Former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant Calverton

Environmental Restoration Program Public Website

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.

One additional component that is vital to the Five-Year Review is obtaining feedback from the community to gauge community knowledge and concerns regarding the status of the implemented remedies. A questionnaire is provided at the link below:

Click here for the NWIRP Calverton 3rd Five-Year Review Questionnaire.

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 12-question survey, which can be downloaded at the bottom of this section, and return to NAVFAC_ML_PAO@navy.mil. 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. To take the survey verbally, please email the public affairs officer at NAVFAC_ML_PAO@navy.mil or call (757) 953-4063 to set up an appointment. The survey may take approximately 20-30 minutes. Survey appointments are available Monday through Thursday between the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Click here to download the Environmental Concerns Survey.

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.