Northrop-Grumman Agrees To Pay $35 Million To Clean Bethpage Site

BETHPAGE, NY — Northrop Grumman has reached an agreement with the federal government to pay $35 million in environmental cleanup costs for contamination of the former Naval Weapon Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage. The payment will resolve a civil lawsuit brought by the United States against Northrop Grumman.

“This settlement compensates the United States for some of the enormous costs it has expended in connection with the cleanup of the former Naval Weapon Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York,. “The government’s remediation at the site restores natural resources, including land and groundwater in the area, and ensures public health and safety.”

A consent judgment setting the terms of the settlement provides that Northrop Grumman and the Navy will continue their remedial actions associated with the site and coordinate their cleanup efforts to benefit the public.

Members of the public the opportunity to submit comments on the proposed consent judgment to the Department of Justice prior to it seeking court approval of the settlement.

The NWIRP was a government-owned, contractor-operated facility where Northrop Grumman’s predecessors designed and manufactured aircraft for the Navy. Grumman also owned the adjacent approximately 500-acre former Northrop Grumman Bethpage Facility Site, which included an 18-acre property, now part of the Bethpage Community Park. Grumman used the sites for industrial and research purposes from the late 1930s through 1996.

Manufacturing and disposal practices at the sites resulted in contamination of the soil and groundwater with hazardous substances, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and metals.

The Navy began conducting investigations and assessments at the site in 1986, and the cleanup is ongoing. The Navy continues to implement its remedial actions, including for treatment of contaminated groundwater.

In addition to the costs the Navy faces for cleanup, since 2010, the United States has incurred costs under several consent judgments with local water districts whose water supplies are potentially affected by the plumes.