The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will hold a public availability session on Thursday, June 24 from 5 to 9 p.m. to discuss the ongoing investigation of contamination associated with the former Grumman Settling Ponds site in Bethpage. The session will be held at the Bethpage Community Center, 103 West Grumman Road.

An availability session is a gathering of program staff and members of the public in a casual setting, without a formal presentation or agenda. Representatives from the DEC along with the New York State Department of Health ( NYSDOH), the Nassau County Department of Health and the Town of Oyster Bay will be present to discuss this project. Copies of reports, maps and other investigative material will also be available at this session. Interested individuals may drop in at anytime between 5 and 9 p.m.

An operable unit is created when the NYSDEC finds it necessary, for a variety of reasons, to break out a portion of a remedial project into a discreet portion of an overall site. Operable Unit 3 of the Northrop Grumman site, the former Grumman Settling Ponds site, is located beneath a part of the Bethpage Community Park. The 18-acre site is located on the west side of Stewart Avenue near Cherry Avenue, Bethpage. The site has been undergoing investigation for environmental contamination from former site activities conducted by its previous owner, the former Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, now known as the Northrop Grumman Corporation (Northrop Grumman).

Additional information on the site is available at www.dec.state.ny.us/website/der/projects on DEC's website. Documents relating to site investigations are currently available in Bethpage Public Library located on Powell Avenue, Bethpage, and at the DEC's office in Stony Brook. Individuals with investigation orientated questions may contact the DEC's project manager Steven M. Scharf, P.E. at 1-800-342-9296, and individuals with health related questions may contact Ian Ushe at the NYSDOH at 1-800-458-1158. Ext. 27880. (MORE) Information is also available by calling Bill Fonda at (631) 444-0350.