Governor Cuomo Orders DEC to Investigate Contaminated Groundwater Plumes on Long Island

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was recently ordered to undergo an engineering investigation into the groundwater plumes contaminated with industrial solvents at the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Bethpage site in Nassau County.

Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the DEC to investigate the plumes during a roundtable discussion at SUNY Farmingdale on Friday.

“Protecting New York’s drinking water is critical and is a top priority for this state,” Cuomo said. "This new engineering investigation will advance an aggressive and expedited cleanup to ensure Long Islanders have access to clean water resources."

According to Cuomo, the State's budget proposal includes a total of $2 billion for clean water infrastructure but that the Water Quality Rapid Response team "continues to proactively combat potential water contamination in communities across [New York].”

During earlier assessments of the full hydraulic containment several details including the reuse or recharge of any extracted and treated water were excluded from the findings.

The new investigation will include field surveys and engineering analyses to fully identify the feasibility of options to contain the contamination plumes.

Specifically, this effort will:

• Identify and evaluate options for disposal, reuse, or recharge of treated groundwater
• Perform field surveys, engineering analyses, and aquifer pumping tests, to determine the number, locations, depths, and screened intervals for extraction wells necessary for plume management
• Create new localized groundwater modeling and additional sampling to evaluate the migration of existing contamination 'hotspots' and the potential for movement of the freshwater-saltwater interface under different treatment scenarios, the influence of increased groundwater withdrawal on nearby water supply wells and any impacts on surface water and marine environments, including Great South Bay
• Identify new treatment technologies and potential locations for state-of-the-art treatment systems, while considering future needs and the presence of emerging contaminants like 1,4-dioxane.

The DEC is expected to begin work on the contaminated site this spring and will release preliminary findings for public review by the end of 2017.

The cleanup of contamination at this state Superfund site is being conducted by Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy. Both are required by the DEC to remediate soil and groundwater contamination found in the contamination plumes nearly three miles long by one mile wide.

The DEC stated it will consider the new engineering analysis in accordance with Federal and State Superfund laws, and if the state’s evaluation requires full containment, the DEC will require Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy to conduct and pay for all necessary remedial actions.

“DEC will continue to use all our legal authorities to hold Northrop Grumman and the Navy accountable and ensure they expeditiously advance and pay for the necessary remediation of this groundwater contamination plume,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. “The new engineering investigation will provide critical insights and actionable recommendation to ensure the cleanup is faster and more protective for the surrounding community.”