Schumer: Navy has Finally Agreed to Develop Clean Up Plan for Dangerous Plume Threatening Peconic River and Riverhead Drinking Water

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the United States Navy finally agreed to implement a remediation action plan for the decades-old groundwater toxic plume underneath the former Naval Weapons Facility in Calverton, NY by early 2011. Schumer and local officials had warned the Navy that its formal policy of "natural attenuation,' which would have allowed the plume to remain in the hopes that natural flushing would clear it up, would not sufficiently protect the Peconic River and Riverhead's drinking water resources.

The Navy's previous monitoring and remediation plan, in place since 1998, had failed to address critical drinking water and natural resource impacts related to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) on and off the former Grumman facility. Navy officials informed Senator Schumer's office of the new plan, long sought by the communities around the facility, on Wednesday. While the new plan is a welcome and significant reversal, Schumer said today that more steps must be taken in order to allow for a swift transition to an active clean-up plan by 2011.

"Moving the Navy from a passive to an active clean-up approach is a giant leap forward in the effort to stanch and clean up this toxic plume now threatening the Peconic River and drinking water supplies," said Senator Schumer. "I commend the Navy for finally heeding our call on this matter and committing to swift action to protect Long Islanders from dangerous pollution. For too long, the Navy sat back and watched as dangerous chemicals migrated towards critical drinking water wells and the Peconic River. The reversal in the Navy's previous plan to allow the plume to fester in the hopes nature would clean it up, is a welcome respite for the thousands of people who depend on these drinking water sources."

Schumer added, "At the same time, I will not rest until the job is done. And there is more work to be done to ensure that Long Islanders are safe."

In a letter to the Navy Secretary, Schumer outlined a series of steps that needed to be immediate action from the Navy:

1. Expedite additional sampling and analysis to fill in the missing information about the off-site groundwater contamination plume

2. Take any action necessary to stop contamination from entering the Peconic River until the full plan is in place

3. Coordinate with the Suffolk County Health Department on the sampling that they have done at the Peconic River (pore water sampling) and begin a Navy-funded program for monitoring the River water.

4. Begin and complete a Corrective Measures study and start full remediation by 2011.

In early 2009, toxic compounds were discovered in the Peconic River originating from the former Northrop Grumman site in Calverton. Beneath the former weapons plant is a groundwater plume that is a quarter mile wide and may stretch nearly a half-mile south of the site. The Navy believes the plume likely originated from the 55 year old weapons plant site where Grumman workers used intense compounds to clear grease from jet engines. In February 1996, Grumman ended their operations at the site. Two years later, the Navy turned most of its land over to the town and the state, but 350 acres were left and in desperate need of environmental cleanup after tests showed high levels of contamination.

The Grumman site is located above the Long Island groundwater aquifer, which serves as the sole source of drinking water for Long Island. The United State Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that the contaminated groundwater could very well leak into nearby surface waters and the Peconic River. The Peconic River is protected under the New York State Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act and the NYS DEC strictly limits discharges into the river. Moreover, the River is the main freshwater tributary for the Peconic Estuary, which is designated by the USEPA as an Estuary of National Significance.

The contamination at the site is moving in a southeasterly direction towards to Peconic River and contains industrial solvent, trichloroethane, and the gasoline additive, chloroethane, as well as other VOCs. Short-term exposure to high levels of VOCs causes headaches, dizziness, light-headedness, drowsiness, nausea, and eye and respiratory irritation, which go away after the exposure is eliminated. However, in laboratory animals, long-term exposure to high levels of VOCs has caused cancer and seriously harmed the liver, kidneys, and nervous system.

Last summer, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services dug 24 test wells 100 feet apart around the Grumman site's southern border. One well tested at 1,090 micrograms per liter for VOCs and two other wells tested as high at the 800s and 600s. New York state drinking water standards are 5 micrograms per liter. Recent samples tested as high as 1,030 micrograms per liter of VOCs. Additionally, one drinking-water well along the southern border of the site had to be shut down due to high contamination levels.

In March, Schumer demanded that the Navy immediately develop a new Remediation Action Plan for the decades-old groundwater plume emanating from the former Naval Weapons Facility in Calverton, NY that includes both on-site and off-site contamination issues. In December of 2009, the Navy decided to terminate the Calverton community's technical advisor for the plume. Schumer lobbied the Navy and the Technical Assistance Program specialist to the Calverton case was re-instated.

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