forever chemicals

Riverhead weighs code changes after groundwater contamination near East Hampton BESS fire

Riverhead weighs code changes after groundwater contamination near East Hampton BESS fire

Key Points

  • Riverhead is working on draft revisions to its battery energy storage code.

  • The discussion follows PFAS detections in public water wells near the 2023 East Hampton BESS fire site.

  • SCWA says PFPrA was detected in water that migrated from the fire; state officials say the source remains under investigation.

  • Rothwell opposes a moratorium but wants runoff containment and removal of utility-scale BESS from Residence A-80 zoning.

  • Several Suffolk towns have adopted or extended BESS moratoria while reviewing local rules.

New York sues chemical manufacturers over PFAS in consumer goods

New York sues chemical manufacturers over PFAS in consumer goods

New York attorney general Letitia James sued chemical manufacturers (PDF) 3M, DuPont, Corteva, Chemours, and EIDP in state court on July 9 for their role in contributing to pollution and other alleged harms from the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products.

New York sues chemical giants over PFAS, the ‘forever chemicals’ found in Long Island drinking water

New York sues chemical giants over PFAS, the ‘forever chemicals’ found in Long Island drinking water

Environmental advocates say PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have been used in consumer products for decades and that the lawsuit represents an important step toward reducing public exposure.

Navy risks public trust, progress in Calverton cleanup

Navy risks public trust, progress in Calverton cleanup

A U.S. Navy official made a stunning admission last month, one that residents and Suffolk County officials had already suspected. For over a year the Navy withheld from the public test results that found dangerously high levels of the chemical PFOS in fish and the waters in Swan Pond near the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton.

A Ticking Time Bomb on Fort Pond?

A Ticking Time Bomb on Fort Pond?

The East Hampton Energy Storage Center, which caught fire in 2023, and as a result, according to a recent lawsuit filed by the Suffolk County Water Authority, leaked perfluoropropionic acid, a so-called “forever chemical,” into the groundwater and the water authority’s nearby wells is not unique in the Town of East Hampton.

Navy Pitches Interim PFAS Cleanup Plan at EPCAL

Navy Pitches Interim PFAS Cleanup Plan at EPCAL

In the wake of pressure from Suffolk County to clean up numerous environmental issues emanating from the former Grumman plant in Calverton, consultants for the U.S. Navy have unveiled a plan to capture a groundwater plume of the emerging contaminants PFAS that is believed to be spreading toward a nearby lake and the Peconic River.

Lee Zeldin's EPA moves to roll back standards on toxic chemicals in drinking water

Lee Zeldin's EPA moves to roll back standards on toxic chemicals in drinking water

The Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a long-anticipated proposal to rescind federal limits on certain toxic "forever chemicals" in drinking water — established two years ago by the Biden administration — a move New York has sought to neutralize.

Trump administration moves to roll back PFAS drinking water rules

Trump administration moves to roll back PFAS drinking water rules

The Trump administration announced plans this week to roll back portions of the nation’s first federal drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals, drawing criticism from environmental advocates on Long Island who say the move weakens protections for communities already grappling with groundwater contamination.

Brookhaven releases groundwater plume plan, but critics say it falls short

Brookhaven releases groundwater plume plan, but critics say it falls short

Recent water testing revealed elevated levels of several “forever chemicals,” including PFOA, PFOS, and 1,4‑dioxane.

The Town of Brookhaven has released its plan to address a toxic groundwater plume spreading from the Brookhaven Landfill — but environmental advocates say the proposal does little to actually clean up the contamination.

Long Island residents anxious about underwater toxic plume from Brookhaven landfill

Long Island residents anxious about underwater toxic plume from Brookhaven landfill

An enormous landfill on Long Island is scheduled to close in two years, but Brookhaven residents who live nearby are anxious and worried about the underwater toxic plume the landfill created.

The Beaver Dam Creek and Bellport Bay, plus underground drinking water wells, are threatened by a 4-mile toxic plume emanating from the 52-year-old Brookhaven town landfill, according to the state. The dump is scheduled to be shuttered in 2028.

They’re Everywhere So-called ‘forever chemicals’ are hazardous, potent and ubiquitous

They’re Everywhere So-called ‘forever chemicals’ are hazardous, potent and ubiquitous

This is a tale about unintended consequences in science, governmental malfunction affecting Suffolk County, and a mammoth spread, globally, of poison.

It began in 1938. As the website Health Brief related last week: “A chemist at the DuPont company accidentally discovered an exciting new polymer. It repelled water, it was chemically stable and nonreactive, and nothing stuck to it. The material — brand name: Teflon — has been used in countless consumer products since then to reduce friction between surfaces. Among its best-known applications is in nonstick cookware. … In the past few decades, however, the chemicals that go into nonstick surfaces have been linked to certain health issues and environmental pollution.”

The Navy is wrong to let Calverton become Bethpage

The Navy is wrong to let Calverton become Bethpage

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine fired a shot across the U.S. Navy's bow last week.

At a community meeting in Calverton, Romaine threatened to sue because two toxic plumes at the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant are spreading forever chemicals, or PFAS, and endangering the region's water. The Navy has delayed cleanup, Romaine said.

Brookhaven plume cleanup plan calls for more water hookups, monitoring: A look at the options

Brookhaven plume cleanup plan calls for more water hookups, monitoring: A look at the options

Brookhaven's plan to clean up a 4-mile-long toxic plume that runs through residential neighborhoods south of the landfill calls for hooking up more homes to public water systems and expanding a drinking water monitoring program — but closing the landfill still would have to wait two more years.

Romaine warns Navy: Suffolk ‘has options’ and will not wait forever on Calverton cleanup

Romaine warns Navy: Suffolk ‘has options’ and will not wait forever on Calverton cleanup

Suffolk County officials are pointing to the Navy’s cleanup of the Bethpage plume as a precedent — and warning they expect the same urgency in Calverton, where county testing shows contamination from the former Navy-owned Grumman manufacturing site continues to move through groundwater, surface water and fish habitat while federal cleanup efforts remain largely in the study phase.

Suffolk County Pushes Navy to Clean Up EPCAL Plumes

Suffolk County Pushes Navy to Clean Up EPCAL Plumes

Suffolk County says it has compiled mountains of ammunition in its fight to get the U.S. Navy to clean up plumes of numerous hazardous compounds emanating from the Enterprise Park at Calverton, including data showing fish highly contaminated with the perfluorinated compound PFOS the county says the Navy withheld for a year, and high levels of other perfluorinated compounds in the headwaters of the Peconic River.

After the U.S. Navy refused to allow the Suffolk County Health Department to present the results of its testing of wells surrounding plumes of contaminated groundwater from the former Navy-owned Grumman plant in Calverton at the February meeting of the Calverton Restoration Advisory Board (RAB), county representatives and members of the RAB took matters into their own hands Tuesday evening.

Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin?

Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin?

Last summer, more than a hundred and fifty staff members at the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the agency’s head, Lee Zeldin, outlining their concerns about his leadership. Topping the list was Zeldin’s naked partisanship. The administrator often used his official communications to trash Democrats. This “politicized messaging,” the letter said, was undermining trust in the agency. So, too, were Zeldin’s gutting of the E.P.A.’s research division and his tendency to ignore the findings of its scientists. The missive noted that it reflected the staffers’ personal, rather than professional, opinions, and had been written on their own time. It ended by urging Zeldin to “correct course.”

Calverton plume at ex-Grumman site is more extensive than Navy acknowledges, Suffolk testing shows

Calverton plume at ex-Grumman site is more extensive than Navy acknowledges, Suffolk testing shows

Years of independent ground and surface water testing by Suffolk County shows that a far more extensive plume of industrial chemicals is spreading beyond the former Grumman site in Calverton than the U.S. Navy has acknowledged. 

EPA cannot backtrack on PFAS drinking water standards

EPA cannot backtrack on PFAS drinking water standards

This guest essay reflects the views of Adrienne Esposito, the executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, an advocacy organization based on Long Island.

I've spent decades fighting water contamination on Long Island. I've sat with families who found PFAS in their well water and helped communities and water districts scramble to obtain funding for expensive treatment systems. I've testified for congressional hearings to increase the understanding that PFAS, commonly called "forever chemicals," aren't a hypothetical threat — they are a daily, sickening reality for millions of Americans.

Brookhaven officials defend long-term plan for landfill as residents demand immediate action

Brookhaven officials defend long-term plan for landfill as residents demand immediate action

A crowd of people shouted “shame” at presenters during a recent Town of Brookhaven board meeting as tensions rose over the Town’s plans to address a growing underground contamination plume linked to the Brookhaven landfill.