Former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant Calverton

Environmental Restoration Program Public Website

NWIRP CALVERTON FORMER EMPLOYEES: WE'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU

The U.S. Navy is requesting interviews with former employees, or their surviving family members, who worked at the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton, New York between 1954 and 1996. Your firsthand experience is vital to supporting our ongoing environmental cleanup efforts at the site. We are particularly interested in your knowledge of:

Past operations and activities
Waste management practices
Building utilization
Grounds maintenance
Aircraft fabrication practices on site
Any other relevant information, both on- and off-property.

Participation is completely voluntary, and all information shared during the interviews will be kept confidential. Your insights will help to ensure a thorough and effective environmental restoration of the property.

If you'd like to participate in an interview or learn more, please email NAVFAC_ML_PAO_ALL@us.navy.mil or call (800) 906-9339.

NWIRP CALVERTON COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PLAN

A Community Involvement Plan (CIP) is a site-specific strategy to enable meaningful community involvement throughout the restoration and cleanup process at the former NWIRP Calverton. The CIP was developed to comply with USEPA, Department of Defense, Navy, and Federal Registration Requirements and incorporated input from the public, through surveys and interviews, on how the public would like to be involved in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act process. Updates to the CIP are generally conducted every five years. The latest CIP update began in 2021 and was finalized in May 2022.

Click here for the NWIRP Calverton Community Involvement Plan.

Take the Survey

Please take the Navy’s 20-question survey, which linked at the bottom of this section. Your responses are invaluable as they help the Navy understand how best to keep the community informed on this issue as well as where the community prefers to receive their information; it will also be used to develop a Community Involvement Plan. If you're unable to complete the survey electronically and require assistance and/or an alternative method to provide feedback, please contact the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Public Affairs Office at (757) 341-1410, or email NAVFAC_ML_PAO_ALL@us.navy.mil. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on availability.

Click here to take the Environmental Concerns Survey. The survey will be active through June 6, 2025.

FIVE-YEAR REVIEW

The Department of the Navy, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), has begun a Five-Year Review of the remedies selected at former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP), Calverton, New York. The purpose of the Five-Year Review is to evaluate the implementation and performance of the final remedies to ensure that they are and will continue to be protective of human health and the environment.

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) §121 (c), if a remedial action results in CERCLA hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants remaining at a site at levels that do not allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, the site must be reviewed every five years. The Department of the Navy, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, has begun the 3rd FYR of the remedies selected at former NWIRP Calverton. The goal of FYR is to evaluate the implementation and performance of the remedies to determine if the remedies are and will continue to be protective of human health and the environment. During the Five-Year Review, monitoring data from the last five years will be evaluated and compared to updated screening and toxicological criteria to assess effectiveness of the remedies. Annual Land Use Control Inspection reports and investigation documents will be reviewed, and a site inspection will be conducted to further assess site conditions and remedy protectiveness. Additionally, the Five-Year Review will consider the potential impacts of climate change and sea-level rise on the remedies to determine if they will remain protective under future scenarios.

What is the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB)?

The RAB gives the community access to information about the progress of the Navy’s ERP activities at NWIRP Calverton. The RAB concept allows an interested subset of the local community to become educated on the often highly technical aspects of the planning, investigation, and risk management decisions and actions of specific Navy ERP Sites and provide advice to the decision makers based on common issues and concerns of the local community. The RAB will also act as a liaison group, disseminating information to the community and soliciting the community for comments. The RAB is not a decision-making board, but a valuable resource in ensuring local knowledge, issues, and concerns are considered and incorporated where appropriate into the Navy’s planning and execution of the ERP at NWIRP Calverton. The Navy will consider all advice provided by the RAB, whether offered as a consensus or by individual members.

What do I do as a RAB Member?

Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) members have two unique roles: (1) Provide advice to Navy decision makers and (2) Act as a liaison group to disseminate information to, and solicit concerns from the community. If interested, please download and fill out the application in the section below. RAB member responsibilities include:

Serve as volunteers and expected to attend all RAB meetings (two annual meetings for Calverton)
Provide community input on local issues related to the Navy’s restorations activities at the former Navy/Grumman site in Calverton
Be available to the community to facilitate the exchange of information and/or concerns
Expect to devote at least 10 to 12 hours per year to support the RAB

Click here for the RAB rules.

Click here for the RAB Training presentation.

Click here for the 2021 RAB Charter.