Suffolk, Riverhead demand Navy clean up Calverton contamination now

Suffolk and Riverhead officials said the Navy must move now on Calverton, where testing has tied groundwater contamination to Swan Pond, Donohue Pond and the Peconic River and where the county says the risks are no longer theoretical for nearby families.

County Executive Ed Romaine and Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin stood with other local and county officials on May 11 and demanded that the U.S. Navy “clean up your mess” with a full remediation plan for the former Grumman-Navy site. They signed a letter to Acting Navy Secretary Hao after months of frustration over what Suffolk leaders see as delay, weak communication and an incomplete response to pollution that has been tracked for years.

The site, known as the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton, was established in 1954 and operated by Northrop Grumman until it closed in February 1996. It sits about 70 miles east of New York City, but the contamination has not stayed contained. County testing cited in the letter found 1,4-dioxane at 14.9 micrograms per liter in one location, nearly 15 times New York’s drinking-water standard. Officials also said 11 PFAS compounds were found in all 21 samples collected, with 12 samples above 1,000 nanograms per liter.

County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said the plumes continue to move through the area and argued Suffolk can no longer simply study the problem. Romaine has also criticized the Navy’s response to county data, saying the level of urgency has not matched the scale of the contamination.

The issue has already reached the county’s public lands. On March 31, Suffolk announced a fishing ban at Swan Pond after Navy fish samples from 2024 reportedly showed elevated PFOS. County leaders have said the concern extends beyond one pond, pointing to the possibility that contaminated groundwater could keep migrating toward water and habitat used by the public.

Suffolk and Riverhead began independent groundwater testing in May 2024 and have used the results to press for a stronger federal cleanup effort. Officials have pointed to Bethpage as the model for what happens when the federal government finally commits, noting the Navy and Northrop Grumman agreed to a $406 million cleanup plan there in 2020.

The Navy says it has already met cleanup goals at 11 sites at Calverton since 1996, treated more than 184 million gallons of contaminated groundwater, removed 63,000 pounds of organic compounds and hydrocarbons, excavated 33,572 tons of contaminated soil and taken out 1,171 munitions-related items. Suffolk leaders said those numbers do not answer the central question now facing residents near Calverton: who takes responsibility, how much exposure still remains and when the cleanup will finally match the damage.