYPD, said his research shows that the fraudulent loan in his name was applied for in August using a computer in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Stewart said he is among 147 million people who had their personal information exposed in a 2017 data breach of the credit reporting agency Equifax. 
More than 20 loan applications were submitted to SBA from the Arkansas computer, Stewart said, citing conversations with a U.S. Secret Service agent based in Arkansas. Three loans were approved, totaling more than $100,000, he said. 
Stewart said the Secret Service agent told him that the loan in his name was the smallest of the three. It was deposited on Sept. 1 into an empty account, also under Stewart’s name, at Green Dot Bank, an online financial institution that Stewart said he’d never heard of. 
The criminals spent all the money in six days using a debit card, according to a report from Green Dot Bank's regulator, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which Newsday reviewed. 
Asked to comment on Stewart's case, a spokesman for the Secret Service in Washington said it "does not confirm the existence or absence of a potentially ongoing investigation." Green Dot Bank's chief risk officer Philip Lerma also wouldn't discuss Stewart's case but said, "we work around the clock and invest heavily to identify, block and address fraudulent activity." 
SBA’s Office of Inspector General, an independent watchdog, is among about a dozen government agencies that Stewart said he contacted about the bogus disaster loan. OIG officials said criminals are using stolen personal information to secure EIDL loans and grants. They declined to discuss Stewart’s case.
<figure class="image2 image" data-attr-f="default" data-attr-img-credits="" data-attr-img-height="" data-attr-img-width="" data-attr-show-caption="true" data-href="#/content/contentid/image.1.50280553" data-onecms-id="contentid/image.1.50280553" data-onecms-type="image">
 <img alt="" src="/image-service/alias/contentid/image.1.50280553/1.50280553.jpg?f=default"> 
 <figcaption></figcaption> 
</figure>
 
"We’ve started to see a lot of cases involving identity theft, which stems back to the lax [fraud] controls that were in place at SBA" last year, Inspector General Hannibal "Mike" Ware said in an interview with Newsday. 
The EIDL program has been around for nearly 70 years, helping businesses, homeowners and nonprofits to recover from natural disasters such as Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Isaias in August. The government loans can be for amounts up to $2 million with terms as long as 30 years. 
As the virus was taking hold in spring 2020 and lockdowns were instituted to slow its spread, Congress and the administration of then-President Donald Trump made changes to the program, notably creating the EIDL Advance grant — up to $10,000 per business, which did not have to be repaid — and requiring less information from applicants. 
SBA calculates the loan and grant amounts based on the business' number of employees, revenue and cost of goods sold in 2019. 
With the pandemic creating havoc in the U.S. economy and taking a heavy toll on small businesses, there was a sense of urgency as Congress and the Trump administration directed SBA to quickly help companies that were facing permanent closure. 
"But SBA also lowered the guardrails in its own [fraud] control environment for EIDL, and that allowed fraudsters to take advantage of the program at an alarming rate," Ware said. 
He said SBA "abandoned" its usual practice of two loan officers reviewing each EIDL application, in favor of "tons of loans being approved in huge batches without review." And he said, "the [computer] system flags that would have caught fraud were basically ignored to rush money out the door." 
A program official said last week that Ware's estimate of EIDL fraud is based in part on fraudulent applications that have been flagged by SBA loan officers. The program official, who spoke on the condition that his name not be published, said Congress recently gave SBA the ability to obtain a loan applicant's tax returns directly from the Internal Revenue Service, which wasn't possible in 2020. 
"Since the [COVID-19 EIDL] program was launched over a year ago, we have made many steps throughout to mitigate fraud," the program official said. 
Ware began warning of "rampant EIDL fraud" in July 2020 but said his recommendations for greater scrutiny of loan applications were disputed or ignored until the final days of the Trump administration. 
Trump’s SBA "took the view that the inspector general will catch [fraud] on the back end…They just needed to expeditiously get this money out," Ware said. "But you can’t depend on running after the money from bad actors at the tail end. You need to set up a proper control environment at the beginning to keep the majority of bad actors out of the program."
<figure class="image2 image" data-attr-f="default" data-attr-img-credits="" data-attr-img-height="" data-attr-img-width="" data-attr-show-caption="true" data-href="#/content/contentid/image.1.50280554" data-onecms-id="contentid/image.1.50280554" data-onecms-type="image">
 <img alt="" src="/image-service/alias/contentid/image.1.50280554/1.50280554.jpg?f=default"> 
 <figcaption></figcaption> 
</figure>
 
SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, who has led the agency since March, has reinstated the antifraud measures. 
"EIDL faced challenges in the way that it was quickly rolled out without some of the normal controls" for fraud, she told Newsday. "We’ve made sure the controls for fraud are back in place while also balancing the need to deliver this program swiftly." 
Ware and the SBA have so far recouped $2 billion in EIDL funds that were obtained fraudulently, according to Ware. The cases often involve the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies. 
An early case from the Justice Department’s Eastern District, which includes Long Island, involves a Brooklyn man who received a $42,400 EIDL loan and a $10,000 Advance grant to sustain what turned out to be a fictitious commercial car wash, according to an October indictment.
<figure class="image2 image" data-attr-f="default" data-attr-img-credits="" data-attr-img-height="" data-attr-img-width="" data-attr-show-caption="true" data-href="#/content/contentid/image.1.50282718" data-onecms-id="contentid/image.1.50282718" data-onecms-type="image">
 <img alt="" src="/image-service/alias/contentid/image.1.50282718/1.50282718.jpg?f=default"> 
 <figcaption></figcaption> 
</figure>
 
Jeremy Trapp, 25, sought the funds a year ago for a car wash that he claimed to own and said was located at the same address as the apartment building where Trapp lived. He said the car wash had 10 employees and 2019 revenue of $150,000, neither of which was true, the indictment states. 
"I lied about [owning a car wash] and applied for a loan," Trapp said in April when he pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He awaits sentencing and faces up to 20 years in prison. The loan money was recovered. 
The Trapp case is "an example of the smaller scale of EIDL fraud that we’re seeing, but that’s starting to change," said Mark Lesko, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District. "We’re seeing sophisticated actors enter this space, with high numbers of loan applications using shell companies or dormant companies."
<figure class="image2 image" data-attr-f="default" data-attr-img-credits="" data-attr-img-height="" data-attr-img-width="" data-attr-show-caption="true" data-href="#/content/contentid/image.1.50280555" data-onecms-id="contentid/image.1.50280555" data-onecms-type="image">
 <img alt="" src="/image-service/alias/contentid/image.1.50280555/1.50280555.jpg?f=default"> 
 <figcaption></figcaption> 
</figure>
 
He is Long Island's top federal prosecutor, but will be leaving to temporarily lead the Justice Department's national security division in Washington. 
The Eastern District’s biggest case of EIDL fraud so far involves three JetBlue employees and two others who allegedly stole more than $1 million last year. They filed false loan applications for eight businesses that had no employees and no verifiable revenue in 2019. 
The five defendants were arrested June 10 and charged with wire fraud. They have yet to enter pleas. 
All the defendants and attorneys for three of them either didn't respond to requests for comment or couldn't be reached. Attorneys for the other two defendants declined to comment. 
Two of the JetBlue employees allegedly used a JetBlue computer in July 2020 to submit loan applications for two businesses. The defendants claimed each firm had 26 employees and 2019 revenue of more than $690,000, though records show no employees and no federal income tax return ever being filed, according to the federal complaint. 
The companies received $139,400 and $80,500, respectively. The money was used for personal expenses, such as one defendant's September 2020 car payment to BMW Financial Services, the complaint states. 
Some perpetrators of EIDL fraud also rip off the Paycheck Protection Program, a separate COVID-relief initiative also overseen by SBA, said Tom Miller, a fraud expert and CEO of the risk management business ClearForce Inc. in Vienna, Virginia. The PPP consists of bank loans guaranteed by the federal government and meant to help companies survive the pandemic. 
"With the COVID relief programs, there was so much money that went out so quickly that you have bad guys trying to find ways to get some of the funding," Miller said. 
Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Southern District, which includes Manhattan, said a Chinese citizen attempted to defraud EIDL and PPP together of more than $20 million. 
Muge Ma, 37, pleaded guilty last week to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He will be sentenced in September and faces up to 30 years in prison. 
Ma admitted to orchestrating the multimillion-dollar scheme to fund his two companies. In fraudulent loan applications, he said the companies had "global" operations that together employed 344 people, paid millions of dollars in wages and generated 2019 revenue of $4.4 million. 
But Ma was one company’s only employee and the other had no employees, according to a federal criminal complaint. 
Ma was approved for two EIDL loans and an Advance grant, totaling $660,000, and a PPP loan for $800,000 before being arrested a year ago, prosecutors said. 
In Manhattan federal court, Ma said, "As part of the [loan] application I included some information that was not true, including inaccurate payroll information. I knew I had filed inaccurate information that would affect the outcome of the application" in terms of the PPP loan being approved, he said. 
In Northport last week, Stewart received the letter from SBA that he's been waiting for ever since reporting the fraudulent EIDL loan in his name eight months ago. 
The two-page letter states that Stewart will not be held liable for the bogus loan and it won't affect his credit score. 
"After a thorough review of the loan record and the information you have provided, we have confirmed that you did not apply for this loan nor receive any benefit from this fraudulent loan application," SBA's Office of Disaster Assistance wrote in the letter, which Newsday reviewed. "SBA will not take any action to collect this loan from you."

News

bzEIDL210620

bzEIDL210620_photos

'Rampant' fraud cost small firms as much as $79 billion in COVID aid

'Rampant' fraud cost small firms as much as $79 billion in COVID aid

More than 846,600 people nationwide had their names, Social Security numbers and other information used by criminals to fraudulently obtain disaster loans and grants, according to an estimate from the U.S. Small Business Administration's inspector general. 


Feds: Up to 35% of EIDL loans, grants were fraudulent

Nassau

Suffolk

Newsday

bzEIDL210620_video

An LI cop said a stolen SUV intentionally rammed his car. This video shows otherwise, experts said.

6,539 Black people tried to become police officers on LI. Only 67 were hired.

Newsday analysis: Nassau, Suffolk conceal court records of alleged police misconduct

INCONFIDENTIAL210523_photos

Mark Harrington

LIPA on Wednesday said its customers face "considerable risk" as storm season approaches after finding PSEG Long Island "still does not have a fully tested" storm-outage management and communication systems in place. 
PSEG said its systems have undergone rigorous upgrades, tuning and "numerous tests," and are "ready for storm season." But LIPA, in a report released Wednesday to its board of trustees, said it "disagrees," and wants PSEG, which operates the Long Island grid under an $80 million-a-year contract, to "conduct another [comprehensive] test" of all the systems at once, during regular business hours. 
Newsday has <a href="https://www.newsday.com/business/lipa-pseg-storm-isaias-outage-1.50229226">reported</a> for months about the tension between LIPA and PSEG following PSEG's failed response to the storm including revelations that PSEG knew about problems before the storm.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50251864" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50251864">Story Widget Link</a>
 
PSEG’s computer and telecom systems failed during Tropical Storm Isaias in August, leaving more than 535,000 customers unable to communicate with the utility, and waiting for power restoration for up to eight days. PSEG has spent more than $9.5 million to fix the systems. LIPA is considering terminating its PSEG contract and either hiring an outside entity to replace it or taking on the work itself as a fully municipal entity. On Wednesday, it issued a request for information to determine the level of interest from prospective outside companies who could take over the contract, or parts of it. 
In the report issued to LIPA’s board, LIPA’s task force on Tropical Storm Isaias said recent tests of the computer and communication systems showed improvement but they were not to its satisfaction. PSEG is spending $3 million a month to get the systems ready, LIPA reported, but shortfalls remain. 
Risks not mitigated, LIPA says 
"LIPA is concerned that there remains considerable risk to customers that has not been mitigated," the report says. A new version of the computer system that failed in August won’t be introduced until after the upcoming storm season, the report says. The older version of the system that PSEG has resorted to is "no longer vendor supported and has more limited capabilities" than the newer version, LIPA said. 
Separately Wednesday, LIPA announced its board chairman Ralph Suozzi, an appointee of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, is stepping down after eight years. Vice chairman Mark Fischl will take on the chairman's role on an acting basis. 
During the meeting, Fischl told PSEG Long Island chief operating officer Dan Eichhorn, "I'm a little distressed to hear the [outage management system] still isn't meeting LIPA's expectations. We're almost nine months removed from Isaias and storm season is coming again like a proverbial freight train. Do you guys have a workaround? Because I don't want to sit here and do this again." Storm season starts in a few weeks. 
PSEG: System 'greatly improved' 
Eichhorn said the system is "greatly improved from what we've seen before" during Isaias, adding, "If we went into a storm with the system we have now we'd be able to operate, customers would be able to get through to us." 
"There’s been tremendous improvement," Eichhorn said. "There’s things we have identified that we want to make better. And we think we have the solutions for them." He added, "If we have another Isaias, our system is ready for it." 
LIPA chief executive Tom Falcone noted, "Of course we're in a better spot, we've spent a tremendous amount of time and money, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable." He added, "A system can be better than it was last year but still not be acceptable." 
PSEG spokeswoman Ashley Chauvin said the newer version of the outage computer system "will not go into production until it has been thoroughly tested and when the timing is appropriate." 
LIPA seeks 'daytime stress test' 
Tests of the existing computer and communication systems in April found certain systems didn’t meet LIPA's standards for success, although PSEG’s standard of "no more than 4% failure rate" was apparently met, LIPA said. . PSEG also conducted the tests off hours, LIPA noted, and it has requested a "daytime stress test" to simulate "real-life scenarios," including calls during regular business hours. 
Tests showed a "noticeable slowness" in the outage management incident manager, and outage map updates, while other systems such as mobile channels "did not meet success criteria," LIPA said. The interactive voice response error rate "also exceeded the threshold during the first hour of the test." 
"Based on the test scenarios it would take an excess of 12 hours for an outage reported via one of the channels to be entered into the outage management system," LIPA’s task force found. "This is clearly not an acceptable user experience." 
LIPA said it found PSEG’s presentation of test results on the whole "does not include the various failures which LIPA representatives observed and recorded during the test." Chauvin said the current outage management system "as well as our digital channels [including telephone systems] have undergone upgrades, performance tuning and numerous tests, and are ready for storm season." 
LIPA in the report isn’t just taking issue with PSEG’s computer systems. It said PSEG’s technical team "continues to lack key skill sets," while project management by PSEG "continues to be weak." 
"PSEG Long Island has been reluctant to accept the technical recommendations of LIPA’s [task force] and consultants," the report says.

Business

bzLIPA210520

LIPA customers face 'considerable risk' as storm season nears, LIPA says

LIPA: Customers face 'considerable risk' as storm season approaches

bzLIPA210520_photos

Most big police forces widely use body cams. But not Nassau and Suffolk.

4 men were arrested because of what LI police said. Here’s what videos showed.

With New York American Water rates set to jump 26% next month, the state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would create a new public water authority in Nassau and stave off a rate increase while one lawmaker requests an investigation into higher-tier conservation rates that he says don’t work. 
After previous attempts to push through rate relief and municipalization of the water company's Nassau territory stalled in the Assembly, state senators from Long Island passed a bill that combines measures proposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that sought to exempt New York American Water from the special tax that weighs heavily in ratepayer bills. The measure as enacted would spread the payment to ratepayers of other utilities, notably National Grid, across Long Island. 
The bill also would create a new Nassau County Water Authority to serve as the vehicle for a public takeover of New York American Water. Language from a bill Cuomo and the Department of Public Service had sought to approve as part of the state budget was inserted into an existing bill by Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport), who said lawmakers were now in talks to strike a compromise in the Assembly, where the bill had stalled. 
Passage in the senate is "a very good sign and we are in talks with the Assembly and the governor's office to make this a reality," Gaughran said. 
Co-sponsor Sen. Todd Kaminsky added, "We are in intense negotiations in advance of May 1 to find a pathway for relief" for American Water's 124,000 Nassau customers. "We're all about making sure we do something before May 1." 
Meanwhile, Sen. John Brooks (D-Seaford), said passage of the bill would accompany a separate request to the Public Service Commission to forestall the May 1 rate increase "indefinitely," and to investigate the conservation pricing program that hits users with higher costs when they reach a higher usage threshold. The program is primarily aimed at reducing water usage, particularly in the high-use summer, when watering lawns and gardens, and filling pools, is widespread. 
"Customers are unfairly charged extra money under the guise of ‘conservation,' with New York American Water demanding exponentially high profit margins for each narrow tier of water usage," he wrote. 
Worse, the vast majority of customers didn’t realize they had reached the higher-tier water usage threshold until their bill came. 
Lee Mueller, a spokeswoman for New York American Water, in an email called conservation pricing "an effective tool in driving behavior change by customers" that focused on "long-term changes in customer behavior to support sustainability of water supplies." 
In 2018, ratepayers howled in protest when the company's rates soared, and the Public Service Commission, which greenlighted conservation rates, found the company hadn’t given customers enough advance warning about the change. It has since vastly increased awareness and instituted programs to help customers reduce usage. 
Mueller said the company saw a 4% reduction in peak-season water demand, measured by production in 2020 over 2017. 
Mueller said conservation rates were "not intended" to increase water company revenue, but to reduce customer consumption. About 2,300 customers now have smart water meters that lets them gauge usage, she said. 
PSC spokesman James Denn said New York American Water provided the regulator with data "showing that high-use water customers have in fact reduced consumption as a result of higher water conservation rates and the company’s outreach and education efforts promoting conservation." 
He and the company concurred that a mechanism called revenue decoupling prevents the NYAW from increasing its profits when less water is used, while revenue amounts above those approved in its rate-case plan must be returned to customers. 
Denn signaled the May 1 rate increase likely would not be delayed "without resolving the property tax problem." 
 The increase "can’t be delayed past May 1 without resolving the property tax problem," he said, referring to the franchise tax exemption the Cuomo administration had worked but failed to enact as part of the budget. "Although the legislature didn’t adopt our plan in the budget, we stand ready to work with all stakeholders to reach a resolution prior to May that protects Nassau residents and ratepayers," Denn said. 
Last month, the Suffolk County Water Authority announced a rate- and service-charge increase that would hike average bills around 3.77%. The Suffolk authority, which has proposed managing all or part of NYAW's Nassau territory, said it would raise the threshold for incurring its conservation rate for residential customers to 89,760 gallons, from a current 78,540, after high bill complaints increased last summer. Typical residential customers who reach the new threshold will pay slightly more for that water: $3.057 per thousand gallons, from a current $2.925 per thousand gallons. Suffolk's new rates take effect June 1.

toNYAW210420

With New York American Water rate hike near, lawmakers try new paths to relief

With NYAW rate hike near, lawmakers try new path to relief

toNYAW210420_photos

Candice Ferrette

The $200,000-a-year club for Nassau and Suffolk County workers is growing. 
The number of county government employees on Long Island who earned more than $200,000 spiked last year, rising 13% in Nassau and 26% in Suffolk, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Law from the Nassau and Suffolk County comptrollers and analyzed by Newsday. 
Police made up nearly 90% of Nassau workers who made more than $200,000 last year, and 86% of such workers in Suffolk. 
<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50225599" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50225599">Story Widget Link</a>
 
The group of employees making more than $400,000 also is growing. In 2020, they numbered 85 in Nassau, compared with 47 in 2019; in Suffolk, they numbered 42, compared with 30 in 2019. 
Tim Hoefer, president and CEO of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit think tank in Albany that promotes free-market principles, noted the rising spending on pay for county workers comes as many residents continue to deal with job losses and other pandemic fallout. 
"It still makes my eyebrows go up when we're talking about averages of $100,000" for county workers, Hoefer said. "So when we start talking about lots of people bringing home $200,000, it's incredible to me."<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50225489" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50225489">Story Widget Link</a>
 
The median household income in Nassau County is $116,000 and about $101,000 in Suffolk, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 
Termination packages, including compensation for unused sick, holiday and vacation time helped drive the increase in $200,000-plus earners — with 260 police officers who retired in 2020 each receiving termination pay ranging from $100,000 to $500,000, the county records show. 
<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50225490" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50225490">Story Widget Link</a>
 
Of the 100 top-paid employees in Suffolk County last year, all were in law enforcement, and 79 — all county police officers except for one correction supervisor in the sheriff's office — received total termination pay of $24.5 million. That accounted for 73% of their total pay of $33 million, according to county comptroller data. 
In Nassau, all the top 100 earners were county police officers, and all had termination pay that totaled $33.4 million — or 69% of their total pay of $47.9 million.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50225491" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50225491">Story Widget Link</a>
 
Search the <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/databases/long-island/nassau-county-payroll-2020/">Nassau 2020 payroll</a> and the <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/databases/long-island/suffolk-county-payroll-2020/">Suffolk 2020 payroll</a> to see more details about the top earners. 
The accrued pay is guaranteed under union contracts. 
Frederick Brewington, a Garden City-based civil rights attorney who helped lead police reform efforts this year in both Nassau and Suffolk, said police salaries "need to be examined very closely." 
Brewington continued: "There is a need for accountability when we see these exorbitant salaries — when we see numbers well above $200,000 — it is something all taxpayers need to examine." 
County administrations and unions defend employee pay levels. 
"Since the very beginning of the pandemic, our dedicated front line workers, which encompass a large majority of the employees listed, have worked tirelessly, around the clock, protecting residents and navigating uncharted territories," Nassau County spokesperson Christine Geed said.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50225492" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50225492">Story Widget Link</a>
 
"They’ve gone far above to ensure the protection and safety of our residents," Geed said. 
Officials in Nassau County Executive Laura Curran's administration also note the union contracts were negotiated under previous county administrations. 
"We live in an extremely high cost of living area," Suffolk PBA President Noel DiGerolamo said. "My membership is tasked with doing extremely dangerous work. Their shift work, their exposure, the sacrifice of their family life. That all takes a toll and needs to be taken into account." 
The payroll data details compensation in 2020 for 12,359 county workers in Suffolk and 14,750 in Nassau. 
The pay data is derived from Internal Revenue Service W-2 forms filed by county employees for 2020. 
The 2020 W-2 forms for Nassau employees reported eight days of pay from 2019 due to the payroll calendar, making 2020 compensation slightly higher than usual. All pay in Suffolk was earned in calendar year 2020. 
In Suffolk, there were 1,496 county workers whose pay totaled more than $200,000 last year, compared with 1,189 in 2019. 
In Nassau, 735 county workers earned that much in 2020, compared with 646 in 2019. 
The rise in the number of county workers making more than $200,000 last year is part of a yearslong trend. 
The size of the group has doubled in Suffolk since 2016, when 745 county workers made more than $200,000.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50225493" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50225493">Story Widget Link</a>
 
In Nassau, the number of $200,000-plus earners has grown by 8% since 2016, when 680 workers made that much, according to county payroll records. 
It was unclear why the $200,000-plus cohort grew at a faster rate in Suffolk than in Nassau.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50225494" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50225494">Story Widget Link</a>
 
But Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone blamed the county's high payroll costs on the need to reach contract agreements with police unions. 
If no agreement is reached, the contract must go to binding arbitration, which can result in more generous terms for workers than municipalities want. 
In Suffolk, the number of employees making $200,000 and up rose from 328 in 2015 to 745 in 2016, or 127%, comptroller records show. In 2016, police unions received a raise of 5.63% under contracts that had provided minimal raises between 2012 and 2014, but granted larger increases from 2015 to 2018. 
"While our most recent public sector union contracts have had the lowest percentage salary increases in decades, we are still constrained by the State mandatory arbitration process," Bellone said in a statement. 
The increase in the number of highly paid workers last year came as Bellone and Curran, both Democrats, struggled with large budget deficits stemming from a drop in sales tax revenues during the coronavirus pandemic. 
In October, Bellone proposed $75 million in staffing and service cuts in the 2021 budget. 
Curran last year ordered across-the-board spending cuts and in January refinanced up to $1.4 billion in county debt to save $435 million over two years. 
Federal pandemic aid helped plug the county budget holes. 
Bellone rescinded his proposed cuts after President Joe Biden signed his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which will provide Suffolk County government with $283 million, according to estimates by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). 
The money Nassau will get about from the American Rescue Plan — some $398 million — will be placed in a separate fund for pandemic-related expenses, including personnel costs. 
Release of the new county payroll data also comes as Nassau and Suffolk are examining policing practices and police department spending allocations as they implement police reform plans that have been accepted by New York State. 
Last June, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered municipal police departments statewide to examine policies on use of force, crowd management, anti-bias training and citizen complaints or risk the loss of state funds. 
According to the Nassau and Suffolk payroll data, the highest-paid county worker on Long Island last year was former Nassau Chief of Detectives Neil J. Delargy, who retired in August after 33 years in the county police department. 
His total pay of $740,182 in 2020 included more than $507,000 in termination pay and more than $41,000 in overtime and holiday pay, on top of his regular pay of more than $168,000. 
Delargy declined to comment, according to Nassau police spokesman Lt. Richard LeBrun. 
Suffolk's highest earner in 2020 was former Assistant Police Chief Robert Oswald, who was paid more than $680,000, county data shows. 
Oswald, who retired last July after 40 years on the county police force, received total compensation that included more than $500,000 in termination pay and approximately $30,000 in longevity and overtime pay. 
Oswald could not be reached for comment. A representative for his union, the Superior Officers Association, did not respond to a request for comment. 
Law enforcement union leaders point to overtime as the driving factor in members' total compensation. Individual officers are working more hours as members have retired, the union heads say. 
DiGerolamo said his active-duty members can earn $200,000 or more annually only if they work significant overtime. 
The starting salary for entry-level officers is $42,000, and it takes 12 years to reach the top salary step, he said. 
Base pay for top-step officers in Suffolk was $142,922 in 2020, according to a projection by the Suffolk County Legislature's Budget Review Office that Newsday obtained. 
In defending police salaries, Nassau PBA president James McDermott noted the "immeasurable sacrifice" of police officers who ensure "the priceless safety of our families and neighborhoods." 
McDermott said, "over the past year, our county has faced unprecedented threats to public health and safety, requiring many police officers to complete extraordinary overtime, consistent with the needs of the department." 
But Brewington said, "audits of police overtime are well overdue in both counties." 
In Suffolk, some 1,450 county workers whose pay totaled more than $200,000 last year made overtime totaling $50.5 million in 2020, data shows. Overtime pay ranged from $16 to $199,709. 
In Nassau, 712 of the county's $200,000-plus earners received overtime pay totaling $28.9 million in 2020. The highest overtime payout was $150,450 and the lowest was $6.99. 
Jerry Laricchiuta, Long Island regional president of the Civil Service Employees Association, which represents 8,000 Nassau County employees, including clerks and hospital workers, said he had no issue with police department salaries. 
"Police make more money for a reason. I think their salaries are justified," Laricchiuta said. 
But police overtime has been "a quagmire" in Nassau and Suffolk for decades, Laricchiuta said. 
"It's the age old question: Is it less expensive to hire more officers or to continue to pay the overtime? I don't know the answer," he said. 
With Matt Clark

Politics

poPAY210418

Number of county workers who make $200,000-plus spiked in 2020

Number of county workers who make $200,000-plus spiked in 2020

poPAY210418_photos

The tax-exempt status of more than 300 technology startups across the state and their nearly 2,500 employees is imperiled by the pandemic, with some facing large tax bills next month unless a law change is passed, officials said. 
The startups complied with last year’s order from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that all nonessential employers have their employees work from home to slow the coronavirus’ spread. But in doing so, the startups jeopardized their participation in Start-Up NY, the state economic development program that promises "no taxes for 10 years." 
To qualify for the tax break, a startup’s employees must work in its physical location for "at least one-half of the taxable year," according to a notice from Empire State Development, which oversees Start-Up NY. Program participants are located at colleges, including Stony Brook University, Farmingdale State College and Long Island University. 
ESD has told employees of Start-Up NY companies that they must pay state income tax — for the first time since the program started in 2014 — as a result of not working 180 days at the office or laboratory on campus last year. 
"This is devastating for them," said Marc Alessi, CEO and co-founder of SynchroPET Inc., a Start-Up NY participant based at Stony Brook. "They were following [Cuomo’s COVID order] and now they’re going to be hit with an income tax bill of $4,000 or $5,000 that they weren’t planning for." 
On Long Island, about 40 employees of 15 Start-Up NY participants could potentially be taxed on their 2020 wages, state records show. 
"The benefit of being an employee of a Start-Up NY company is you don’t have to pay state income tax," Alessi said. "That’s how we’re able to attract young workers when the salaries are lower" because startups don’t have the revenue of older businesses, he said. 
Alessi’s company has come up with a scanning device based on technology from Brookhaven National Lab that can be used to monitor the reaction of mice and rats to drugs under development. The firm has four employees but only one is covered by Start-Up NY, he said. 
Alessi and other executives are calling on Cuomo and the State Legislature to add a COVID exception to the Start-Up NY law, so employees of program participants aren’t taxed on their 2020 wages. They want the exception included in the new state budget, which is due by April 1. 
A remedy for 2020 and this year is included in bills unveiled last weekend by the Democratic majorities in the Senate and Assembly. The legislation, to be voted on this week, sets out each house's priorities for budget talks with Cuomo and each other. 
"If this doesn’t get rectified, startups can be suspended or kicked out of Start-Up NY entirely," said Alessi, who also leads the Business Incubator Association of New York State and served in the state Assembly in 2005-10. 
The Cuomo administration acknowledged the problem. 
"We’re aware of the unique circumstance caused by the pandemic and we are proposing a fix that we hope the legislature will adopt" in the 2021-22 state budget, said ESD spokeswoman Kristin Devoe. 
In addition, state Sen. Brian A. Benjamin (D-Harlem) introduced a bill last year to treat COVID-related remote work the same as office work for tax purposes. The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Anna M. Kaplan (D-Great Neck). A companion bill in the Assembly has yet to be filed. 
"No one should be punished for complying with public health regulations during the pandemic," said Kaplan, who leads the Senate's small business committee. "But unfortunately, due to inflexibility in the way our current laws are written, workers ... are facing big financial penalties just because they worked from home," she said on Sunday.

bzSTARTUP210316

NYS: Employees of Start-Up NY firms face loss of tax break due to working from home

Start-Up NY workers face unexpected tax bills due to COVID

bzSTARTUP210317_photos

In the fall of 2019, James Muller of North Babylon decided to make the switch from his old oil-heating system to green energy, paying over $27,000 for a heat-pump system and insulation work that he was told would lead to savings. 
More than a year later and now facing more than $3,700 in back electric charges, he says he’s still waiting — and switching back to oil. 
As all-electric heat pumps see a relatively sharp increase in sales amid promotions and rebates, cases like Muller’s may serve as a cautionary tale for those who expected quick savings or weren’t prepared for a spike in their electric bills. While PSEG says it has received few complaints about heat pumps, it is nevertheless considering changes in its program to help customers realize savings quicker. 
Heat pumps use ambient air to heat and cool homes, drawing hot air out in summer and cool air out in winter. They operate as central air-conditioning systems in summer, and the reverse in winter, all without using traditional fuels like oil or natural gas (aside from fuels used to make the electricity). 
Energy experts say one of the problems for local heat pump users is that PSEG Long Island relies on customers themselves to self-report changes in their electric service so they can benefit from a lower winter-heating rate tied to heat pumps — a rate they may not know exists. PSEG, in responses to Newsday inquiries, says it’s now considering making the rate change automatic for customers who apply for PSEG heat-pump rebates. 
Muller's case also points to the calculations that customers must consider when switching to heat pumps. PSEG says efficiencies in heat pumps make energy around 49% cheaper than oil systems, but it could take time to recoup costs. Equipment and installation costs alone for Muller's system were more than $20,000, including a hot-water heat-pump system. 
"Consumers should be asking questions," said Billii Roberti, an energy expert at Green Choices Consulting in Huntington Station, adding consumers need to understand "It's a paradigm shift in how you're heating and the process of how you're heating. You can't compare your electric before the heat pump to the electric bill after." She said heat-pump systems generally pay for themselves in eight to 10 years. Heat-pump systems, some experts have said, typically cost from $7,000 to $13,000. 
In the months after his system was installed in November 2019, Muller said the payoff seemed immediate. 
"We were astonished," said Muller, who lives with his husband and their infant son in a 200-year old house. Hefty heating-oil bills previously came several times a year for a drafty home with a 550-gallon oil tank. "We were saying, this is fantastic. We went from paying $1,000-plus heating [oil] bills [several times a year] to $170 [monthly] electric bills." 
But that was before PSEG Long Island reconciled his balanced billing. 
After a year of what appeared to be big savings, Muller's PSEG bills last fall began to amass with oversize back charges. First he received a bill for $2,803.57 in November and a warning that "your service is scheduled to be turned off if payment is not received by Nov. 30, 2020." (The bill also said because of COVID-19, shut-offs "will not occur.") Then, after an investigation and a change to the lower rate charged for electric heating customers — that he thought should have been instituted from the start — Muller said he received a bill last month for an accumulated $3,703.62. 
<figure class="image2 image" data-attr-f="default" data-attr-img-credits="" data-attr-img-height="" data-attr-img-width="" data-attr-show-caption="true" data-href="#/content/contentid/image.1.50180229" data-onecms-id="contentid/image.1.50180229" data-onecms-type="image">
 <img alt="" src="/image-service/alias/contentid/image.1.50180229/1.50180229.jpg?f=default"> 
 <figcaption></figcaption> 
</figure>
 
PSEG said the main problem with Muller’s experience with his heat pump was he failed to notify the utility of his switch for a year after it was installed. It meant he both didn’t get the lower rate, and the utility didn’t adjust his balanced billing to account for his significantly higher electric usage. As a result, it all came due when his billing year ended in October. The system was installed by a third-party contractor working with the Town of Babylon's Long Island Green Homes program. 
PSEG spokeswoman Ashley Chauvin said PSEG is currently "working on putting a procedure in place that automatically places customers" on a lower rate once that customer has applied for heat-pump rebates from PSEG. Muller received over $1,800 in rebates. 
PSEG also updated Muller's account to recalculate his past charges under the new lower rate for electric heat, which provides discounts from October through May, she said. 
While heat pumps still make up a relatively low portion of Long Island's heating sector, they are perhaps the fastest growing on Long Island as a result of utility promotions and rebates. The total number of heat pumps installed in 2020 leapt to 3,783 from 2,528 in 2019. In just the first two months of 2021, more than 741 have been installed. (Ground-source, or geothermal, systems, which are included in those numbers, saw a drop to 132 in 2020 from 142 in 2019.) Chauvin said PSEG is aware of only one other customer complaint about the systems related to heat-pump installations or high bills. 
Muller said he was surprised the balanced billing would not automatically increase to avoid his being hit with a large bill at the end of the annual billing cycle. 
Chauvin said PSEG conducts year-end reconciliations for each customer on balanced billing, and that the company in April 2020 altered its policy so that all customers "go through a review at the six-month mark." Balanced billing programs smooth out bills by charging customers the anticipated average of electric bills over 12 months, so they are relatively uniform. Customers can see on their bills if the actual amount is higher or lower than the averaged amount they're paying. 
Whatever the reason for his current $3,700 electric bill, Muller is wary of claims about heat pumps. 
The promise of cheaper energy "turned out to be not true," he said. "That’s why I was so angry." 
Since he first started complaining about the higher bills last October, Muller said the system would not allow him to pay his balance online. "I’d go to pay it and it wouldn’t let me," he said. "I was never able to pay my regular amount each month." And as the cold winter set in, the new bills kept growing. 
PSEG provided information showing that heat-pump energy is more economical. 
PSEG’s calculations show heat pumps have operating costs of $16.04 per million British thermal units, compared with $23.98 for fuel oil, when oil is selling for $3 a gallon (it was lower this winter). 
"Energy efficient electric heat pumps are a lower-cost method to heat a home on Long Island compared to fuel oil," PSEG said. "In addition, they can provide year-round comfort with the added benefit of central air conditioning in summer months." 
But for Muller, the high bills that remain outstanding have led him to stop using the heat pump and instead restart his oil heater. He has paid off the town's portion of the loan for the heat-pump system through a program run by Babylon Town’s Green Homes initiative. 
"That was a big thing," Muller said. "I really wanted to make it more green. That was important. And we couldn’t have natural gas installed because of the [National Grid] moratorium" at the time. It has since been lifted. 
Not to say that the heat-pump system doesn’t work. "It works in the winter but the oil heater is much better," Muller said. "The house is warmer with oil." 
Muller says he still plans to use the heat-pump system for summer air conditioning. 
His advice for other heat-pump customers is to do your homework before signing up. "I think they have to know they are going to get hit with a massive electric bill," he said. "And it’s PSEG. They’re not the easiest company to work with. … People really have to think about it." 
Doug Jacob, program director for the Town of Babylon's pioneering Long Island Green Homes program, said of the thousands of homes outfitted through the program there are "seldom" complaints. He said he has spoken with the contractor, GreenHomesLI, of Holbrook, and found PSEG's requirement that customers themselves switch rates and balanced billing has been an issue. 
"Contractors have complained they can't change" the rate for customers, and PSEG doesn't do it automatically. Customers, he said, "have to prove to them their home is mostly heated by electric heat. The onus is on the homeowner. And they've had some homeowners turned down for the new rate." 
He said Babylon has taken the position that "if there's anything we can be doing to impress upon PSEG to make this easier for homeowners, we'll do it."

bzHEAT210311

bzHEAT210311_photos

Heat-pump promise falls short for North Babylon ratepayer

Heat-pump promise falls short for North Babylon ratepayer

James Muller of North Babylon switched to a heat-pump system believing it would lead to savings. But more than a year later and with more than $3,700 in back electric charges, he says he is switching back to oil. His advice for potential heat-pump customers: do your homework before signing up. 


Heat pump promise falls short for North Babylon ratepayer

Babylon Town

Brookhaven Town

Holbrook

North Babylon

Babylon

Heat pump promise falls short for N. Babylon ratepayer

Sparked by a Newsday investigation, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday said the state will launch an initiative to deploy undercover homebuyers to test whether real estate agents are "steering" customers to or away from certain neighborhoods based on race. 
The action is triggered by <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/">"Long Island Divided,"</a> a Newsday investigation that found evidence of widespread unequal treatment of minority homebuyers. The newspaper used undercover "testers" carrying hidden microphones and cameras to record interactions with more than 80 real estate agents. 
The governor said the administration will pursue a similar approach. The state will earmark $250,000 and team with nonprofit housing agencies to dispatch trained fair housing testers to act as potential renters or home seekers to uncover unlawful discriminatory treatment by sellers, brokers and landlords. 
The testing will occur on Long Island, as well as New York City and Westchester County, and the Buffalo and Syracuse areas, officials said. 
Cuomo also announced new regulations that will become effective March 17, requiring real estate appraisers to take more training on fair housing and fair lending practices. 
"New York's prohibition of discrimination in home rental and sale transactions isn't just a suggestion — it's the law — and any unscrupulous agents who break that law must be held accountable," Cuomo said in a statement. "These new actions build on our ongoing efforts to stop illegal housing practices by finding those bad actors who are subjecting potential renters and buyers to discrimination and putting them on notice, while also making sure real estate appraisers receive the proper training to make fair and unbiased decisions." 
The governor’s administrative initiative is just one track New York lawmakers are pursuing on the issue. 
Earlier this month, the State <a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/state-senate-li-divided-housing-1.50147041">Senate approved a bill</a> that would empower the attorney general’s office to deploy undercover testers regularly to determine if fair housing laws are being followed. It also approved a companion measure that would hike biannual license fees for agents and brokers to pay for the testing. 
Both bills now await action in the state Assembly. If approved, legislators said enshrining the testing program in state statutes would be permanent and more effective than a governor’s directive. 
The flurry of legislative activity was spurred by Newsday’s investigation, published in 2019. Over three years, the newspaper used testers in areas running from the New York City line to the Hamptons and from Long Island Sound to the South Shore. 
The findings included evidence that some agents directed minority potential homebuyers toward neighborhoods based on race and that agents sometimes required preapproved mortgages from Black or Hispanic customers but not white ones. 
In 40% of the tests, evidence suggested brokers subjected minorities to disparate treatment compared with whites. Black testers experienced disparate treatment 49% of the time, Hispanics 39% and Asians 19%. 
Testing carried out by the Cuomo administration won't begin immediately because it needs to first reach contracts with nonprofit agencies to conduct it. 
"Once contracts are finalized, the nonprofit housing agencies will dispatch trained fair housing 'testers' to act as potential renters or home seekers to uncover unlawful discriminatory treatment by sellers, brokers and landlords," Brian Butry, spokesman for Cuomo's Division of Housing and Community Renewal, said in an email. 
The housing agency will use its own existing funds for the program, Butry added, meaning it won't depend on new funding approved by the State Legislature. 
One of the nonprofits that will help carry out the testing applauded Cuomo’s plan. 
"This is great news, and much needed," said Ian S. Wilder, executive director of Long Island Housing Services. "We are grateful for the additional opportunities this programs represents." 
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran also applauded the initiative and the Newsday series. 
"Nassau County has stepped up our fight against housing discrimination in the past year by beefing up enforcement tools, increasing public engagement, and working with Long Island Board of Realtors directly to educate real estate agents," Curran said in a statement. "Governor Cuomo’s announcement represents a big step forward in Long Island’s fight against discriminatory housing practices, and credit is due to Newsday for pushing government to act with the Long Island Divided Investigation. Good journalism matters."

Region/State

stDIVIDED210226

Cuomo: State to deploy testers to probe for housing discrimination

Cuomo: State to deploy testers on housing discrimination

stHOUSING210209_photos

Decades of inaction before Calverton wells contaminated, documents show

INCALVERTON201229_photos

David M. Schwartz

Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have agreed to a $406 million plan that for the first time would comprehensively stop and remove the Grumman groundwater pollution plaguing Bethpage and surrounding communities, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Monday. 
After more than 40 years denying or downplaying what has become Long Island’s most intractable environmental crisis, the defense contractor, formerly Grumman Aerospace, and the Navy, which owned a portion of the company’s old facility, reached a deal in principle with the state that would install a series of new contaminant extraction wells inside and along the edges of the 4.3-mile-long, 2.1-mile-wide toxic plume. 
Northrop Grumman, which long had fought requests to compensate municipalities and water providers, also will pay $104 million in environmental damages, some of which will go toward public drinking water treatment systems. It is the largest environmental settlement in state history, Cuomo said. 
"It was a long fight, but it will protect the drinking water for people on Long Island," Cuomo said in his daily news briefing Monday. 
Work on the series of hydraulic containment wells along the Southern State Parkway — something the state itself once resisted — could begin as soon as January, officials said. 
Containing two dozen contaminants, most notably the carcinogenic metal degreaser trichloroethylene, or TCE, the Grumman plume is as much as 900 feet deep in parts of the aquifer. It has forced installation of expensive treatment systems on public drinking water wells and <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/bethpage-grumman-community/">widespread community concern</a> about potential health effects. Officials have tried to reassure the public that the water is safe to drink because it has met state and federal drinking water standards. 
Grumman employed more than 20,000 people at its former 600-acre site in Bethpage, where it built World War II fighters and the space module that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. The contamination comes from solvents used to clean and degrease parts, additives used to make those solvents last longer and metals used in plating. The Navy owned a portion of the land where Grumman operated. 
Newsday published an investigation earlier this year, <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/plume-grumman-navy/">The Grumman Plume: Decades of Deceit</a>, detailing the history of false and misleading statements, missteps and minimization that aided the pollution’s steady spread. The stories prompted state, federal and local officials to <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/investigations/grumman-plume-cleanup-1.42162735">pledge renewed focus</a> on securing the comprehensive measures that were historically brushed off. 
As recently as last year, when the state first proposed an aggressive cleanup, Northrop Grumman and the Navy had called the full scope of work infeasible and unnecessary. 
But the newly announced agreement has few significant differences from that plan, officials said. The Navy will handle the western side of the plume and Northrop Grumman the eastern. Most notably, the plan includes the new barrier of wells along the borders of the plume to prevent its foot-per-day migration south toward the Great South Bay. 
"This historic achievement will result in the cleanup of the largest groundwater plume to ever threaten New York State’s environment and public health," Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement. "The understanding reached with the polluters launch actions that will constitute one of the largest and most complex groundwater remediation projects in our nation’s history." 
Northrop Grumman spokesman Tim Paynter said in a statement that the company was "pleased to have reached an agreement" with the state on "additional environmental remediation measures and other steps the company will take to help implement" the state plan and resolve its damages claims. 
"These additional measures are intended to enhance steps already taken to protect public health and provide further support to the water districts," Paynter said. "As we have done for over 25 years, Northrop Grumman will continue to work closely with the state, the U.S. Navy and other stakeholders to implement the additional measures based on scientifically sound remedial strategies. The agreement reaffirms Northrop Grumman’s long-standing commitment to the ongoing collective efforts for the further protection of the Bethpage community." 
A Navy spokeswoman said the Navy was committed to additional commitments, largely matching those requested by the state, that it announced last month in a meeting with community residents. 
The state in 2019 had selected a plan estimated to cost $585 million, including construction and operations and maintenance over 30 years. At the time, state officials vowed the state would do the work and seek to recover the costs in court from the Navy and Northrop Grumman if they did not agree to the plan. 
The new plan is tabbed at $406 million over 30 years, which will be almost fully paid for by the Navy and Northrop Grumman. The state will look for other potential polluters for a western portion of the groundwater pollution plume, and said it would fund that cleanup if necessary. Officials attributed the reduced estimate to Northrop Grumman and the Navy using some of their own land for treatment systems, instead of a centralized treatment plant, and because a handful of remediation wells in the initial plan won’t be put online unless testing shows they’re necessary. 
But they said the plan remains protective of Bethpage and surrounding communities. 
"We’re committed to the same end result — ensuring the full containment of the plume and protecting Long Island’s sole source aquifer." Seggos said in a statement. 
Michael Boufis, superintendent of Bethpage Water District, which for decades battled Northrop Grumman, the Navy and even the state, agreed. "I still think the plan is protective of public health," he said. 
Boufis called the agreements "probably the best news we’ve heard in a very long time, and something that’s long overdue. We’ve been trying to hold them accountable for the plume and the pollution for decades." He added the water district would continue its own negotiations with Northrop Grumman and the Navy to recover their full costs to treat water and eventually move their wells outside the plume. 
Northrop Grumman’s record $104 million in payments for environmental damages will be made under a legal mechanism known as a Natural Resources Damage assessment. The money includes $41 million for remedial work included in the $406 million cost estimate; $28.5 million for Bethpage and South Farmingdale Water District well protection and water supply projects; and establishing a $35 million fund the state will use for water projects associated with the plume. 
While Northrop Grumman said it has spent more than $200 million in Bethpage since the 1990s, including on a long-running system of wells to capture additional contaminants from leaving the boundaries of its original property, on numerous instances it successfully avoided paying for measures that taxpayers ended up incurring. 
In the mid-2000s, the Town of Oyster Bay sued Northrop Grumman to recover $22 million it spent to excavate contaminated soil at Bethpage Community Park, a former Grumman waste dump. But a judge found that the town had conducted the cleanup in excess of state standards, and the defense contractor paid nothing for that portion of the cleanup. 
A few years later, Bethpage Water District sued Northrop Grumman over newly identified groundwater contamination stemming from the park, which had forced it to construct about $10 million in treatment upgrades. Northrop Grumman engaged in lengthy negotiations with the district, and when officials finally filed suit, the company got the case dismissed by arguing that the statute of limitations to bring a claim had passed. 
Cuomo’s announcement is the culmination of a nearly seven-year evolution of the state’s position on the plume. Environmental regulators had once used the polluters’ own plume projections, agreeing with their assertions that full plume containment and cleanup was not feasible. This left Bethpage Water District and other local providers to pay for the treatments to remove contaminants from the drinking water supply. 
But in late 2014, the governor signed a bill from then-Assemb. Joseph Saladino (R-Massapequa) that called for environmental conservation officials to study the feasibility of a full hydraulic plume containment. Cuomo appointed Seggos environmental conservation commissioner in 2015, and the state launched its own scientific modeling of plume growth. The state’s $585 million plan was adopted one year ago this week. 
In statements responding to the proposal, Northrop Grumman and the Navy initially cast doubt on the science, the cost and the community’s acceptance of the work that it would entail. 
By late last month, however, the Navy was <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/plume-wells-groundwater-1.50071238">revealing its new commitment</a> to capture the plume from spreading further. 
"We have recognized that we can do more," the agency’s project manager, Brain Murray, told a citizen advisory board.

Environment

liPLUME201222

Northrop Grumman, U.S. Navy agree to $406M cleanup of Grumman plume

Northrop Grumman, Navy agree to $406M cleanup of plume

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday said Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have agreed on a financial plan to remove the groundwater pollution in Bethpage and surrounding communities.


Northrop Grumman, U.S. Navy agree to $406M cleanup of plume

Oyster Bay Cove

New York

East Farmingdale

Bethpage

Oyster Bay Town

Old Bethpage

South Farmingdale

Farmingdale

Oyster Bay

Hicksville

liPLUME201222_video

Watchdog

Most Popular

NEWSDAY TV SHORTS

Vertical videos

Newsday sports reporter Ben Dickson tasted some of the new menu items at UBS Arena for the 2026-2027 Islanders season.

Taste-testing UBS Arena's new food options

Ken Buffa sees what it takes to make signs glow at Going Sign & Servicing in Plainview in this week's LI Works.

LI Works: Ken is all aglow at neon sign maker

NewsdayTV's Marie Elena Martinez got a sneak peek at the new Babylon Whiskey Down Dine, which plans to open in the fall.

Take a peek inside Whiskey Down Diner's new location

NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits a unique sanctuary in Calverton where veterans and first responders find healing through equine therapy with rescue horses.

Out East: Warrior Ranch Foundation

NewsdayTV's Andi Berlin visits No Good Burger Joint in Baldwin.

Newsday's Top 50 restaurants: A burger joint joins the list

Floyd twin seniors Anabel and Lydia Van Cott are double trouble for the competition on the tennis courts, NewsdayTV's Tess Fergurson reports.

Double trouble on the tennis court for Floyd

Residents say deer have been spotted in backyards and local streets as a result of the uptick in population. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

Nassau's North Shore fights exploding deer population

A renovated Belmont Park unveils new amenities on Friday, as it reopens after more than three years and $550 million in renovations, NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

Horse racing returns to Belmont Park after renovation

The Long Island Sound water quality is improving, nonprofit Save the Sound says, but there's more to be done. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.

Long Island Sound water quality: See what the latest report card says

Supporters of "through-running" would like to see LIRR trains adding stops beyond Long Island. NewsdayTV's Alfonso Castillo reports.

What is through-running and will it work at Penn Station?

Latest Videos

Latest videos

Long Island is seeing an uptick in trade school enrollment amid growing concern from young adults about job insecurity, financial prospects and the impacts of artificial intelligence on the job market. NewsdayTV's Izzy Mignardi reports.

'You're gonna have consistency'

A Siena research poll found that Long Islanders overwhelmingly want officials to crackdown on illicit spas. Newsday politics reporter Bahar Ostadan has the story.

'Looking for a more comprehensive solution'

By embracing his mother, Joshua Wilck violated a court order for him to stay away from his parents. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

Man charged with attacking parents arrested after hugging mother in court

'Making the grade in many places'

The rankings saw a shake-up this year, as U.S. News focused on how well schools prepare a wide range of students to thrive in their careers and financial lives after graduation. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

'More of a focus on post-graduate outcomes'

Sign up for the NewsdayTV newsletter

Long Island Newsletter Widget

Some drivers say they have been able to successfully register for reimbursement, but not all.

Some notices of Suffolk's red light camera refunds go to the wrong address

Long Island Article Bottom Module

The elder of their two sons filed a petition showing his missing parents had assets of well over $12 million.

Court records show missing Old Brookville couple had amassed millions of dollars

Mangano had sought a 5-year sentence, but the judge said that wasn't enough to deter others from corruption.

Judge sent message about 'brazen' public corruption by giving Mangano 10 years

Some have withdrawn support and all are concerned about the theater's future.

What will happen to Cinema Arts Centre? Members want to know.

Ronald Schroeder faces criminal sex act and manslaughter charges in connection with the death of Seikeya Jones.

Man charged in killing of woman whose body was found in a suitcase rejects plea offer

The verdict is the second $5.5 million judgment against Townhouse Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing this year.

LI nursing home to pay $5.5M in wrongful death lawsuit

The three appointees must stand for election in May 2027, the state education commissioner ruled.

Library board has 60 days to amend charter after violating law, state says

Long Island Video Playlist

The board designed to investigate detainees' concerns hasn't met since early 2021, public records show. Newsday investigative reporter Peter D' Auria explains.

'It didn't really do a whole lot'

Nassau County police said Nolan Gaugler, 34, was conducting a chemical experiment when the mixture "reacted violently." NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.

'Of course it was dangerous'

Hampton Shipyard was bought by a new ownership group two years ago and it is seeking to expand. But nearby residents say the expansion would not fit their neighborhood. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed reports.

'We want smart development. We want it environmentally sensitive'

'There are just too many'

A new report finds more than 36% of Suffolk schools and nearly 34% of Nassau schools had tests above state lead standards.

Report finds many LI schools have lead in water fixtures

'Something for everyone': New grandstand, new grounds

A Human Rights Commission finds Suffolk cops failed to use body cameras properly 179 times in 2025-26. Newsday reporter Michael O'Keeffe explains.

'They all agree body cameras are good'

The victim's identity has not yet been released. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

Homicide probe launched in Nassau

The Willens now find themselves part of a widening national debate about doctor-assisted end-of-life decisions as they consider whether a new state law offers Kim Willen an option she may want to take when her disease runs its course. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie has more.

'Walk a day in our shoes before you make a judgment'

After 19 months, the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, the last major commercial duck farm on Long Island, reopened with new generation of birds.

New generation of birds

The trio gave the ball back to Alonso, who signed a bat and a ball for each of them in return and also signed the jerseys and shirts they were wearing. Newsday's Laura Albanese spoke to them.

'Dropped right in front of me'

Residents on Tuesday urged Huntington officials not to approve a plan to build an $85 million four-story, mixed-use luxury residential community in Melville. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

Vibrant downtown or overbuilding?

Homepage Trending

Nor'easter watch

Fall Fun Book

LI's Top 50 restaurants

Wallet Watch

<a href="https://www.newsday.com/video/newsdaytv-top-stories">Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories</a>

Newsday TV

NewsdayTV Top Item

Eye on the impending storm ... Diesel prices hurting LI farmers ... Student barred from school over vaccine exemption fight ... Smith Haven Mall upgrades

Eye on the impending storm ... Student barred from school over vaccine exemption fight ... Smith Haven Mall upgrades

Eye on the impending storm ... High diesel prices hit LI farmers ... Battery storage plants move forward ... Upgrades at Smith Haven Mall

Eye on the impending storm ... High diesel prices hit LI farmers ... Battery storage plants move forward

App Nativo Ad Unit Slot

Long Island - megaslot

Follow all the latest news on Long Island with Newsday. Read top local stories, watch video, and see pictures from all around Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Most Popular

Latest Videos

Stay logged in.