SOURCE:
https://www.wshu.org/long-island-news/2025-02-26/suffolk-county-calverton-cleanup-superfund-site
WSHU | By Christopher Schulz - February 26, 2025
Suffolk County officials are calling for the contaminated former Grumman site in Calverton to be designated a federal Superfund site to speed up remediation.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said the site has been contaminated for decades by polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are now seeping into the Peconic River.
Romaine said the U.S. Navy — which contracted with the 6,000 square-foot Grumman site to build fighter jets — has done little to help with the cleanup. "This is a need that's been waiting 30 years, almost since they turned over this site in 1996,” Romaine said. “You think they would have returned and swept up the mess they created.”
A spokesperson for the Navy did not respond to a request for comment.
“This site is in the wrong program,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “It's in something called RCRA. That is designed for active Superfund sites. This is not active. We're calling on the U.S. EPA… and the New York State DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] to put this site in federal and state Superfund programs. That will allow for quicker timelines, more remediation efforts and certainly more community input.”
An EPA spokesperson said groundwater remediation, both on-site and off-site, is being conducted under the authority of the DEC and that the EPA is coordinating with the state on the cleanup.
“EPA typically does not list sites on the Superfund National Priorities List if they are being addressed under the RCRA hazardous waste program,” Molly Vaseliou, the spokesperson, said.
