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New York State and Northrop Grumman have reached an agreement that requires the company to contain and clean up the contaminated property in Bethpage.
This final order requires Northrop Grumman to develop a comprehensive plan to contain and clean up the groundwater plume associated with the Northrop Grumman Bethpage facility and the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage.
Containment of the groundwater flow is expected to prevent further contamination of neighboring communities.
“Every New Yorker deserves access to safe, clean water, and we will continue to make bold, aggressive efforts to protect the environment and ensure it is free from pollution.” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
“With this historic settlement, we are providing justice to Long Island communities that have been negatively impacted by the groundwater plume for too long, while holding polluters accountable for their actions,” she added. Ensuring the health and safety of our communities is among our highest priorities in this state, and we will continue to ensure that there is a reliable source of clean water for all New Yorkers for generations to come.”
The company “knew that its hazardous waste disposal sites were releasing toxic substances into Long Island’s only source of drinking water, but for decades Northrop Grumman denied responsibility,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
“Long Islanders have paid the price for the company’s negligence, but today we are finally forcing Grumman to address its environmental abuse by paying the municipalities and state that should have cleaned up its mess,” she added. “In the face of the Supreme Court’s irresponsible decision to limit the EPA’s ability to regulate companies for their dirty emissions, I am more committed than ever to reducing the harm done by corporations like Northrop Grumman.”
The agreement documents the scope of Grumman’s cleanup and authorizes reimbursement of government costs and Northrop Grumman’s liability for damage to natural resources. It also envisions funding from Grumman for a citizen participation works group so that interested parties can easily access information and provide information about the company’s cleanup monitored by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
It also includes a schedule for completion of the cleanup by Grumman. And it reflects community input during the public comment period on the draft consent decree, directing additional natural resource damage payments from Northrop Grumman to affected watersheds and expressly reserving the Town of Oyster Bay’s right to pursue claims against responsible parties.
Northrop Grumman previously agreed to a $104.4 million natural resource settlement that will be used to advance cleanup, public water supply and aquifer protection projects related to the plume.
This agreement includes a total of $63.5 million in payments, with $29 million earmarked for the Bethpage Water District, $12.5 million earmarked for the South Farmingdale Water District and $22 million earmarked for New York State for use in restoration projects . As part of the Consent Decree, Northrop Grumman received a credit for $40.9 million for additional cleanup to be undertaken under the settlement agreement.
Additional conditions, by state, are listed below:
The consent decree mandates Northrop Grumman to limit the eastern and southern ends of the plume with enhanced removal of pollutants in the central part of the plume. Specifically, Northrop Grumman designed and drilled containment wells in the east-central and southeast areas of the cloud to prevent further migration into that area and provide additional protection to nearby public water supply wells. These wells, along with other actions required under the consent decree, will help clean up volatile organic compounds and hazardous substances released from these facilities, which include trichlorethylene and 1,4-dioxane.
The accelerated work advanced with the finalization of the consent decree includes the launch by Northrop Grumman of a preliminary study of the southeast quadrant of the cloud. That investigation includes drilling wells this summer to expedite the installation of production wells.
In addition, the U.S. Navy, in consultation with DEC, will apply elements of the overall treatment to areas of the cloud that are the responsibility of the Navy to clean up. These actions are specifically designed to address the western half of the Navy-Grumman plume. The US Navy will perform its duties in accordance with the Explanation of Significant Differences, which was finalized in September 2021.
Together, these actions and the Navy’s work in the interior and periphery of the cloud will achieve containment and acceleration of cloud cleanup. In addition, all parties agreed to closely monitor the containment and movement of the cloud to ensure the continued effectiveness of the safeguards and to make any adjustments to the scope of the agreements necessary to achieve the goals of the cleanup plan.
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