Suozzi Asks Northrop Grumman And Navy For Payout To Clean Plume

BETHPAGE, NY–Congressman Tom Suozzi sent letters to the Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer, and the president and CEO of Northrop Grumman, Kathy Warden, on Tuesday to request that they immediately start to negotiate a payout to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The payout would be earmarked for streamlining the management of — and expediting the cleanup of — the Navy-Grumman plume. The plume is a large amount of toxic water that sits under Long Island, resulting from industrial waste dumping by the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman manufacturing facilities, and has impacted the Bethpage community for over 40 years.

Part of Suozzi's letter reads as follows:

“I do not wish to relitigate the past, but let us agree that:

1. the Navy and Northrop Grumman are the primarily responsible parties,
2. the cleanup has taken much too long, over 40 years,
3. no one wants to waste more funds on lawyers, engineers, additional studies and further bureaucratic delays, and
4. placing the cleanup in the hands of one accountable party (I suggest the DEC) would be most efficient.”

He also wrote, "We share the common goal of providing safe drinking water for all Americans. We must work together to ensure that the Navy-Grumman plume is remediated as quickly as possible. I look forwarding to working with you on this issue and overcoming any hurdles that would keep this approach from becoming a reality. I would be happy to facilitate negotiations if you believe that would be helpful."