Governor Cuomo And U.S. Senator Schumer Announce State Testing Of Wells In Northrop Grumman Plume

Press Release

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced New York State will conduct testing to further analyze the nature of the Northrop Grumman plume in Massapequa. In addition, the state has ordered Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy to open access to monitoring wells in order to obtain the samples that will be tested by the state and Massapequa Water District.

"There have been too many questions about the extent of contamination caused by this plume and residents are frustrated with the lack of answers from the Navy and Northrop Grumman,"Governor Cuomo said. "They are right and today, with Senator Schumer, we are stepping in to conduct our own testing, as well as enable local officials to undergo their own independent analysis. This action will allow us to develop an action plan to ensure that the health and safety of this community is protected."

"New York State's swift move to require testing of the wells and access to vital data on any potential contamination is just what the doctor ordered for the worried residents of Massapequa, Bethpage and South Farmingdale," U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer said. "Kudos to Governor Cuomo and the DEC for stepping up to the plate and delivering just the kind of real information and access to test wells that the Navy and Northrop Grumman had been stonewalling the water districts on. I will work with the Governor, Assemblymember Saladino and the water districts to keep the Navy's-and-Grumman's feet to the fire when it comes to more actively monitoring and remediating this toxic plume that threatens the drinking water of so many Long Islanders."

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will obtain groundwater samples from monitoring wells installed and maintained by Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy to perform a compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of water samples from the Grumman plume. CSIA is a relatively new and highly specialized analysis of the isotopic composition of a chemical.

The Department of Environmental Conservation will collect and test samples from six priority monitoring wells. Additionally, the Massapequa Water District will also be provided the opportunity to sample, so it can conduct its own analysis. State testing will be expanded as warranted and results will be shared with the water districts as soon as they are available.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos said, "DEC's cutting-edge analysis of the Grumman plume will allow us to better understand and address the nature of contamination. In the future, Northrop Grumman and the Navy also need to be transparent and quickly share any information requested by the water districts."

The Grumman plume is one mile wide and three miles long, extends to depths in excess of 600 feet and emanates from the original 635-acre Grumman facility. The plume impacts some water supply wells in Nassau County, which have since been equipped with treatment systems. Currently, Massapequa Water District's drinking water wells are not impacted by the plume. In addition, sentinels wells located north of the district's water well have not yet detected contamination.

The Department of Environmental Conservation has worked closely with the Navy and Northrop Grumman to address contamination from the former Grumman/Navy facilities by developing enforceable remedial agreements to address the plume. Pursuant to the agreements, the Navy is actively tracking down and working to remediate hot spots in the plume.

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