Community Spotlight: Bethpage
Northrop Grumman is committed to addressing environmental conditions in the region.
Northrop Grumman Progress Report – April 2, 2024
Northrop Grumman RW-21 Community Update – Dec. 13, 2023
Phase 1 implementation of Northrop Grumman’s portion of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 2019 Amended Record of Decision for Bethpage, NY – November 20, 2023
Northrop Grumman Community Meeting Invite – December 14, 2023
NYSDEC Public Availability – Northrop Grumman Charts – March 7, 2023
Northrop Grumman RW-21 Progress Report – Oct. 5, 2023 – 4:00 PM ET
Northrop Grumman is committed to continuing to work closely with the U.S. Navy, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and other federal, state, and local government regulatory authorities, as we have done for over 25 years, to address environmental conditions in the region.
We support scientifically-based and technically-proven remedies to address environmental conditions and we welcome the opportunity to have a productive dialogue with the regulatory agencies and other responsible parties regarding technically sound remedial efforts.
History
During World War II, thousands of Grumman Aircraft Engineering employees at the 600-acre U.S. government-owned, contractor operated site in Bethpage produced 12,200 F-6F Hellcat airplanes for the U.S. Navy – one of several Grumman aircraft instrumental in achieving victory in the Pacific.
During the space race, employees designed and built the Apollo lunar module, which carried Neil Armstrong and other astronauts to the moon and back. Later, employees built the U.S. Navy's venerable F-14 Tomcat and the E-2C Hawkeye. In 1994, Northrop Corporation acquired Grumman Aerospace Corporation.
The company's airborne early warning system, now the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, is still protecting our troops serving on every U.S. aircraft carrier and our Bethpage team is currently supporting the next generation of electronic attack for the U.S. Navy among other work at the site.
Today, the 95,000 men and women of Northrop Grumman around the world support our warfighters as they face an increasingly challenging threat environment – just as generations of Long Islanders did who proudly worked at Grumman.
Our Environmental Efforts
Bethpage Community Park Soil Cleanup
NYSDEC officials on August 26, 2020 at the start-up of Northrop Grumman’s soil cleanup system at Bethpage Community Park.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Grumman Aerospace and, later, Northrop Grumman, sought to understand how legacy military production operations (which were consistent with America's standard industrial manufacturing practices) may have contaminated soil and groundwater.
Detailed research, funded by Northrop Grumman, found evidence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), metals, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil and VOCs in groundwater at the site.
In the early 1990s, the company funded wellhead treatment at two Bethpage Water District Plants. Northrop Grumman also funded, designed and constructed an on-site groundwater containment and remediation system at the southern border of the former Navy/Grumman facility to contain and treat groundwater at the site.
Approved by the NYSDEC, the system continues to operate today and returns clean water replenishing the aquifers. The company's ongoing evaluation of its data (provided to NYSDEC) shows these systems are effectively capturing groundwater contaminants.
Beginning in 2008, Northrop Grumman funded, designed, constructed and began operating on-site soil vapor and groundwater treatment systems along the southern and western boundaries of the Bethpage Community Park. These systems continue to operate effectively today.
In 2016-2017, the company funded, designed, constructed and installed three wells as part of a NYSDEC-approved off-site groundwater remedial system (known as the RW-21 project) to capture and treat groundwater south of the Park. Northrop Grumman is currently working with the NYSDEC and the Town of Oyster Bay to implement the pipeline installation and construct a treatment facility to support this system.
In 2018, Northrop Grumman funded, designed, and developed a soil remediation plan within specific areas of the Bethpage Park baseball field. The company is working with the NYSDEC and the Town of Oyster Bay to implement this plan currently with the goal of returning this ball field to the community as soon as the NYSDEC-approved work is complete.
In addition to Northrop Grumman's on-site and off-site groundwater remediation and soil remediation activities, the U.S. Navy is conducting its own groundwater activities. The Navy is responsible for treating groundwater contamination at two locations (GM-38 and RE-108) and is funding wellhead treatment for several water districts.
Northrop Grumman is currently implementing three NYSDEC consent agreements under the current state-approved Record of Decision. These activities include ongoing well sampling and data collection as well as the specific remedial projects mentioned above.
Learn More
Documentation of Northrop Grumman's activities, reflecting the company's long and close collaboration with NYSDEC, NYSDOH, the U.S. Navy, and other federal, state, and local regulatory agencies to address environmental conditions in the area, is available for review at the Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Avenue, Bethpage, NY 11714.
The company holds periodic community meetings and engages local residents, community leaders and elected officials regularly to inform them of the NYSDEC-approved work that is undertaken in the area. If you would like be informed of company environmental activities in the area, please sign up for project updates.
Contact Us
Dianne Baumert-Moyik
Northrop Grumman Public Relations
(516) 754-2645
dianne.baumert-moyik@ngc.com
Our Government Project Partners
PROJECT-RELATED QUESTIONS:
Jason Pelton
Project Manager
Division of Environmental Remediation
Remedial Bureau D, Section B
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233
(518) 402-9478
Jason.Pelton@dec.ny.gov
HEALTH-RELATED QUESTIONS:
James M. Sullivan, Public Health Specialist II
Bureau of Environmental Exposure Investigation
New York State Department of Health
Empire State Plaza
Corning Tower, Room 1787
Albany, NY, 12237
(518) 402-7860
beei@health.ny.gov