Senator: Poison waits for no study
Navy looks to finish report before any Grumman cleanup
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The U.S. Navy expects to release a report by year's end detailing the breadth of groundwater pollution flowing from the former Grumman jet plant in Calverton -- as well as possible remedies.
Although the Navy has said it is crucial to complete the report, known as a Corrective Measures Study, before any cleanup can begin, Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said "waiting around" until 2011 before taking corrective action would be a mistake.
"The facts are in and the Navy needs to know this: The poison Grumman plume is contaminating the Peconic River, no questions about it, and cleanup must begin posthaste," Mr. Schumer said.
The study will include years of geological research at the property, where Grumman workers dumped petroleum products and industrial solvents into the earth beginning in the 1950s. Grumman left the Navy-owned site in 1996.
It will also include scientific data collected since last March, when evidence gathered by the county health department -- and first reported in the News-Review -- showed the underground pollution ran much farther and deeper than the Navy had previously acknowledged.
"In order to complete the [study], some of the evaluation will depend on monitoring activities that will continue through the end of the year," said James Brantley, a Navy spokesman.
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Tests of groundwater south of the former Grumman site have turned up high concentrations of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which can have harmful effects on humans and wildlife. Trace amounts of contamination have been detected in the Peconic River.
Federal lawmakers, led by Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), have been pressuring the Navy to clean up the plume before higher levels flow underground into the river.
Mr. Schumer this week insisted the Navy launch remediation measures before it completes its report.
"As the residents of Calverton know too well, this plume and the poison it contains isn't waiting around for this study to be completed," he said.
mwhite@timesreview.com
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