New York State Assemblyman Joseph Saladino of the 9th district has been tirelessly working for the past five years to put an end to the Grumman Plume, an issue that has caused severe environmental problems on Long Island’s South Shore. The issue at hand—bill A.9492, also known as “the Grumman Plume” legislation.
“This is my 12th year in office and after five years of pushing for legislation, we got the bill passed in the assembly and the senate,” Saladino said, adding that he had a tremendous amount of help from state Sen. Kemp Hannon. “Sen. Hannon has been absolutely wonderful. He got it passed in the senate and I got it passed in the assembly this past June.”
On Dec. 29, the last day Governor Andrew Cuomo had to sign the bill into law, he surrendered his signature on the dotted line.
“It was the greatest Christmas gift I could have ever received,” said Saladino. “On Dec. 28, I honestly could not predict which way it would go.”
Saladino, his team, elected officials and commissioners from all local water districts recognized that over the years, the plume needed to be addressed at the state level, something that Saladino had been working hard to show to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
“We have been trying to get the DEC to hydraulically contain and remediate the plume. We are all in agreement that a very large area of the groundwater has been affected by this plume,” he said.
Long Island’s underground aquifer system is made up of three portions—the Upper Glacial, Magothy and Lloyd. Years ago, drinking water came from the upper glacial aquifer through a hand-pumped well. Since then, the upper glacial has been mostly contaminated by fertilizers and chemicals, and as of 25 years ago, Long Island’s drinking water no longer comes from there.
“The Magothy is our largest source of water and that’s where we obtain our drinking water,” said Saladino, adding that the Lloyd aquifer is the deepest, cleanest and most pristine of the three. “It’s separated by a lens of very fine clay, which mostly doesn’t allow water to permeate through, but we have to remember that Long Island has the Sound on one side and the Great South Bay and Atlantic Ocean on the other.”
As for the plume, which emanates from the Northrup Grumman facilities in Bethpage, the Navy has drilled test wells that profile the depth of the chemicals and contaminants and how fast they are moving.
“Generally, the natural groundwater flow travels about one foot per day, but it does not flow in a straight direction, thus fanning out to other parts of the island,” said Saladino. “The water is getting into the wells of Bethpage and South Farmingdale, sometimes contaminating the wells in Wantagh and potentially Seaford and Massapequa, but it hasn’t reached there yet.”
Saladino emphasized that the contaminants of the plume are not in residents’ drinking water, a fact that must be understood in order to avoid panic and concern.
“It is crucial to understand that both the EPA and the state Department of Health have ensured that water is safe to drink at the tap,” Saladino said, reminding those who use water from their kitchen and bathroom sink that it is okay to do so.
According to Saladino, by the DEC treating the water at the well head, it is made safe at the tap; but by doing that, the plume is still able to contaminate and spread into uncontaminated areas.
“We got the bill passed in order to make sure that we are using every method possible to address the plume, stop its migration and clean it up,” said Saladino. “Prior to this, the DEC said to let the plume continue, which would take about 35 years for the vast majority of it to move through the aquifers and reach the Great South Bay.”
The Grumman Plume is one of the larger plumes in the nation, based on its concentration of chemicals like TCE (trichloroethylene).
“The DEC allows five parts per billion for human consumption of contaminants in water. Two test wells in November and December came back with data that showed 4,600 and 8,200 parts per billion,” said Saladino, stressing again that this was not the concentration in people’s drinking water, but in the plume’s concentration. “The DEC has said all along that the plume will dilute before it gets to the Great South Bay, but our research and proven data has shown that it is not true.”
Written into the bill is the mandate that the DEC must work with the both the state and federal Departments of Justice to get the responsible people to pay up.
As for the Navy, which is responsible for the location of the test wells, a portion of its budget does allow for these remediations, therefore eliminating any financial issues that may arise, especially if the well is stationed in a residential area.
“Private companies are supposed to give the homeowner enough warning and time to get everything together so they can allow for the equipment and test site to be established,” said Saladino of the importance of notifying the homeowner that their property will be an eyesore for construction for a number of weeks.
The process of finding a location is straightforward—notify the public that a test well will be coming to the area, send a letter directly to the home or business owner within a significant period of time beforehand and allow the home or business owner enough time to prepare their property before the site is established.
“The homeowner is not held responsible for any accidents or damages that the drilling company may cause,” said Saladino, adding that damaged personal property will all be insured.
“We’re much better off using a sugar cube than a web,” said Saladino. “I have built bridges with all concerned parties on every issue, working out an approach that was respectful and responsible to all. I am very lucky because all of our elected officials from the town, county and state and federal government are on board to moving in the right direction.”
This article is part one of a three part series. The next issue will discuss how the chemicals leaked into the water, and what is being done to decontaminate the plume.
