U.S. Navy

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.

The Navy is seeking community feedback on the cleanup of the former Grumman site in Calverton via a 7-question survey. The next public meeting of the community advisory board is set for Oct. 29.

Riverhead got the former Grumman site from the federal government for a buck. But it was no bargain. Pollution there threatens private wells and may threaten public water supply too.And the Navy, though legally responsible for cleanup, just keeps dragging its feet.

The Navy says it cannot discuss PFAS cleanup until the Department of Defense ‘issues policy’ on compliance with the federal Environmental Protection Agency's new rule establishing maximum contaminant levels for PFAS chemicals polluting the Calverton site and surrounding area.

PFAS, the synthetic “forever chemicals” contaminating drinking water wells in various locations in and around the Calverton area, are once again on the agenda of the U.S. Navy for its next meeting of the Calverton Restoration Advisory Board scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 6 at Manorville Fire Department.

Navy representatives and their consultants will present updates to the investigation into PFAS chemicals and the monitoring of other volatile organic compounds in wells surrounding the former Grumman site at the next meeting of the Calverton Restoration Advisory Board, Wednesday, April 19.

The second semiannual meeting of the Calverton Restoration Advisory Board will be held virtually on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 6:15 p.m..

Riverhead officials hope the July 8 meeting made headway against the Navy's resistance to bearing financial responsibility for public water to homes near the former Grumman plant, but a Navy spokesperson reached after the meeting was noncommittal.

Riverhead Town has come up short on federal and state funding requests to cover two water district extensions to serve homes in Manorville and Calverton in the vicinity of the former Northrop Grumman facility in Calverton.

The Navy is quietly conducting a survey to measure the community's 'environmental concerns' about the former Grumman site in Calverton. A Navy rep said lack of community interest may mean a 23-year-old community advisory board should be shut down.