The state Department of Environmental Conservation has approved a review of the Phase 1 work plan in the cleanup at the former Northrop Grumman settling ponds at present-day Bethpage Community Park.
Soil sampling of the area began on Monday, March 24 and is expected to be completed by May 1 to meet the Town of Oyster Bay’s deadline to open the park’s swimming pool. The state department said the sampling is designed to further delineate the PCB soil contamination at the site and ultimately allow for the design of a soil excavation plan.
The DEC said the parties involved will continue discussions regarding the data gap sampling work plan for Phase 2, which will encompass the ballfield area. The second phase of thermal cleanup began in September 2024.
“The approval of the Phase 1 work plan is a significant milestone in the cleanup at the former Grumman settling ponds and a testament to the effectiveness of routine meetings between the DEC, the Town of Oyster Bay, federal partners and Northrop Grumman,” the DEC said in a statement.
The first phase of the cleanup began in August 2020 and concluded in May 2022.
Grumman, Northrop Grumman’s predecessor, used the park as a chemical waste dumping site before donating the grounds to the Town of Oyster Bay in the 1960s. Grumman is now responsible for the site’s cleanup. Parts of Bethpage Community Park have been closed to the public since the early 2000s after toxic leaks were first discovered.
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Former Grumman Settling Ponds at Bethpage Community Park. (Credit NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation)[/caption]
The DEC’s last public update was provided on Feb. 28. It said that Northrop Grumman’s contractors completed construction of the Phase II thermal remediation system in order to address deep volatile organic compound soil contamination.
The department said this included the installation of more than 380 remediation wells and that the system has run continuously since startup in September 2024, with a total of 277 pounds of VOC contamination removed as of Feb. 19.
Efforts to reach Grumman for comment were unavailing.
Former Grumman Settling Ponds at Bethpage Community Park. (Credit NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation)[/caption]
The DEC’s last public update was provided on Feb. 28. It said that Northrop Grumman’s contractors completed construction of the Phase II thermal remediation system in order to address deep volatile organic compound soil contamination.
The department said this included the installation of more than 380 remediation wells and that the system has run continuously since startup in September 2024, with a total of 277 pounds of VOC contamination removed as of Feb. 19.
Efforts to reach Grumman for comment were unavailing.