Reader letters for Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020.

The two-day series on the deceitful behavior by Grumman, the Navy and the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation was a masterful investigation of the true back- story of how this terrible legacy of groundwater contamination happened [“The Grumman Plume, Decades of Deceit,” News, Feb. 19-20].

Congratulations to the reporters, Paul LaRocco and David M. Schwartz, for the tremendous work to document how those responsible for correcting this mess failed the residents of Bethpage and Long Island. And congratulations to Newsday for telling this story. It is a genuine public service.

The denials by Grumman, the Navy and the state DEC about the source of radioactive contamination at the Bethpage facility now should also be viewed with great skepticism.

Sarah Meyland,

Huntington

Editor’s note: The writer is director of the Center for Water Resources Management at New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury.

Newsday’s report on the toxic plume at the Grumman and Navy sites reveals so much about the failure of corporations and government to protect the public. It exposes the decades-long cover-up of this contamination of Long Island’s groundwater. In all the years of thinking that what was good for Grumman (meaning Long Island jobs) was good for Long Island, this now turns out to be false. Too late, we realize that war and the environment are tragically connected as the toxic plume spreads in our communities.

Perhaps we should propose deep cuts in military spending on weapons of war and use those dollars to deal with the toxic legacy of Grumman and to support all communities affected by this poisoned water.

Margaret Melkonian,

Uniondale

Editor’s note: The writer is executive director of the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives in Garden City.

After reading your series, I would like to know why other companies were not investigated for doing almost the same thing.

About 40 years ago, I worked at a small electronics firm in West Babylon that made printed circuit boards. Other electronic companies were in the area or close by. After completion, the boards were cleaned by being dipped into chemical compounds. The chemicals were then put into tanks or barrels and taken to a nearby dumping site to be released into the earth. Eventually, that became illegal. For years, the groundwater had to be affected by chemicals.

Were those sites ever inspected or investigated?

Barbara McNally,

Babylon

The damning evidence of denials and inaction presented by Newsday regarding the Grumman plume in Bethpage contrasts sharply with the experience of Suffolk County in dealing with major groundwater contamination issues [“Gruman’s toxic legacy,” News, Feb. 19].

In the 1970s, Suffolk County invested in the means and expertise to conduct its own groundwater investigations in-house. The Department of Health Services drilled and tested its own monitoring wells and developed a top-tier laboratory to conduct the chemical analyses from which polluting industries could not hide. The data developed by health department sanitarians, hydrogeologists and engineers forced a robust cleanup of trichloroethylene and other contaminants emanating from past disposal practices at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the ban of several major pesticides as groundwater contaminants, and cleanups at numerous Superfund sites throughout the county.

The commitment of the county’s environmental directors Herb Davids, Aldo Andreoli, Joe Baier and Vito Minei from the ’70s through the early 2000s, and the support of county executives and legislators to use taxpayer funding for groundwater protection activities, forestalled many more instances of pollution affecting drinking water supplies.

Martin Trent,

Wading River

Editor’s note: The writer worked for the Suffolk County Department of Health Services from 1974 to 2010 and led the Bureau of Groundwater Resources for 10 years among other supervisory ecological leadership positions.

Far too many government officials at every level said nothing or made hollow promises to address the issue of the Grumman plume.

It was absolute abdication of responsibility to keep us safe. I’m glad Newsday is shining a light on this serious issue. We need to know both the short- and long-term impact of contaminants on those who lived or worked in the area.

The state should initiate a study like the World Trade Center program for those working at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Let’s get all the facts and act on them.

James Coll,

Seaford

Editor’s note: The writer founded the not-for-profit ChangeNYS.org, which promotes dialogue about state government.

I worked four summers in the late 1950s into the early 1960s at a company on New South Road in Hicksville, located adjacent to Grumman.

Polyvinyls and plastics were made there, and the wastewater from the process was channeled into the rear of the site into a large pit and allowed to seep into the ground, leaving behind a layer of plastic-like material.

One of my jobs was to scrape up this residue and place it aside since it formed a thick plastic covering that prohibited the water from seeping into the ground.

This was some 60 years ago, and little did we know the harm probably being done.

Stephen M. McCabe,

Carle Place

Congratulations to Newsday on the prestigious George Polk Award for critically important reporting on housing discrimination by the real estate industry [“Newsday’s ‘LI Divided’ series wins Polk Award,” News, Feb. 20]. And thank you for the stunning reporting on the toxic plume created in our water supply by Grumman and the Navy and abetted by government officials.

Terry Bain,

Rockville Centre

Why did it take a Newsday story to bring our elected officials into the reality of decades of damages caused to their constituents? Watch as they all jump on the bandwagon to further their own political agendas on this issue. Where is the mention of potential future physical ailments as the result of town residents utilizing the park, pool and grounds?

John Cashin,

Hicksville