Northrop Grumman

Suffolk and Riverhead officials are demanding Navy action on groundwater contamination spreading from the former Grumman site in Calverton.

Guest column: The former Grumman-Navy site in Calverton is rife with pollution left over from its industrial past. The Navy must take accountability and move forward with remediation.

In coordination with NY State DEC, the Navy has, since 1996, achieved all cleanup goals for 11 sites within the former Grumman facility in Calverton.

The county’s independent testing found groundwater contamination from Calverton plume far exceeding state drinking water standards and the Navy's previous disclosures.

The county health department will share new data about the Calverton plume that's polluting wells, groundwater, ponds, lakes and the Peonic River at a community meeting April 28.

The Riverhead Water District extension will serve 28 homes southeast of the former Navy-owned site, affected or threatened by a plume of groundwater contamination.

All information shared during the interviews will be kept confidential, the Navy said in a press release. The Navy is seeking information to help ensure a thorough and effective environmental restoration of the property, it said.

Nearly all private drinking water wells sampled as a part of an expanded testing area surrounding the former Northrop-Grumman plant in Calverton did not contain harmful “forever chemicals” above the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy said this week.

New data and maps released last month by the Navy as part of the cleanup process of the former Grumman site in Calverton show groundwater contaminated by PFAS is migrating off-site towards the Peconic River.

The Navy’s latest dodge in its ongoing — and so far successful — effort to avoid responsibility for plumes of contaminated groundwater traveling off the former Grumman site in Calverton has officially entered the Twilight Zone.