Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine blasts U.S. Navy over drinking water contamination

There are new concerns about Long Island's drinking water and environment.

Suffolk County officials say contamination from a former Grumman Navy site is far worse than previously acknowledged and is still spreading.

Romaine says the Navy is to blame

Navy jets were built and tested on a 6,000-acre Grumman site in Calverton, dating to the 1950s.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine is blasting the Navy for creating what he calls a disaster and then for dragging its feet during the cleanup and refusing to even review the county's data, which shows that fish in nearby Swan Pond are contaminated with high levels of forever chemicals.

The data also shows two large underground plumes of industrial chemicals linked to cancer, including one that is discharging into the Peconic River.

"We know they had solvents. We know you had burn pits. They burned tires. They created mess after mess after mess and then you took off and left it," Romaine said.

Romaine said testing he ordered shows shocking levels in groundwater samples. 

"For PFAS, it's 10 and they found over 1,000," Romaine said. "You have contaminated our drinking water and our aquifer. What are you going to do about it?"

Critics say the Navy sat on the fish data for more than a year before sharing it, and more action is needed.

"All they need to do is put in extraction wells at the leading edge of the plume to prevent it from migrating south and treat the contaminated water," said Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

The Navy's response

The Navy claims its testing did not exceed federal limits and disputes the extent of the contamination off site.

In a new statement, it says its cleanup program is a mature, ongoing effort focused on the facility and "managing any migration that may have occurred beyond the original release areas."

The Navy says it is working to reduce PFAS in Swan Pond, with testing for 1,4-dioxane to begin next year.

It has promised an update in June.

"Plume is only getting bigger"

Ron Martz of Manorville said he wouldn't dare fish in Swan Pond, but some people still do after "No Fishing" signs were torn down. His fears have since been confirmed.

"The fish are contaminated," he said.

Residents fought for decades to be hooked up to safe public water, instead of backyard wells.

"Plume is only getting bigger. It will expand outward. It has got to be stopped," Martz said.