Officials say discovery is no immediate threat to residents
The unused baseball field at Bethpage Community Park has been the site of remediation for a long time now. More clean-up is needed, however, after a new area of contaminated soil was found slightly outside the ballfield, where toxins from Northrop Grumman’s former rag pit continue to spread.
During the recent drilling of approximately 230 clean-up wells, Grumman identified volatile organic compound (VOC) soil contamination, which includes carcinogen trichloroethylene (TCE), at concentrations exceeding levels set by the state at the eastern margin of the treatment area. Because of this, Grumman completed additional soil sampling to fully delineate the contamination. This additional sampling confirmed that soil contamination is present in a new contamination area that is about two to eight feet thick between 36 and 50 feet beneath the surface.
The New York State Department of Enviormental Conservation (DEC) released a statement saying that they are on top of the situation as it stands.
“The [DEC] continues to rigorously oversee the cleanup of the park and ensure the cleanup is protective of public health and the environment,” the department statement read. “To be clear, there is no public exposure to contamination recently found just outside the current area of the park cleanup. DEC recently approved the responsible party’s plan to clean up the additional contamination.”
Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino wanted to reassure residents that this is not a new nor separate contamination and echoed that there is no current danger for residents imposed by this newly discovered section of chemicals. However, he still is trying to hold Grumman and the United States Navy accountable.
“This finding continues to prove what we’ve been saying all along that these containments were placed their 70 years ago by the Navy and Grumman,” said Saladino. “They are fully responsible for cleaning it up. We will continue to provide them access, but we want to make sure that’s its done to the very highest standard.”
Grumman has been addressing the contamination under the community park for some time. The remedy, approved in a 2013 decision by the state department, is meant to address contamination identified in the soil 40 to 60 feet beneath the ground surface in the area of the former ballpark.
In October, the corporation submitted a draft work plan to the state to take care of this new area as it falls outside of the initial clean-up area. The draft was reviewed by the state which, after submitting comments, approved a revised version of the plan. Treatment is expected to start next spring. While this treatment is occurring, Grumman is required to check for contamination outside of the treatment zone. Treatment will extend to this new area, if determined necessary by the DEC.
That section of Bethpage Community Park has been closed since 2002 when the town initially discovered the contamination. The town handled the remediation for the eastern portion of the community park, which now has an ice skating rink on top of it. Grumman won a lawsuit absolving themselves of responsibility to pay for the expensive remedy, which led to the town paying for the cleanup. However, Grumman has been responsible for treating the ballfield on the western side of the park for some time.
“They have been better lately than they have been in the past because this is more than just the park,” said Saladino, who first became supervisor in 2017. “They are responsible of cleaning up the entire Grumman-Navy plume. I have been advocating for years, back to when I was a state assemblyman, that this needs to all be fully cleaned up and that Grumman and Navy are the ones responsible for paying for all of these clean-ups. We’re not going to let up.”
As work begins in the spring, the town will be pushing Grumman to get the clean-up done as soon as possible. The goal will be to have the ballpark open as early as spring 2021.
“We will open this ballpark when it is 100 percent safe and remediated,” said Saladino. “There could be hurdles along the way but that is what we are hoping for. But again, this is a Grumman project, so all of this is at their footsteps and they have to get it done. We’ll continue to have oversight to make sure they do it right.”
