Chemical drums filled with toxic liquid have been dug up in a New York neighborhood where residents say there has been a mysterious rise in cancer over the years.
Construction workers unearthed six barrels of chlorinated solvents and waste oil petroleum, which had been dumped within the Town of Oyster Bay in Long Island.
The drums were buried by North Grumman when it operated an aerospace facility in the town from the 1950s to 1990s.
Officials fear the waste may have leaked into the soil and is on the way to public drinking supply.
The town is home to more than 17,200 people who have long raised concerns about the Grumman Aerospace waste, specifically a four-mile-long carcinogenic plume flowing underground that they claim contributed to a rise in cancer diagnoses.
Residents have also found toxic compounds in their attacks and the soil – and a family of three living close to the park were all stricken with cancer.
So concerned were locals about health issues that the state health department conducted a study into cancer diagnoses in the town in 2013.
The three-year researcher found no higher overall cancer rates in a 20-blocka area surrounding the former Grumman property.
But officials noted that there were scientific limitations that made it nearly impossible to link residential cancer clusters and pollution.
What officials did find is that within a one-block area, all those diagnosed with cancer were younger than expected.
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino told local ABC 7: ‘The discovery of the drums in these coffin-like vaults is further proof that Grumman created an environmental graveyard of contaminants right here in this park.’
Bethpage Community Park was closed around 20 years ago over soil contamination concerns, but the site is nestled among homes and community centers.
Hellbound and Down 