Officials Call For Updated Health Study After Chemical Drums Found In Bethpage

BETHPAGE, NY — Elected officials are demanding a new health study after chemical drums were found under Bethpage Community Park — previously a Grumman dumping ground.

Lab results came in for the first 16 drums found at Bethpage Community Park, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation previously announced in May. Data shows that known human carcinogens were found within the drums, the DEC said.

Results show the type and level of contamination in the drums' contents and surrounding soils are "consistent with historic contamination at the park," the DEC stated.

"There is no public exposure to the remaining historic soil and groundwater contamination," the DEC wrote.

Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joe Saladino called for a new study.

"Although New York State Health Department officials have claimed that there is no immediate danger to the public, the continued discovery of Grumman contaminants in the ground along with the growing plume warrant an updated and expanded health study," Saladino stated.

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D — Glen Cove) told Newsday that "confidence has been shaken" despite knowing the water and site have been tested.

"So we need to find out whether or not people really are going to be safe in the long term," Suozzi told Newsday.

Grumman did not respond to Patch's request for comment.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) stated it continues to "strictly oversee the cleanup" of the Bethpage Community Park in the Town of Oyster Bay and is "working to protect public health and the environment as part of the state’s comprehensive investigation, containment, and cleanup of the Navy-Grumman groundwater plume."

Results from soil and drum samples show petroleum hydrocarbons (benzene, trimethylbenzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, etc.), various metals such as chromium, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, lead, etc., polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and chlorinated solvents (trichloroethene), the DEC stated.

Exposure to cadmium, arsenic, lead, benzene, trichloroethylene, chromium and "probable carcinogen" PCBs are linked to increased risks of cancer in humans, according to agencies such as the National Cancer Institute, International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"To emphasize, the visual inspection of the drums and surrounding soil indicates that none of the drums leaked their contents," a DEC spokesman told Patch. "Contaminants in the surrounding soil did not originate from the drums, but from past disposal."

DEC stated it will provide ongoing and rigorous oversight of Northrop Grumman’s efforts, as well as regular updates to the community as additional information becomes available.

Grumman and the U.S. Navy are continuing to implement a long-term monitoring program and the Public Water Supply Contingency Plan. Directed by DEC, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman installed wellhead treatment at six local public water supplies. This wellhead treatment allows the water purveyors to provide drinking water that meets the New York State Department of Health drinking water requirements, the spokesman said.

"DEC continues to hold Northrop Grumman accountable for the cleanup of Bethpage Community Park," the agency stated.

The results are similar to the concentrations and contaminants identified during the remedial investigation into the park, the agency wrote.

"The contaminants detected in the drums are not unexpected, as the drums were found in the former settling pond areas used by Northrop Grumman during its historical operations," the DEC previously stated.

A table providing an overview of the preliminary findings for each drum is available here.

Eighteen drums contained just solids; two drums contained a mix of solids and liquid; one drum contained only liquid; and one drum was empty, according to the town.

The DEC stated it will continue to provide "rigorous oversight" of Northrop Grumman’s ongoing cleanup activities at the park, including surveying, subsurface drilling, and sampling to determine the full nature and extent of contamination and the potential presence of any additional drums buried beneath the site.

The DEC previously stated that work to address the drums and their contents is not impacting the containment of "contaminated groundwater" on the site, as "an extensive system of wells continues to prevent contaminants from leaving park boundaries."

A whistleblower in 2016 suggested that drums were buried underground in the park, Newsday reported. The Town of Oyster Bay in April said the claim was "deemed unfounded by the DEC, yet chemical-filled drums were discovered in the park just this week."

"Previous claims of buried drums were taken seriously," the DEC stated.

It was not illegal for drums, chemicals or other waste to be buried or dumped when Grumman owned the land, a former DEC official told Newsday.

"It’s not atypical around industrial areas to find pockets where they used to dump stuff," the former DEC official told Newsday.

The Town of Oyster Bay filed a federal lawsuit against the Grumman Corporation in September because officials believe the company has long stalled cleaning up the park, Town of Oyster Bay Saladino said. It marked the town's second lawsuit against Grumman.

Saladino called on Gov. Kathy Hochul, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, the Environmental Protection Agency and the state's U.S. Senate and Congress members to join the Town of Oyster Bay in compelling Grumman to remove all contaminated soils from Bethpage Community Park and truck them off Long Island.

Elevated levels of soil contamination in parts of Bethpage Community Park were first discovered in 2002, and the park was closed to the public. Sections reopened following extensive testing, the town said. The park in 2006 underwent a $20 million remediation project funded by Town of Oyster Bay taxpayers.

"Grumman has not reimbursed taxpayers for these costs to date," the town previously stated. The ball field, however, remains closed as soil contamination far below the ground continues to exist, the town stated.

The contamination was caused by a plume of toxic water because of industrial waste dumping from U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman manufacturing facilities, state officials said. The underground plume was nearly four miles long and two miles wide.

The contaminated water led to a New York State Department of Health investigation into several cancer cases in Bethpage, Newsday reported.

Grumman gifted the land that would become Bethpage Community Park to the town in 1962 under the condition it would be used as a park. The 18-acre parcel was previously used by the company as a dumping ground for toxic chemicals containing high concentrations of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Environmental investigations in the 1980s and 90s found the extent of the contamination of the land.

According to the EPA, volatile organic compounds can be emitted as gasses. Exposure can cause damage to the liver, kidneys and the central nervous system, as well as cancer, the EPA said.

Saladino previously said the town has taken several steps to clean the contaminated areas of the park's ball field so the community can use it again, "despite Grumman's lack of action."

The town, with cooperation from the Department of Environmental Conservation, was working with Grumman to remediate two types of contamination under the ball field, but the project was stalling, according to Oyster Bay.

Grumman installed remediation equipment above the contaminated soil but "refuses to expedite the process and wishes to leave behind PCBs deep below the surface," the town previously stated. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyl, cause cancer in animals, while studies in humans support evidence for potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Studies in animals provide conclusive evidence that PCBs cause cancer," the EPA's website reads. "Studies in humans raise further concerns regarding the potential carcinogenicity of PCBs. Taken together, the data strongly suggest that PCBs are probable human carcinogens."

The DEC oversaw the collection and laboratory analysis of thousands of soil and groundwater samples at the former Grumman Settling Ponds — now the park. A groundwater containment system, soil vapor extraction system, and a first phase of a thermal remedy were constructed to remove thousands of pounds of site-related contamination, according to the DEC.

"DEC and the New York State Department of Health (DOH) are focused on finding and eliminating any possible exposures to the public from the contamination," the DEC stated.

That work is complete, but the cleanup remains ongoing under different design and construction phases.

The DEC said the former ball field will be restored once the "remedy" has been fully implemented.
The area was fenced when the town closed the ball field in 2003 and is inaccessible to the public. The former ball field area is where the "bulk" of the disposal took place while the property was owned by Grumman, the DEC stated.

The DEC stated it is not uncommon to find buried underground storage tanks, intact drums, drum carcasses, drywells, tank lines, and more when investigating and remediating large and complex former industrial sites.

"This typically occurs when redevelopment or a cleanup is happening, as is the case at the Bethpage Community Park," the agency wrote.