Navy delays Calverton PFAS cleanup until 2039

Senator Chuck Schumer and local officials are demanding that the U.S. Navy accelerate the cleanup of PFAS contamination at the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton. Federal records reveal that the target start date for the remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) has been incrementally pushed back from 2028 to April 2039.

The contamination involves a toxic groundwater plume containing PFAS, often called ‘forever chemicals,’ and 1,4-dioxane, which is moving toward the Peconic Bay at a rate of approximately one foot per day. Environmental advocates and local officials warn that if the plume reaches the Peconic River, it could escalate from a local issue into a regional crisis.

While the Navy has disputed studies conducted by Suffolk County regarding the contamination, Schumer has called for the military to either accept the county's findings or expand its own assessments to include more chemicals. The site, used for naval aircraft assembly and testing during the Cold War, was shuttered in 1996.