Chemical drums filled with toxic liquid have been unearthed in a New York neighborhood where residents say there has been a mysterious rise in cancer over the years.
Construction workers unearthed six barrels of chlorinated solvents and used oil that had been dumped in the town of Oyster Bay on Long Island.
The drums were buried by North Grumman when it operated an aerospace facility in the city between the 1950s and 1990s.
Authorities fear the waste has seeped into the ground and is on its way to the public drinking water supply.
The city is home to more than 17,200 people who have long raised concerns about Grumman Aerospace waste, specifically a four-mile-long carcinogenic plume flowing underground that they say contributed to a rise in cancer diagnoses.
Residents also found toxic compounds in their attacks and in the soil, and a family of three who lived near the park suffered from cancer.
Construction workers unearthed six 55-gallon chemical drums at Bethpage Community Park, located within the town of Oyster Bay, that were filled with a liquid that “could eventually find its way into a public water supply well.” .
The drums were buried by North Grumman when it operated an aerospace facility in the city between the 1950s and 1990s. Officials fear the waste has seeped into the ground and is on its way to the public drinking water supply.
Locals were so concerned about health problems that the state health department conducted a study on cancer diagnoses in the city in 2013.
The three-year researcher found no higher overall cancer rates in a 20-block area surrounding the former Grumman property.
But officials noted there were scientific limitations that made it nearly impossible to link residential cancer clusters and pollution.
What officials did find is that within a one-block area, all those diagnosed with cancer were younger than expected.
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino told the local ABC 7: ‘The discovery of the drums in these coffin-shaped vaults is further evidence that Grumman created an environmental graveyard of pollutants right here in this park.’
Bethpage Community Park was closed about 20 years ago over concerns about soil contamination, but the site is located between homes and community centers.
Officials are outraged by the discovery and fear there may be more drums full of toxics buried in the city.
Residents also found toxic compounds in their attacks and in the soil (pictured), and a family of three who lived near the park suffered from cancer.
‘One of the 55-gallon drums’ that had been discovered and tested,’ Saladino said, ‘can ignite at 80 degrees (Fahrenheit).
’80 degrees and yet the Department of Environmental Conservation has allowed them to heat the ground to 210 degrees!’
The six drums were discovered by a construction team drilling a sentinel wall and a test pit, but officials now fear there may be more.
“His drill went through the concrete and pierced one of the drums,” Saladino said, noting that the drums were buried six feet underground.
At that time, three members of the Cornett family were diagnosed with cancer. Christopher (pictured), 40, was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer in 2016.
However, whistleblowers said years ago that North Grumman had buried toxic chemicals beneath the city.
Saladino is now demanding Grumman pay for a complete excavation of the park’s soil after its residents have already spent $20 million to clean up the park’s ice skating rink.
The statements even prompted a response from then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2016, who announced that the state is funding groundwater contamination testing and building cleanup plans if needed on Long Island.
While Cuomo’s investigation was inconclusive, three members of the Cornett family were diagnosed with cancer at the time.
Christopher, 40, was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer in 2016.
But six months earlier, his mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer and a year earlier his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The family sued North Grunmman for no less than $100 million in 2018, but no further developments have been shared since.
Then last year, Bethpage residents filed a lawsuit intending to sue the company after discovering their attics were filled with toxic compounds.
The samples were taken in March and May and showed evidence of hexavalent chromium in the dust.
Hexavalent chromium is a byproduct of industrial processes and has been linked to different cancers.
Stephanie Ciambra Ball found toxic compounds in her attic. She is also a breast cancer survivor and worries about the toxins that caused the disease.
Bethpage Community Park was closed about 20 years ago over concerns about soil contamination, but the site is located between homes and community centers.
North Grumman operated on a 600-acre portion of the small town of Long Island from about 1954 to 1994. During this time, the company designed, tested, and manufactured prototype aircraft for the U.S. Navy and NASA.
Stephanie Ciambra Ball’s childhood home in Bethpage tested positive, according to ABC 7.
“You always saw smoke,” Ciambra Ball recalled growing up near the factory. ‘We didn’t think about that. You could always hear the turbines working.
Ball also survived breast cancer and believes the disease may have been a result of toxins in the air.
And in 2014, Bethpage soil samples were taken that revealed several chemicals near homes near Bethpage Community Park.
North Grumman operated on a 600-acre portion of the small town of Long Island from about 1954 to 1994.
During this time, the company designed, tested and manufactured prototype aircraft for the US Navy and NASA.
The facility produced bombers that flew during the Vietnam War and parts of the Apollo lunar spacecraft that took the first men to the moon.
Those operations also included toxic chemicals, which eventually leached into the soil and created the carcinogenic plume that was discovered in 1986.
In 2022, Northrop Grumman and New York state officials closed a $104 million deal to clean up the plume.
State Attorney General Letitia James said: ‘For decades, Northrop Grumman knew that its hazardous waste disposal sites were leaking toxic substances into the only source of drinking water on Long Island, but for decades, Northrop Grumman denied responsibility.
“Long Islanders have paid the price for the company’s negligence, but today we are finally forcing Grumman to address its environmental abuse by paying the municipalities and state that had to clean up its mess.”