Northrop Grumman calls state's $585M Bethpage water cleanup plan 'impractical'

Northrop Grumman is calling for the state to withdraw its $585 million plan to fully clean up and contain groundwater pollution coming from its former Bethpage site, saying the proposal was “unnecessary, infeasible, and impractical.”

In comments submitted to the state last month, the Virginia-based aerospace and defense company said the state's proposal to pump and treat 17.5 million gallons of water per day went against decades of the state's position that stopping the plume and more aggressive cleanup was not necessary to protect public health or the environment.

The company, in its 57-page comment, which also came with more than 1,000 pages of exhibits, said the state failed to consider a more modest, "cost effective" alternative that it pitched. And it said the state's proposal to construct 24 pumping wells connected with miles of piping to treatment plants and recharge basins would cause significant disruption in the community, including increased traffic, congestion and noise.

“While Northrop Grumman appreciates that there may always be a desire to do more,” it wrote in its July 8 public comment, the state proposal “has strayed from scientifically based principles. It is unnecessary and could indeed do more harm than good, leaving the citizens of Bethpage worse off.”

Read more: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/environment/grumman-bethpage-plume-1.35161071