The Calverton area, while mostly included in the Town of Riverhead, does have a small portion within the Town of Brookhaven. The Peconic River serves as the border between the two municipalities.
However, it’s that same river that has been the site of a toxic plume, courtesy of the former Grumman Site on River Road. The site was never cleaned up by its former owners and operators, the U.S. Navy, and PFAS and 1-4, dioxane – “forever” chemicals – have traveled up the river in a plume that has left dozens of households on bottled water for all their household needs.
The Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) has made improvements in the Calverton areas by connecting homes to proper wastewater infrastructure, but more work remains. Local, State, and federal partners continue to demand action on the cleanup of the Grumman Site. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regularly been lobbied to declare the area a Superfund site – one in need of significant environmental remediation.
Last Thursday, Congressman Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) descended on Riverhead Town Hall with $2.25 million in Appropriations funding to hook up 28 homes to “clean, safe drinking water.” The money comes from the FY2026 Appropriations process. LaLota noted that NY-01 ranked third of New York’s 26 congressional districts for total funds delivered for infrastructure, public safety, and water quality, primarily.
NY-01 is on pace to rank first of New York’s districts in federal monies received for the FY2027 Appropriations process.
“Every Suffolk County family should have access to good clean drinking water. This is where the rubber meets the road,” said LaLota. “Families drinking bottled water and using boiled water [for other household uses] is not part of a civilized Long Island in 2026.”
The broader fight against remediating the Peconic River and surrounding areas comes from talks with the U.S. Navy, who recommended that appropriations be made in the Defense bill so those funds can be earmarked for that exact cleanup. Remediation is already underway at the former Grumman site.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) said that since he took office in 2024, water quality concerns across Suffolk, but particularly in Calverton, have been priorities.
“Clean water is vital to life,” said Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow). She added that while the “conversations” of broader remediation have been going on for over 20 years, Congressman LaLota’s efforts have resulted in the “most money seen delivered back to the Town in years.”
“People on River Road were forgotten and pushed off to the side while everyone else got connected [to sewers],” said Giglio.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin (D-Riverhead) added that the families of these 28 homes will “no longer have to think about what most of us take for granted.”
The Town of Riverhead continues to work with the Navy for remediating the Site. Town Councilman Bob Kern (R-Riverhead) said in the last year, “strides” have been made that “haven’t been made in 30 years.”
