By Hank Russell
The U.S. Navy has agreed to conduct additional groundwater testing of nearby private wells and will now request permission to sample drinking water obtained from wells within a sampling area near former the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP) Calverton for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer sent a letter in December calling for the Navy to restart testing of the area near the former NWIRP Calverton site. Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard said this development marks a major step in Schumer and the town’s efforts for additional sampling of private wells, particularly for PFAS, to protect the health, safety and welfare of Riverhead residents.
PFAS are a family of thousands of different chemicals that have been used since the 1950s in many household and industrial products because of their stain- and water repellent properties. PFAS are now present virtually everywhere in the world because of the large amounts that have been manufactured and used. Once these compounds are released, many of them tend to stay in the environment for a very long time. The Navy and the Department of Defense (DoD) have developed policies to address past releases of PFAS at installations nationwide.
Due to the historical uses, PFAS are present in Former NWIRP Calverton groundwater and may also be present in nearby off-property drinking water wells located in the direction that groundwater flows away from Former NWIRP Calverton. Typically, preliminary drinking water sample results are received from the laboratory within 30 days after sample collection. Property owners (and tenants, if present) will be called and notified of their preliminary drinking water sample results.
NWIRP Calverton was a Government-Owned Contractor-Operated (GOCO) facility that was established in 1954 for the development, assembly, testing, refitting, and retrofitting of Naval combat aircraft, according to the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command website. Northrop Grumman Corporation was the sole operator of the facility from its construction in the early 1950s until it closed in February 1996.
The facility was involved in other activities including operation of paint shops, machine shops, vehicle maintenance shops, pest control shops, battery shops, print shops, electrical shops, boiler plants, wash racks, fire-fighter training; and degreasing and storage of oil and chemicals.
Final drinking water sample results will be mailed to property owners (and tenants, if present) within three months after the sample has been collected. They will also be available online at https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/eer/ecc/pfas/map/pfasmap.html.
The town is encouraging all residents to participate in the sampling.
“Clean drinking water is absolutely essential for all our residents,” Hubbard said. “Senator Schumer has and continues to help the town champion this cause. We are very pleased that the Navy will undertake additional testing for PFAS in the Calverton area. I, on behalf of the Town, appreciate all efforts, federal, state and local level, to assure our residents have clean safe drinking water.”