Large chemical drums found in the graveyard of an aerospace chemical dumping ground has sparked further concerns in a local population plagued with cancer.
Six 55-gallon steel chemical containers were discovered encased in concrete at Bethpage Community Park at the end of March, according to The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
A clean-up of the park has been underway since the Oyster Bay area’s history as the waste site for aerospace manufacturer Northrop Grumman, formerly Grumman Aerospace was linked to the prevalence of cancer in the community.
Tests revealed the hidden chemical waste consisted of chlorinated solvents and waste oil, according to the state. It said: "The discovery of the drums in an area of ongoing cleanup in the ball field does not present a threat to public health and safety at the site."
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Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino urged Northrop Grumman to remove all the soil in the area. Saladino told Fox News: "You're looking at Grumman's graveyard of contamination, we've been telling them for years that it's a lot worse than they're claiming.
"Now these drums prove that, and it's time for Grumman to get on the stick, show they're responsible [and] clean up this site fully and ship all the contaminants off Long Island. The people of this community and this town deserve nothing less."
Northrop Grumman was cited as the reason for the contaminated earth discovered in 2002 with the dangerous groundwater spreading from the site.
According to a state outline for remedial actions, "At its widest point, the plume is approximately 2.1 miles wide. In most areas, the top of the groundwater plume is over 200 feet beneath the ground surface and extends to depths of approximately 900 feet beneath the ground surface."
Grumman Aerospace and the United States Navy used approximately 600 acres of property in Oyster Bay between 1942 and 1996 to manufacture military aircraft according to the DEC
One part of the land was turned into a community baseball field. The link between inflated cancer cases in the area has not yet been directly linked to Northman group but more and more locals are coming forward with their stories and filing class action lawsuits.
Regarding the latest discovery, a spokesperson for Northrop Grumman shared the following statement: "While conducting environmental remediation in the Bethpage Community Park under the supervision of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), we discovered several drums encased in concrete underground in a closed area of the Park. We promptly notified NYSDEC and other relevant stakeholders and we are working with NYSDEC to assess and address this situation as quickly as possible. We remain committed to protecting the health and well-being of the community and to continuing our partnership with NYSDEC and other government regulators to address environmental conditions in the area."
Lois Schiavetta moved to Long Island decades ago, often playing in the area in question before she was diagnosed with cancer. She said: "I was three years old, and my dad just got out of the Navy a year before and got a job at Grumman Aerospace, and they decided we might as well move to the town we'll be working in.”
Schiavetta lived near the manufacturing site. "We went swimming all the time, we played in the ballfields. We didn't have parents driving us anywhere; we walked, took a bicycle, and that's where we hung out."
"Every single household on the other side of the block had someone who contracted cancer of some sort."
"I had to have a double mastectomy and go through chemotherapy – it was trying, for sure, and put a large strain on the family and my kids, but I'm still here ten years later," she said.
"I have many friends who had multiple cancers from my high school, and it's pretty devastating. The numbers that I've seen and the names … of our class list of those who have left us."
Paul Napoli, a personal injury attorney on Long Island who has worked with th community, said the number of cases does not surprise him. He added: “Grumman has done everything they can … to hide the truth from the public. You know, they buried these barrels like they buried their heads in the sand when it comes to telling the community -- they buried the truth."
"It was actually air pollution they were emitting from 400 stacks at the site, millions of pounds of TCE into the air and thousands of pounds, by their own admission, of hexavalent chromium … and TCE is banned in New York," Napoli said.
"I always wondered why Grumman left Long Island - and the reason became pretty clear: the costs associated with putting scrubbers and air emission protection on these 400 stacks was so costly, it wasn't worth staying in the community, and so they left, but what they left was this toxic legacy."
Northrop Grumman still operates on nine acres in Bethpage on Long Island. This autumn a judge overseeing a motion filed in Napoli’s class action lawsuit has appointed a mediator to resolve the dispute through a settlement.