Friday, February 28, 2020
Vol. 80, No. 9
$1
SERVING PLAINVIEW, HICKSVILLE, AND LEVITTOWN
WHERE'S WALDO?
Environmentalists call for criminal charges against Grumman, Navy BY GARY SIMEONE
Students at Lee Road School participated in the Levittown Public Schools literacy initiative by dressing up as book characters. The students above dressed as Waldo for their school's character parade.
Hearing planned for Sears site
The Oyster Bay Town Board will host a public hearing on Tuesday, March 10 at 7 p.m. at Hicksville High School Auditorium, located at 180 Division Avenue in Hicksville on the Heritage Village project, located at the former Sears property. At the meeting, the developer will present an overview of
the 26.4-acre project and the Town Board will listen to comments from the public. To ensure all residents have an opportunity to comment, three minutes will be afforded to each speaker. Residents can also submit comments via the Town’s website, at www. oysterbaytown.com/seritage. Seritage, a real estate
investment trust spun off by Sears Holdings, has proposed demolition of the former Sears department store and Auto Center at 195 North Broadway. Under their proposal, the site would become home to 425 rental apartments, retail and office space, restaurants, a grocery store, cinema, fitSee page 18
A Long Island environmental group, the Citizens Campaign For The Environment, is asking that criminal charges be considered against Northrop Grumman and the US Navy, for their role in the Bethpage plume. This action stems from a recent Newsday article that found that Grumman and the Navy knew that their operations was contaminating the groundwater, but chose to do nothing about it at the time. “What they did is akin to someone knowingly poisoning someone else’s food or drinking water,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of the CCE. “There should be equal consequences, even if it’s done by a federal agency, like the people responsible going to jail. We won’t stop this type of action unless there’s consequences.” The Newsday article, which was published last week, uncovered evidence from previously undisclosed documents, that both Northrop Grumman and the Navy knew for decades that toxic chemicals had leached into the groundwater, putting public health in jeopardy. “For decades somebody said it was okay to hide this information, but now that it has been brought to light, the people responsible need to be held accountable,” said
Esposito. Mike Boufis, Superintendent of the Bethpage Water District, said the in-depth Newsday article backed up what the water district has been saying for decades. “We have always accused the Navy, Northrop Grumman and the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) of not being forthcoming with information,” said Boufis. “As an entire board and staff, we were very pissed off to hear about these new details, but at the same time we feel vindicated a little bit that everything we’ve done hasn’t fallen on deaf ears.” Boufis said that the water district has over-tested and over-analyzed water samples multiple times to ensure its quality. “I don’t think you can be be too overprotective when it comes to people’s health and well-being,” said Boufis. In May of last year, the DEC amended an ROD (Record Of Decision) for the proposed cleanup plan at the site of the Bethpage plume. The ROD was put out for a public comment period and those comments were included in the development of a comprehensive $585 million treatment plan to remedy the situation. Boufis said that at the time both the Navy and Northrop Grumman were only willing to See page 18
Salk MS named "School of Character" PAGE 4 Plainview - OB is facing the music PAGE 6