Construction is underway on a $19.5 million water treatment facility for the Bethpage Water District, as high levels of contaminants continue to spread from the former Northrop Grumman site.
The new treatment plant on Motor Lane, expected to open by late 2020, will allow the district to treat concentrated levels of volatile organic compounds heading toward its drinking water wells and do it more efficiently, District Superintendent Mike Boufis said.
It also will include a treatment system for the emerging contaminant 1,4-dioxane, a man-made chemical the state is expected to regulate this year.
The district expects the U.S. Navy to pick up the $15 million in costs for the new plant’s treatment for volatile organic contaminants, but not necessarily the $4.5 million for 1,4-dioxane, which is not yet regulated by the federal government, according to the water district and its consultant, H2M architects + engineers of Melville.
Even through fights behind closed doors with the polluters, we do what’s best for the community.
Under the agreements, the Navy and Northrop Grumman are responsible for cleaning up different areas of the plume.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is working on a study on how to fully contain and treat the plume, which is nearly four miles long and two miles wide in the underground aquifer.
“We continue to call on Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy to expedite construction of the full containment and treatment system.
Humann said the plants, by treating the drinking water, also help remove contaminants from the plume, which is slowly spreading south.
A pilot system to remove 1,4-dioxane was added in 2014.

Until laboratory tests are completed to confirm the water has not been contaminated, the boil water notice remains in effect.
A boil water notice means tap water should not be used for drinking, cooking or ice-making until tests verify the water is safe.
How does boiling water make it safe to drink?
Boiling does not remove them from the water, but it does kill them, preventing them from causing illness.
Tap water and antibacterial soap for hand washing is safe for basic hygiene, but if you are washing your hands to prepare food, use bottled or boiled water.
Ice already in your freezer when the boil water notice is issued is safe, but icemakers should be turned off until the notice is lifted.
It is safe to wash clothes in tap water.
The boil water notice will remain in effect until test samples show the water is safe to drink.
How will I know when the boil water notice is lifted and I can safely use tap water again?
After the boil water advisory is lifted, will my water heater be contaminated?

People in the Athlone area of Westmeath face water restrictions tonight due to low levels in Annagh Reservoir following a pollution incident.
Water intake at the treatment plant was affected by the incident at the weekend.
Irish Water and Westmeath County Council have said that in order to allow water supplies to build back up, a water restriction will be in place from 10pm tonight until 6am on Wednesday morning.
The restrictions will impact customers in Baylin, Mount Temple, The Ories, Garrycastle, Dublin Road, Ardnaglug, Fardrum, Moydrum, Blyry, Killyon Hill, Bonavalley, Athlone and surrounds in Co Westmeath.
Meanwhile, people in the Mullingar area are being asked to conserve water due to low levels in Lough Owel.
The lake supplies water to 50,00 homes and business on the Mullingar Water Supply Scheme.
Irish Water says levels in the lake have reached critically low levels.
In a statement, they said there has been just a quarter of average expected rainfall up to 24 January.
As a result the normal expected rise in water levels has not materialised.
Irish Water say they are "working to proactively manage the water level in the lake in order to reduce the risk of water outages in the coming summer and autumn."

BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) – The state of Vermont reached a tentative agreement with a plastics company to address chemical contamination in more than 150 private wells on the east side of Bennington, the state announced Tuesday.
The Agency of Natural Resources said an agreement in principal with Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics will expand municipal water service to most of the affected homes there.
The Bennington Banner reported that if the deal is finalized, Saint-Gobain would provide roughly $26 million for water line extensions and for new wells, or long-term filtering for wells where water lines aren’t feasible.
A final settlement is dependent on ongoing engineering design work.
Phil Scott said in a Tuesday statement.
The company previously agreed to provide $20 million for water line work for about 200 properties on the west side of Bennington.
That work began in the fall of 2017 and is essentially complete.
The engineering and design for the new project is expected to be finalized next month.
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MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) A water main break in Montpelier Tuesday displaced 650 state workers and closed a school.
With aging infrastructure and little money for upgrades, the problem persists.
It’s not that bad," Montpelier Public Works Supervisor Brian Tuttle said.
Tuttle spent most of Tuesday trying to stop a major leak from a broken main.
And all this is an inconvenience, too," Konstantin said.
Public Works Director Tom McArdle says aging infrastructure could be a factor.
That’s about middle-aged when it comes to water pipes in Vermont.
"We have water mains in Montpelier that are upward of 100 years old," McArdle said.
Karen Horn with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns says aging infrastructure is a widespread problem "We’re talking huge dollars," she said.
Montpelier, like the rest of Vermont, is working to patch its system for now.

(Photo: Larry McCormack / The Tennessean) State environmental officials asked Tennessee Gov.
Bill Lee for more funding to repair and upgrade municipal water and sewer infrastructure on Tuesday.
Without the required maintenance, old pipes can burst, sewage can back up and cities can’t grow.
A focus on rural, small towns One of the Lee administration’s top priorities is rural economic development, which became the focus of discussions.
Lee, reiterating his priority, asked how the department selects utilities.
It sometimes picks small towns for loans, he said, but they don’t always accept because they would have to increase customer rates.
This year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted Tennessee an additional $13 million, Salyers said, but he needed the additional state money to take advantage of the federal funds.
Tennessee needs $15.6 billion for aging sewer and drinking water systems through 2040, according to a state report released in December.
Typically, TDEC makes 20 to 30 low- or no-interest loans from the State Revolving Fund each year.
“I think there is some real opportunity there for us to advance your vision," Salyers told Lee.

The company in charge of decommissioning a nuclear power plant in Genoa says it has found the source of radioactive groundwater discovered last year and that the contamination did not affect drinking water or the nearby Mississippi River.
LaCrosseSolutions, a subsidiary of the nuclear waste disposal company EnergySolutions, in March reported elevated levels of tritium in a monitoring well at Dairyland Power Cooperative’s La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR), the state’s first nuclear power plant to undergo decommissioning.
Records show that tritium levels spiked in December 2017 in water samples taken about 25 feet below the ground.
A sample from Feb. 1 registered 24,200 picocuries per liter, just below the Environmental Protection Agency’s limit for drinking water.
According to a report filed earlier this month with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the environmental consulting firm Haley & Aldrich traced the contamination to an exhaust vent installed in the former reactor building as part of the demolition.
The vent was just above a pit of stormwater and melted snow.
EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said tritium was released into the air inside the reactor building as concrete was broken into smaller pieces.
A radioactive isotope of hydrogen, tritium bonds with airborne water molecules.
According to the report, water vapor from inside the plant condensed as it reached the outside air and combined with the runoff, which found its way into a shallow aquifer.
+3 Dairyland contracted with EnergySolutions in 2016 to remove the remaining buildings and transferred the site license to the Salt Lake City-based company, which used a similar license arrangement in decommissioning the Zion Nuclear Power Station near Chicago.

The fire college trained using that foam for years.
“They said it’s very unlikely you’re going to get cancer.
No one knows,” Flores said.
Flores’ is one of five residential wells that tested above the maximum level allowed in drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Tests on the well in August and September showed elevated levels of the compounds, also referred to as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
After the college well tested above the limits, the Florida Department of Health in Marion County began contacting nearby residents and businesses to ask for permission to test their wells.
I’ve been there for over 30 years and drink the water every day,” she said.
“We all have issues, but I don’t know if anything is related to the water,” Lawson said.
He said DOH personnel try to contact residents in person, by leaving door hangers and through the mail.
Concerns over PFAS are nothing new.

CATO, N.Y. — Residents in the Village of Cato should boil their water before using it or use bottled water until further notice after the water system lost pressure because of a water line repair, according to a release form the Cayuga County Health Department.
When water mains lose pressure, the chances that untreated water and harmful microbes can enter your water increase, the health department said.
Once the water line is repaired, the Village of Cato will take samples to confirm the distribution system is not contaminated, according to the release.
The boil water order is expected to last a few days.
“Harmful microbes in drinking water can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms and may pose a special health risk for infants, some elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems,” the health department said.
“But these symptoms are not just caused by microbes in drinking water.
If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you should seek medical advice.” People with questions may contact the Village of Cato at 315-626-2397 or the Cayuga County Health Department at 315-253-1560.

Coal ash repositories at 22 operating and defunct coal plants in Illinois have contaminated groundwater and water bodies with toxic heavy metals and other elements at rates higher than legal limits, in some cases exponentially so, according to a new analysis by four environmental groups.
The environmental groups compared the levels of metals reported in groundwater to Environmental Protection Agency safe drinking water standards and other federal health standards.
But other coal ash impoundments are in populated areas where people rely on wells, like Joliet southwest of Chicago.
Under the federal rules the groundwater monitoring results could trigger required cleanups by the companies.
Environmental groups are calling on the state of Illinois to complete state coal ash storage rules that have been in the works since 2013 but not finalized.
Contamination across the state High levels of metals were found in groundwater near plants including NRG’s operating Waukegan plant on the shore of Lake Michigan north of Chicago; Vistra/Dynegy’s closed Hennepin plant just downstream on the Illinois River from popular Starved Rock State Park; Vistra/Dynegy’s closed Vermilion plant on the Vermilion River in central Illinois, the state’s only federally designated wild and scenic river; and NRG’s Lincoln Stone Quarry about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.
The environmental groups are especially worried about the pollution since companies plan to permanently close a number of the coal ash impoundments, and the groups worry that current federal and state rules do not do enough to ensure adequate monitoring and remediation in the future.
It’s operated under strict permit limits and the oversight of the Illinois EPA, and no groundwater associated with the quarry affects any sources of drinking water.” Environmental advocates have long questioned whether monitoring requirements were adequate, and say the new reporting requirements of federal coal ash rules help them keep better watch on the situation.
The report by environmental groups criticizes the way the rules monitor whether a coal ash impoundment has caused contamination.
But the environmental groups complain that the upgradient sites considered as background or control data are in some cases too close to the plant and could also be contaminated from coal ash dumped in the past.