[CPEO-MEF] VOCs, CONTRACTORS: Northrop Grumman, Bethpage, NY

[Lenny Siegel]

Without Navy aid, water district rates could spike

BY JENNIFER SMITH
Long Island Newsday
January 1, 2009

South Farmingdale Water District customers could see a hefty rate hike 
if contamination from the former Northrop Grumman defense site in 
Bethpage fouls drinking water wells before the Navy releases payment for 
an agreed-upon treatment system.

District officials said it would cost $21 million for a treatment system 
to remove volatile organic chemicals from supply wells in the path of 
the plume. Nearly two miles wide, the contamination has moved south 
through groundwater and contains probable carcinogens such as 
trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent.

Frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations with the Navy and the 
Department of Justice, the district enlisted the aid of Sen. Charles 
Schumer, who urged the federal government Wednesday to swiftly resolve 
the matter before ratepayers end up footing the bill.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-liwate0112320629jan01,0,5231241.story

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel at cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org