It's time to clean-up the water

In the 1940's the people of Long Island, working at Grumman, answered the call and worked to build fighter planes that helped America defeat the Axis Powers and win World War II.  Then in the 1960's Long Islanders and Grumman again played a crucial part in our Nation's history by "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth".  Much of that important and hard work was done in Bethpage.  No one knew at the time, but the manufacturing processes created some dangerous and deadly chemical by-products. Regrettably, some of those chemicals were dumped in the ground.  Because all Long Islanders get our drinking water from underground wells, the aftereffect was contamination of our drinking water.  That was decades ago, but it still hasn't been cleaned up.  In fact, some wells where we get our drinking water are being treated because of the contamination, while others are forced to close.  The contamination plume continues to spread from that original site in Bethapge and has already passed the Southern State Parkway.  If it isn't stopped, it will contaminate more wells and eventually the Great South Bay.  

I, along with other concerned citizens, have made a formal request to the EPA and Navy for clean-up of the Bethpage site and the subsequently contaminated areas, by submitting a Petition for Superfund Designation.  I expect that the Petition and resulting Superfund Designation will force EPA and the Navy to comply with Federal and New York State law and start the clean-up.  There's no question that the technology exists.  The only thing in the way of the clean-up is that it's going to be costly and it will take time.  But those things never stopped us before from doing what's right, and it shouldn't stop us now.  It's time to clean-up the water.  

Sincerely,
Ethan Irwin