An 18-acre chunk of Bethpage Community Park is a hazardous waste site, used historically by the Northrop Grumman Corp. industrial complex for disposal of toxic waste, including chromium, PCBs and volatile organic compounds.

Pollution has penetrated the soil of nearby properties at the former Grumman plant and naval weapons depot in Bethpage.This week, the Department of Environmental Conservation published its proposed decontamination plan for the former Grumman Settling Ponds, which is listed as a Class 2 site in the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites . A Class 2 site represents a significant threat to public health or the environment.

The public comment period on the Proposed Remedial Action Plan will run through June 30, 2012 with a public meeting on Tuesday, June 12. DEC developed the plan in conjunction with the state Department of Health (DOH). The public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Bethpage High School located at 10 Cherry Avenue, Bethpage. At the meeting, DEC and DOH staff will describe the contents of the cleanup proposal.

Prior to this meeting, two availability sessions will be held on June 11 from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. and on June 12 from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. Availability sessions are more informal presentations where the public can ask project engineers and state health engineers individual questions about remediation plans for the site. Public comments also will be recorded at these sessions, which will be held at Bethpage Community Center, 100 Grumman Road West.