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Northrop-Grumman
Issues
The
industrial development of Grumman Corporation in Bethpage that
supplied military hardware from World War II to the present day has
left a legacy of industrial contamination for current and future
generations to deal with.
The
Commissioners of the Bethpage Water District have been dealing with
Grumman, its successor, Northrop-Grumman Corp. and the United States
Navy since 1988, to ensure that the responsible parties pay for
remediation and cleanup of past groundwater pollution emanating from
their Bethpage site. Our position is that the taxpayers should not
have to shoulder the financial burdens caused by their acts.
The
Bethpage Water District, to the benefit of its taxpayers, has
received millions of dollars in funding from Northrop-Grumman and
the Navy. This funding was used to construct water treatment
facilities at three of the Bethpage Water District’s pumping sites
that have been affected by prior groundwater contamination. These
water plants use "air
stripping"
technology to remove any traces of the volatile organic compounds (VOC’s)
that may be in our water before the water is delivered to consumers.
After treatment, our water meets or exceeds all State and Federal
regulations for drinking water.
In
addition, the Water District has been an advocate for the
installation of numerous groundwater monitoring wells in and around
the Bethpage area. These monitoring wells have provided a means of
tracking and monitoring the concentration and movement of chemical
compounds deep below the surface. Northrop-Grumman has also
installed water treatment facilities on Northrop-Grumman property to
pump out contaminated ground water, treat the water to remove the
contaminating chemicals and recharge the clean, treated water back
into the ground to reduce the pollution levels in the groundwater.
Currently, the Bethpage Water District is monitoring the progress of
Northrop-Grumman, the U.S. Navy and the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to install a planned off-site
water treatment facility, similar to the treatment system that is
operating at the former Grumman site. The site selected by The Navy
and Northrop-Grumman for this future facility is to be located east
of Broadway, and west of the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway, between
North Herman Ave and South Herman Ave. The Bethpage Water District
has taken a position in favor of the concept of removing
contaminants with such a facility, but we are closely monitoring the
plans to assure that our three (3) public water supply wells in the
immediate area are not adversely affected. At this writing, we feel
that further design work and testing is needed to design the system
to achieve the removal of the maximum amount of pollutants possible
and also to reduce the possibility of any future adverse affects on
the district’s public supply wells in the area.
In
addition to water treatment facilities, Northrop-Grumman has
provided full funding to the Water District over the past 10 years
to provide water utilities to the former Northrop-Grumman property,
as the property there is being developed and sold to private
concerns. The most visible item that was constructed is a 1.5
million gallon Elevated Storage Tank, located on Grumman Road West
at the railroad tracks. This tank is 153 feet tall and stores water
that is pumped from the Bethpage Water District’s well sites,
located throughout the district. This elevated storage tank provides
a large standby supply for drinking, irrigation and fire fighting
needs on the former Grumman property, as well as for the balance of
the water district. We must emphasize that there are no public water
supply wells located on the Northrop-Grumman property, due to ground
water contamination at the site.
The
Water District insisted that Northrop Grumman pay all of the costs
of construction and installation for this elevated storage tank and
the costs for all of the water mains and fire hydrants that were
required for the re-development of the former Grumman property.
Updated: March, 2006 |
