• Bigger Than Bay Park •
Although we are mostly from the Bay Park/East Rockaway area, Nassau County residents need to know that the county's decision to dump the sewage of Cedarhurst and Lawrence into the Sewage Treatment Plant at Bay Park results in more waste being pumped into the plant which increases the outflow into Reynolds Channel. The impact is more nitrates from the effluent being dumped into the south shore waterway which is conducive to the growth of seaweed and seagrass, this inturn depletes the oxygen levels in the bay and chokes out the native marine ecosystem.
As any long time resident of the surrounding communities who fish in the bay can tell you, there's a lot less fish than there used to be. Oysters have been practically eradicated from the South Shore bays. Clams, mussels and small bait fish are dying off as a direct result of the effluent already being pumped into the bay at the Reynolds Channel outfall pipe. If the county goes through with their plan to increase the sewage into Bay Park, how will that affect the already stressed marine environment of our bay this summer? Or the next one? And so on and so on until the fish are gone.
Town of Hempstead residents who use Hewlett Point Beach were turned away 15 times this past summer due to high bacteria levels in the bay. The shoreline of the beach is lined with a brown colored foam that is not usually seen at most bay beaches. If the county goes through with their plan to increase the sewage into Bay Park, how will that affect beach closures this summer? Or the next one? And so on and so on until the beach is gone.
Nassau County residents who use the park for their children's sporting events or go there to enjoy the playground with their kids are usually hit with foul odors emmited from the plant. The fetid stench is sometimes so bad that it literally permeates the air surrounding the entire park. If the county goes through with their plan to increase the sewage into Bay Park, how will that affect plant odor issues this summer? Or the next one? And so on and so on until the park is gone.
The negative impact is far reaching. Nassau County residents must speak out and ask:
How could Nassau County approve of this ill-advised plan that will only lead to the very destruction of the South Shore bay?
