The long-delayed soil cleanup at the Bethpage Community Park ballfield is getting underway.

The field was shut down 18 years ago after it was discovered the land donated by Grumman to the Town of Oyster Bay was from toxic dumping ground.

Back in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, the site was used by Grumman as a legal dump site for its toxic industrial waste and it has been linked to what is now known as the Bethpage Plume.

According to Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, Northrop Grumman's promise to remediate the toxic soil should get underway in the next few weeks.

In a statement, a spokesman said the soil treatment system at the Bethpage Community Park ballfield should be operational by mid-summer.

Adrienne Esposito, of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, says it's about time the project began.

"We're grateful. We're happy that finally, the soil at the park will be remediated – but there is much work to do for our drinking water and the health of our bays," she told News 12.

Volatile chemicals, heavy metals, PCBs and TCE are just some of the toxic chemicals found in the park's dirt.

Saladino says he expects the park to reopen as a ballfield by next summer.