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Bay Park sewage plant may have cost Toback election

BY SID CASSESE

November 19, 2009

If any one issue cost Oceanside Legis. Jeff Toback the election - and the Democrats their legislative majority - it was the consolidation of area sewage into the plant at Bay Park, political observers say.

Preliminary results have Toback losing to Republican Howard Kopel of Lawrence, 6,715 to 5,513.
Many factors came into play in the election, observers said, including the Orthodox Jewish community's strong support of Kopel, low Democratic voter turnout, what some called a dull campaign by Democrats, and even the resentment of minority groups over a failing community center in Inwood.

But sewage was the major local issue, and Bay Park and adjacent East Rockaway residents rose up against Toback, who backed the consolidation that has not been completed yet.

"We had many meetings and did a lot of research and brainstorming on this," said Connie Petrucci, a consolidation opposition leader. "What got out the vote [against Toback] was networking on the telephone and Internet and especially our Web site: Greenbayparkers.org."

But Toback, a 10-year legislator and the third-ranking Democrat of the 10-9 majority, said consolidation was the right thing to do. "It was a win-win situation for everybody, fiscally and environmentally," he said. "But the Republicans saw it as an issue for creating fear among some residents and exploited it."

Petrucci and her group saw it differently. "It was never about saving money or the environment," she said. "It was political - closing down the stations in Cedarhurst and Lawrence, and shifting the responsibility for the sewage from the villages to the county."

Others saw additional obstacles that Toback faced.

Lawrence Levy, the executive director of Hofstra University's National Center for Suburban Studies, said Nassau's entire Democratic campaign was "lazy, sloppy, unfocused . and that includes the Toback race against Howard Kopel." He added that the support of Orthodox rabbis in the area also helped Kopel.

Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg of the conservative Congregation Sons of Israel in Woodmere, while noting that he had no active role in either candidate's campaign, said he remembered a local newspaper advertisement by Orthodox rabbis supporting Kopel. "It didn't say anything against Toback, but just backed Kopel," he said.

But both Toback and Kopel said they believed other issues had more impact than the religious one. Kopel said "sewage consolidation hurt the incumbent more, and also taxes and spending."

Hempstead sues Nassau over Bay Park sewer consolidation

BY EDEN LAIKIN

October 12, 2009

Hempstead Town is suing Nassau County, accusing the county of approving the Bay Park sewer consolidation plan without a detailed environmental impact statement.

The suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Mineola on Oct. 7, seeks to stop the county from moving ahead with the consolidation plan - approved in June by the County Legislature's Democratic majority - until the environmental review is completed.

Democrats and Republicans in the County Legislature have clashed over the plan, introduced by County Executive Thomas Suozzi, which would close sewage treatment plants in the Villages of Cedarhurst and Lawrence, convert them to pump stations and pipe the waste to the county treatment plant at Bay Park in East Rockaway.

County Public Works Commissioner Ray Ribeiro said the consolidation will help the water quality in the bays along the western portion of the county's south shore by improving the waste when in the treatment process at Bay Park.

Ribeiro said the environmental review was properly done and approved by the state.

"The federal government loves the idea and agreed to fund it," Ribeiro said. "So the villages, the county and the state and federal governments think it [the environmental study] was done right - everybody but the Town of Hempstead."

He said the Bay Park plant can handle the extra waste because it can treat up to 70 million gallons of sewage a day and treats only 58 million now.

Residents near the Bay Park plant - led by Hempstead Town councilman Tony Santino - have complained that the additional sewage would add to the foul odors and pollutants the plant already produces.

The suit states that residents are "deprived of the enjoyment of the public parks, beaches and waterways in the area . . . due to pollutants and contamination of the waterways in the form of brown suds."

Ribeiro said the county has done "everything we could to control the odor problem. We've spent millions of dollars on odor control systems . . . There's no correlation between the amount of flow and odor complaints."

The suit alleges that a Nassau County Planning Commission saying the plan would cause no significant negative environmental impacts was based on an improperly prepared environmental assessment form that failed to recognize the significant adverse effects.

The suit claims that "The town and its residents will be adversely affected and aggrieved by the Sewer Consolidation Plan . . . if the proper environmental review is not undertaken and appropriate mitigation measures are not implemented."

Nassau 7th District: Jeffery Toback, Howard Kopel

BY WILLIAM MURPHY

October 6, 2009

Sewage sets the candidates apart in Nassau County's 7th Legislative District, centered in Oceanside.

Incumbent Democrat Jeffery Toback has been a reliable supporter of the policies of Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, including Suozzi's cost-cutting plans to close the village sewage treatment plants in Cedarhurst and Lawrence and pump the effluent to the county treatment plant at Bay Park.

Republican challenger Howard Kopel, who owns a real estate services firm in Valley Stream, has taken no stand on the consolidation but accuses Toback of ignoring the anger of Bay Park and East Rockaway residents who have complained of foul odors from the plant for years.

"The bay is being fouled. The air does smell. I was down there," Kopel, a Lawrence resident, said. "When you're taking care of the sewer situation, you have to take care of those people as well."

Toback, 50, an attorney in private practice, said the Bay Park treatment plant can handle the additional 2 million gallons of sewage daily, and Republicans are "taking advantage" of the situation.

"Not every resident of Bay Park comes to the legislature to complain, and some are more willing to listen to reason than others," Toback said.

Kopel, 58, said he will fight to keep taxes from increasing and criticized "hidden" taxes.

"I believe there's a matter of being honest with the citizenry," Kopel said. "There is a hidden, regressive tax that, as I walk around, few people know about, the electricity and energy tax," referring to the 2.5 percent sales tax on home fuels the Democrats imposed earlier this year.

"Another example is the ticket on right turn," he said. "I don't condone violating the law, but I do want people to be honest and upfront about what they're doing."

The legislature passed a bill this year allowing installation of cameras to catch motorists who run red lights, but lawmakers said later they did not know it would also target motorists who make a right turn on red without coming to a full stop.

Toback said he was proud of his record since being elected 10 years ago.

"Then, we were on the brink of bankruptcy," he said. "We made tough decisions. And my record, I think, goes straight to my ability to make the difficult decision ahead."

Although Democrats and Republicans usually vote the party line on the legislature, Kopel said he could be independent.

"I will try to do what I think is right. That said, I am a Republican for a reason," he said. "If a Republican is acting like a Democrat, I'll vote against that."

Officials meet on Great Neck sewer treatment plant

BY CHRISTINA HERNANDEZ

July 13, 2009

As Great Neck sewer officials at a meeting recently cut by about $20 million their cost estimate for a new treatment plant, North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman said he would ask Nassau County officials to rule on whether the area's sewage could instead be diverted to a county plant.

The Great Neck Water Pollution Control District and Great Neck Village agreed last year to build a new, combined plant to comply with state standards to limit nitrogen emissions. But Kaiman balked when district officials said the plant's construction would require a bond of about $70 million.

At the June 26 meeting at town hall, district officials said value engineers - who examine a project in search of savings - developed an alternative plan expected to reduce the cost to about $48 million.

Kaiman and village mayors at the meeting expressed frustration that the district's engineers hadn't come up with lower figures to begin with.

District superintendent Christopher Murphy defended the original estimate, saying officials didn't want to build a "bare bones" facility. The cuts, he said, included reducing automation and limiting redundancies.

While value engineers continue to look for cost savings, Kaiman said he planned to ask the county if diverting sewage to a South Shore facility is a viable option, one that would save Great Neck residents the cost of building a new plant.

He said though the estimated cost of diversion would be $35 million, a $15 million state grant would reduce the cost to $20 million. In an interview, Ray Ribeiro, commissioner of the county Public Works department, said the county supports diversion as more cost-effective and environmentally sound. "The concept still makes sense to us," he said. "If the town is talking about re-initiating those discussions, we would certainly do that."

But several mayors said they opposed diversion, preferring instead the district's local control.

Study: Digging in sand can increase health problems

BY STACEY ALTHERR

July 9, 2009

Digging in beach sand might be hazardous to your health.

A study by the Environmental Protection Agency and University at North Carolina at Chapel Hill found those who dig in the sand have an increased chance of gastrointestinal problems, such as diarrhea, due to fecal matter in the sand. Children are especially vulnerable because they tend to put sand, and their hands, in their mouths.

The beach tradition of getting buried in sand put beachgoers at an even bigger risk than those who just dug in the sand, according to the study.

Researchers interviewed more than 27,000 people over four years at seven beaches on the Great Lakes, the Gulf Coast, and in Rhode Island, choosing sites where solid waste was discharged within 7 miles.

In follow-up interviews with participants days after their beach visit, researchers found evidence of gastrointestinal illnesses, upper respiratory illnesses, rash, eye ailments, earache and infected cuts.

Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal illnesses were more common in about 13 percent of people who reported digging in sand, and in about 23 percent of those who reported being buried in sand

Long Island has several outfall pipes that discharge to water near bathing beaches.

"We've known about water-associated illnesses for some time," said Chris Heaney, a postdoctoral epidemiology student at UNC's Gillings School of Global Public Health, and the study's lead author. "And we have known for some time that there are fecal indicators in sand in high density. Ours is the first study to look at the contact between the sand and people."

The study looked for other illnesses, such as respiratory problems, said Heaney, but the strongest correlation was with gastrointestinal illness.

The findings won't keep Heaney from enjoying the beach and he doesn't want anyone else to stay away, either. Just take precautions after playing in the sand or water, he said.

Lawmakers approve plan to consolidate Bay Park sewage

SID CASSESE

June 8, 2009

Despite strong objections from residents around the Bay Park Sewage treatment plant, the county's Democratic legislative majority approved a consolidation plan that would bring new sewage to the East Rockaway facility near the western bays.

"This vote was a disgrace," said Connie Petrucci of East Rockaway, an activist on the sewage issue, who called her legislative representative, Jeff Toback of Oceanside, "irresponsible" for his yes vote Monday. "We will not give up."

Republican Legis. Denise Ford of Long Beach voted with the Democrats, saying, much like Toback and other Democrats, she thought it was the right thing to do "environmentally." She cautioned, though, that the concern of the residents must be addressed.

But the other Republicans voted no, and an outraged Minority Leader Peter Schmitt of Massapequa told the residents opposed to the plan to sue the county and he would help them. "We've researched this issue and we can help," he said.

Schmitt, who tried to table the item, said the residents' concerns, including an environmental impact study, had not been addressed.

He said an accompanying agreement between the county and two villages, Lawrence and Cedarhurst, locked in their current sewage treatment fees for up to 10 years no matter what everybody else in Nassau pays.

Schmitt said the county guaranteed if those fees were insufficient to repay the bonding of $25 million estimated for associated costs to the villages for joining the county sewer system, Nassau would pay the difference.

"That means the rest of us will have to subsidize the two villages," Schmitt said.

In other action, Suozzi appointee Donald Birnbaum of Merrick was approved to fill a District Court vacancy but must run in November to keep it.

Nassau plans to use federal stimulus to close sewage plants

BY WILLIAM MURPHY

May 15, 2009

Nassau County plans to tap into federal stimulus money to close the village sewage treatment plants in Lawrence and Cedarhurst and pump the effluent to the county treatment plant in Bay Park, officials said Friday.

An intricate financing plan put together by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi would allow him to proceed without the support of Republicans on the county legislature, which will hear details of the plan Monday, the officials confirmed.

The Suozzi plan, as outlined by Public Works Commissioner Raymond Ribeiro, would allow the state Environmental Facilities Corp. to issue about $26 million in bonds to pay for the project, and the bonds would be supported by stimulus dollars.

As a backup, the village boards of Lawrence and Cedarhurst voted earlier this week to issue their own bonds to pay for any shortfall in federal aid, Ribeiro said.

He said that since the new financing scheme would not require the county to issue bonds or guarantee the village bonds, it can be approved with a simple majority vote of the legislature, where Suozzi's fellow Democrats outnumber Republicans 10-9. A supermajority of 13 votes would have been required for a county bond.

The leader of the Republican minority, Legis. Peter Schmitt of Massapequa, said the plan looked like "an end run around the legislative process" and said he was considering legal action.

Bay Park residents opposed to the county's overall sewer consolidation plan expressed anger at the latest news. "They still haven't figured out what to do with it when it gets to us," Connie Petrucci, a Bay Park activist, said.

"They are still dumping the outflow into Reynolds Channel. This does nothing to get us an outflow pipe to ocean," she said.

The original consolidation plan called for the county to fund the conversion of the village treatment plants to pumping stations and then take them over.

Under the new plan, the villages will retain control of the pumping stations and keep the revenue from users to pay off the bonds over their lifetime of up to 40 years, Ribeiro said.

Suozzi weighs privatizing sewage plants, ambulances

BY SID CASSESE

February 10, 2009

Adding to his already combative relationship with county worker unions, County Executive Thomas Suozzi said he is considering privatizing Nassau's three sewage treatment plants and the police department's emergency ambulance bureau.

Tucked into the tail end of a report Suozzi made to the Nassau Interim Finance Authority last week, under "Other Opportunities," Suozzi said privatization in the two areas could save taxpayers "millions of dollars a year in direct labor costs and tens of millions in capital expenditures."

His report to NIFA followed a speech he gave last Monday to the 19-member Nassau County Legislature, where he vowed to lay off about 1,000 workers to close a $130 million budget gap unless he got union concessions.

The treatment plants in Wantagh, East Rockaway and Glen Cove, and associated systems have about 250 workers and an operating cost of about $180 million a year. The ambulance service, which earned $17.1 million last year, is budgeted for $16.3 million and has 154 workers.

Suozzi's privatization proposal upset union leaders.

"Here I am trying to work with Mr. Suozzi to help the county and my members, then I hear things like this. I now think it's more than just a budget issue," said Local 830 Civil Service Employees Association president Jerry Laricchiuta, implying that Suozzi was trying to revise their recent arbitrator-awarded contract.

But Mel Jackson, a Hempstead community leader, said he thinks the privatization is a good idea and "It might even open up some doors for minority vendors of that service."

One place the private practice seems to be working in Nassau County is in Rockville Centre, where the village has a contract since Dec. 1 with the ambulance service at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.

"It could cost us up to $185,000 a year," said village administrator Frank Quigley, "but it was something our volunteer firefighters thought was necessary because of a drop in members who are EMTs."

New Rochelle, a city of 75,000, has been served for years by TransCare out of Brooklyn, according to City Manager Charles Strome. "One measure of success is the number of complaints we get, and we've gotten very few," he said.

Privatization of sewage treatment systems is more controversial, with people debating its economics and efficiency.

But Steve Nielsen, Indianapolis' deputy director of public works, said city officials are happy with the privatization it has had since 1994.

LI 'green' advocates: Bill shortchanges sewer projects

BY JENNIFER SMITH

January 22, 2009

Local environmental advocates say a proposed House version of the $825-billion federal economic stimulus bill would shortchange sewer projects, setting aside only $6 billion for loans to maintain and upgrade the nation's aging wastewater infrastructure.

New York lawmakers had asked for more sewer money - $14 billion for low-interest loans in the House version, and $20 billion in loans and grants in the Senate version, which still is being drafted.

If approved, the House bill could disappoint Long Island municipalities, which have outlined millions of dollars in shovel-ready sewer projects. Federal cutbacks in the 1980s saddled local governments with much of the cost of repairing decades-old sewage treatment plants.

"On Long Island, the need is tremendous," said Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment in Farmingdale. "One percent of the stimulus package is nonsensical - these problems will not fix themselves."

Yesterday the House Committee on Appropriations met to discuss the bill. Beyond the $6 billion for wastewater infrastructure, the version also included $30 billion for highways, $10 billion for transit and rail, and $32 billion to upgrade the nation's electrical grid. These figures are part of the $550 billion in spending; the bill also includes $250 billion in tax cuts.

Earlier this month, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) and others from the New York delegation sent committee leaders a letter asking that the infrastructure portion of the bill include $14 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which provides low-interest loans for sewage treatment plant upgrades.

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) said they ended up with less money for sewage treatment plant upgrades than he had hoped for, adding that negotiations shaved the total infrastructure portion of the bill down to $65 billion from about $85 billion.

"There are lots of competing priorities," Bishop said. Still, he said, "this stimulus package is not meant to be the final call on the federal role in investing in these kinds of projects."

Last Friday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other lawmakers asked Senate leaders to include $20 billion in loans and grants for sewage projects. They cited states' strained capacity to take on additional debt.

New York State alone has $1.3 billion in shovel-ready sewage projects, according to a letter Gov. David A. Paterson sent then-President-elect Barack Obama last month outlining the state's infrastructure needs.

Eligible wastewater projects on the Island include treatment upgrades at plants in Lawrence, Great Neck and Patchogue, and other improvements throughout Nassau County, according to a governor's office draft list.

Last week, Suffolk officials released their list of "ready-to-go" projects that included millions more for installing sewers in Port Jefferson Village and Huntington. The projects would generate thousands of jobs, officials said.

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Residents react to Kopel victory
Decade-long Democrat incumbent ousted as legislator

BY ANTHONY BOTTAN

November 12, 2009

Republican Howard Kopel defeated 10-year incumbent Jeff Toback by more than a 1,000 votes.

After serving the 7th Legislative District for ten years, Jeff Toback will be replaced by republican Howard Kopel after losing this year’s election by more than a thousand votes. But for some East Rockaway and Bay Park residents, the change couldn’t have come at a better time.

Toback was an advocate for the consolidation of the Lawrence and Cedarhurst sewage plants to the county’s facility in Bay Park, which most East Rockaway and Bay Park residents opposed.

“I’m elated that he lost,” said Connie Petrucci, an East Rockaway resident who advocated against consolidation. “He was an adversary to this community, and when you have deaf ears toward your constituents, that’s what happens. You lose an election.” Petrucci said she is happy that “the little people finally won” and added that she worked hard with the Green Bay Parkers — a group of East Rockaway and Bay Park residents who fought against the sewage consolidation — to convince voters to oust Toback. “When a group comes together and they have one common goal, you can make it happen,” she said.

The sewage plant consolidation would send an extra 2 million gallons of sewage per day to the Bay Park facility. The plant currently processes 60 million gallons per day, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation allows it to process up to 72 million gallons. Currently, the Town of Hempstead is suing the county as well as Lawrence and Cedarhurst in an attempt to stop the consolidation until state environmental agencies determine how the extra sewage processed by the Bay Park facility will affect Reynolds Channel, where the plant pumps treated effluent. Lawrence and Cedarhurst were also in Toback’s legislative district.

Lorraine Keegan, a member of the Bay Park Civi Association, said she’s lived in Bay Park her entire life, and never put political signs on her lawn. This year, she said, her lawn was filled with pro-Kopel posters. “Toback didn’t want to listen to us,” Keegan said. “I’m very happy he’s out. We may not have a lot of money in this community, but we do have the power and the people who care about where they live.”

Keegan noted that she doesn’t know if Kopel will be any better than Toback, but hopes he will listen to the people who got him into office. “I hope he does better,” she said. “I don’t think he could do any worse. Toback had to realize, he turned his back on us and lost because of it.”

President of the Bay Park Civic Association, Richard Brennan, agreed with Keegan that he is happy Toback is out, but doesn’t know what Kopel will bring to the table for East Rockaway and Bay Park residents. “It remains to be seen,” Brennan said of how well Kopel will do in office. “We are going to have to see how he performs. I don’t think he has to raise the bar too high to beat Toback.”

Trish Louw, an East Rockaway resident who fought against Toback and his consolidation plan, said she met with Kopel to discuss upgrading the Bay Park sewage plant, and hopes he will address the concerns of her community. “Our residents were very aware that we were not being served or listened to,” Louw said. “We needed Toback to address our quality of life issues, and most of the time, he didn’t support us.”

East Rockaway resident Kristen Ochtera said there was a high level of frustration with voters in her community, and felt their needs were dismissed because East Rockaway and Bay Park are small communities.

“We feel like we weren’t given a fair shake,” Ochtera said. “It’s always an uphill battle. You convince yourself that the little man can’t win, but then our community was heard.”
James Trantel, a member of the Green Bay Parkers, said he expected Toback to lose because he and other East Rockaway residents made their rounds in the community, imploring people to vote for Kopel. “We worked hard to get the vote out,” Trantel said. “I think Toback got his just dessert. He would have done much better working with the community than against us.”

Trantel added that even though Toback is out of office, it doesn’t mean Kopel will do any better. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” Trantel said of Kopel. “If he doesn’t do what we need him to do, we’ll put his feet to the fire.”

©Herald Community 2009

Town sues to stop consolidation
Environmental review called for Western Bays

BY ANTHONY BOTTAN

October 8, 2009

The sewer consolidation of the Lawrence and Cedarhurst plants would send an extra two million gallons of sewage per day to the Bay Park facility.
In June, the Nassau County Legislature approved a bill that would close the sewer plants in the villages of Lawrence and Cedarhurst and transfer their waste to the county’s facility in Bay Park.

On Oct. 1, the Town of Hempstead board unanimously voted to sue the county as well as Lawrence and Cedarhurst in an attempt to stop the consolidation until state environmental agencies determine how the extra sewage processed by the Bay Park facility will affect Reynolds Channel, where the plant pumps treated effluent.

The plant consolidation would send an extra 2 million gallons of sewage per day to the Bay Park facility. The plant currently processes 60 million gallons per day, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation allows it to process up to 72 million gallons.

East Rockaway resident Connie Petrucci, who has been fighting the consolidation for two years, said she is glad someone is standing up for the residents of East Rockaway and Bay Park. “We are applauding the Town of Hempstead,” Petrucci said. “It’s the only government entity that steps forward to protect its constituents against the possible health hazards for the residents that live near the plant.”

Town Councilman Anthony Santino said that if the town wins the lawsuit, the county would be required to conduct an environmental review before the consolidation is completed. Santino explained that if the review concludes that the extra sewage adversely impacts the Western Bays — which extend from the town’s western boundary to the Suffolk County line — the county will have to upgrade the Bay Park plant before it begins processing more sewage. He noted, however, that the town does not have the power to stop the consolidation.

Lawrence Mayor C. Simon Felder said he didn’t understand the reason for the litigation. “I don’t see why there would be opposition to it,” Felder said. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”

The environmental review, known as a Total Maximum Daily Load test, determines the amount of pollutants a body of water can handle without exceeding state water quality standards. But Ray Ribeiro, commissioner of the county’s Department of Public Works, said that the test could not be completed until 2013, and if the county had waited until then to consolidate, it would have missed out on the federal stimulus money it has already received for the project.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said that the first step toward a healthier Western Bays is consolidation, and the lawsuit is holding up the process. “It sounds like the town is playing politics rather than engaging in a long-term protection plan for the Western Bays, and that’s disturbing,” Esposito said. “... They should be our partners.”

Esposito added that she is confident that the findings of the Total Maximum Daily Load test will show that the Western Bays has levels of nitrogen, bacteria and ammonia that are too high. With consolidation, she said, sewage would be more efficiently treated, which would benefit the Western Bays.

Santino said he thinks the load test should have been done first. “The Legislature put through their proposal to send extra sewage to Bay Park, and they didn’t do any studies or air quality tests,” he said. “That, in my opinion, is bogus. East Rockaway and Bay Park deserve a full environmental review of the proposal to see how it impacts them.”

Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside), who has been a staunch advocate of the consolidation, said he had not yet seen the court documents and did not know the reason for the lawsuit. He did say that the county followed all the necessary guidelines for the consolidation.

“We believe that we followed the law to a T,” Toback said. “We are confident that we followed all the laws. It required that we do certain studies before we embarked on the project, and I know we followed the law in every respect.”

Town Supervisor Kate Murray said she wanted to make sure that the waterways would not be adversely impacted by the extra sewage, which is why she voted to move forward with the litigation. “We want Nassau to do right by residents around the Bay Park sewage treatment plant,” Murray said. “The county needs to do a thorough environmental review to make sure our bays are safe and clean.”

The consolidation entails the construction of a pumping station in Lawrence that would send sewage to Inwood, and then to the Bay Park facility, Ribeiro explained. Gravity would move the sewage from Cedarhurst to an upgraded pumping station in Inwood, which would move it on to the Bay Park facility. The Bay Park plant processes sewage more efficiently than the other two plants, Ribeiro noted, removing 95 percent of solids, 10 percent more than the local plants.

Upgrading the Lawrence and Cedarhurst facilities would have cost $30 million. Consolidation will cost $18 million. Federal stimulus money will fund up to half of the construction costs, Toback said, with the remainder covered by 30-year bonds worth up to $12 million and $14 million and issued by Cedarhurst and Lawrence, respectively. The project is slated to begin by the end of the year, and to be completed by Jan. 1, 2012.

Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise added that he thinks the consolidation is the right thing to do. “Why would the Town of Hempstead get into it?” Parise questioned. “We’re the last two villages in the Town of Hempstead to get into the county system. We’re definitely for it.”

Stephen J. Bronner contributed to this story.

5 Towns sewer plants to close Waste will be diverted to county facility, saving money

By STEPHEN J. BRONNER

June 11, 2009 (As printed in the 5 Towns edition of the Herald)

The Cedarhurst Sewage Plant, located on Hanlon Drive and Peninsula Boulevard, will be closed within the next few years. Waste will then be diverted to Inwood with a gravity pipe.

The Nassau County Legislature approved a bill Monday that will close the sewer plants in Lawrence and Cedarhurst and transfer the waste to the county’s treatment facility in Bay Park, according to Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside).

“This is a real win-win for the residents of Lawrence and Cedarhurst,” Toback said. “They’re saving money on upgrading their facilities, and it’s better for the environment. It’s a really great project for everyone in the county, especially for residents of Lawrence and Cedarhurst.”

The bill was approved 11-8, mostly along party lines, with Republican Denise Ford (R-Long Beach) joining Democrats in support of it.

A pumping station will be built in Lawrence to send the sewage to Inwood, then to the Bay Park facility, according to the county’s commissioner of public works, Ray Ribeiro. Gravity would take the sewage from Cedarhurst toward Inwood, he explained, and then it would be pumped into the Bay Park facility as well. The Bay Park plant processes sewage more efficiently than the other two plants, Ribeiro said, removing 95 percent of solids, 10 percent more than the local plants.

Upgrading the treatment facilities in the two villages would have cost $30 million. The approved plan will cost $18 million, which will cover Lawrence’s pump station, Cedarhurst’s gravity pipe and upgrades to the Inwood facility. Federal stimulus money will be used to pay for up to half of the total cost of construction, Toback said, but the county will not find out how much the federal government will pay until the end of the year — around the same time construction is set to begin.

The rest of the project’s costs will be covered by 30-year bonds worth up to $12 million and $14 million issued by Cedarhurst and Lawrence, respectively. The project is expected to be completed by Jan. 1, 2012.

Residents of Lawrence will see a projected reduction of 20 percent in their sewer taxes, according to Lawrence Mayor C. Simon Felder. Lawrence’s and Cedarhurst’s sewer rates were also locked in with this deal — their rates will not change even if the rest of the county’s does.

Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise said he was happy that the legislation passed, but disappointed that political lines were drawn. He added that the plan was not meant to be a political issue, saying, “It’s the right thing to do.”

Sewage agreement OK'ed

ANTHONY BOTTAN

May 21, 2009

"The water is brown, has dead fish in it and smells like toilet water," said Scott Reill, 11, at a meeting of the Nassau County Legislature on Monday, where about 30 Bay Park and East Rockaway residents voiced their displeasure with a consolidation plan that would close the Cedarhurst and Lawrence sewage treatment plants and divert their effluent to the county's facility in Bay Park.

Despite the opposition, members of the Legislature's Public Works Committee voted 5-4 to enter into the agreement with the two villages.

The Bay Park plant currently processes 60 million gallons of sewage per day, and the addition of Cedarhurst and Lawrence to the system will mean another 2 million gallons per day. According to the county's commissioner of public works, Ray Ribeiro, the Bay Park sewage treatment facility is permitted by the state Department of Conservation to process up to 72 million gallons per day.

Ribeiro said that a pumping station will be built in Lawrence, and the sewage will be sent from Lawrence to Inwood, and then on to Bay Park. Gravity will take sewage from Cedarhurst to Inwood, he explained, which will then be pumped into the Bay Park facility as well. There will be no construction in Bay Park, Ribeiro noted, and the cost of the diversion will be $17 million, which is less than the $30 million it would cost to upgrade the treatment facilities in Cedarhurst and Lawrence. The Bay Park plant also processes sewage more efficiently than those plants, he said.

"We applied to the DEC and they approved the diversion project," Ribeiro said. "The method of treatment is more efficient at the county facility. The county plant removes 95 percent of solids, while the local plants only remove 85 percent. It will be a tremendous benefit to the Western Bays."

The village boards in Lawrence and Cedarhurst voted on May 12 to issue bonds to pay for the construction, but the contract between the county and two villages states that if the villages falls short on paying the bond, the villages would look to the county, subject to appropriation, to cover its shortfalls. That means if the villages fell short on its bond payments, the Legislature would have to vote to spend the money to cover the shortfalls.

Tapping into federal funds?
Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside) said if the Legislature voted against spending the money to cover the villages' shortfalls, the two villages could sue the county. If the county didn't pay the judgement, he said, the courts could seize county bank accounts. But Toback noted that he doesn't foresee any situation where the villages would fall short on its bond payments because the debt service is only $160,000 a year, and the villages would collect $1.2 million in sewer rents annually, which would more than cover the debt service. "It's so remote and down the line that it's not going to be an issue," Toback said of Cedarhurst and Lawrence falling short on its bond payments.

Ribeiro added that the county plans to tap into federal stimulus money for the project. The state Environmental Facilities Corp. will issue $26 million in bonds, he said, federal stimulus money would be used to pay the bonds.

Legislator Francis Becker (R-Lynbrook) described the process of the villages bonding for the project an "end-around." The plan will not require the county to issue bonds or guarantee the village bonds, Becker said, even though it will own the pumping station in Lawrence and it will be run by county employees. And since the county isn't bonding the project, a simple majority vote is all that's needed to pass the overall consolidation plan. A supermajority vote is needed for a county bond to pass. "We're doing things in a very back-door way," Becker said. "It's so disingenuous. This process has been flawed and dishonest."

Upgrades and outfall pipe
Most East Rockaway and Bay Park residents said they are not against the consolidation, but want to see upgrades made to the Bay Park facility first. Ribeiro said that over the next five years, nearly $70 million will be spent to upgrade the county facility, and the diversion of the two other plants to Bay Park would reduce the volume of solid waste released into Reynolds Channel, where the county facility currently dumps treated sewage, by 100,000 pounds.

Some residents questioned how consolidation could move forward without the results of a Total Maximum Daily Load. The test determines the amount of pollutants a body of water can handle without violating state water quality standards. Ribeiro said that a TMDL could not be completed until 2013, and the county can't afford to wait for the results. If it does, he said, the county could miss out on receiving federal stimulus money for the project.

Other residents, like Marion O'Hara, said that the Bay Park plant can't take on any more sewage. "Bringing in more sewage will destroy our town," O'Hara said. "I'm embarrassed this is happening. If this goes through, people will move out."

Residents of both East Rockaway and Bay Park urged Ribeiro that upgrades at the plant should include installing an outfall pipe, which would send the treated effluent two miles out into the ocean rather than into the Western Bays. Though initial estimates put the price of an outfall pipe at $200 million, Ribeiro said that estimate has nearly doubled.

Upgrades to Bay Park?

ANTHONY BOTTAN

April 23, 2009

Nassau County officials met with environmental groups to discuss short and long-term upgrades to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment facility. At an Operation Stop Polluting Littering And Save Harbors (SPLASH) meeting on April 7 in Freeport, Nassau County Department of Public Works Commissioner, Ray Ribeiro, unveiled a wastewater facilities master plan for the next 20 years, which included short and long-term upgrades to the county's largest sewage treatment facility in Bay Park.

Rob Weltner, president of Operation SPLASH, said he invited Ribeiro to the monthly meeting to gain a perspective on where the county stands with upgrading the Bay Park sewage treatment facility. "I was happy that they came down and that they plan to do upgrades," Weltner said. "The only thing I want to see more is nitrogen removal because [nitrogen] increases the growth of seaweed and eutrophication."

Eutrophication is the process by which a body of water becomes enriched in dissolved nutrients and stimulates growth of aquatic plant life -- like seaweed. As the plants die off, the dead and decaying plant life depletes the water's oxygen supply. This, in turn, leads to the death of fish in the water.

More than a year ago, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi lobbied for the consolidation of the Lawrence, Cedarhurst and Glen Cove sewage districts with the county's system in Bay Park. East Rockaway and Bay Park residents strongly opposed the consolidation, fearing that the extra 2 million gallons of sewage per day that would be diverted to the Bay Park sewage treatment facility would worsen the odor in the neighborhood and damage the environment.

Environmental groups also opposed the consolidation unless upgrades were made to the Bay Park plant and a TMDL -- total maximum daily load -- was conducted. A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards. The consolidation plan was nixed from the county budget before it was passed in April 2008.

Weltner said county officials told him that due to the economic crisis, funding for a TMDL -- which can cost more than a $1 million -- would not be available for a few years.
Some of the short-term capital improvements Ribeiro underscored during his presentation included replacing influent screens, adding new scrubbers and installing a new dechlorination facility. Bay Park plant uses chlorine as an antiseptic to the effluent before dumping it into the Western Bays. Ribeiro said a lot of the short-term improvements -- which he said would be done over the next five years -- would help reduce odor in the surrounding Bay Park community.

Mid-term and long-term improvements would be done over the next 10-20 years, he added, and the total cost for all improvements would cost about $216 million. Ribeiro noted in his presentation that out of the 400 pieces of equipment in the Bay Park sewage treatment plant, 66 percent of equipment is in good working order, while 33 percent of equipment is in fair condition. According to Ribeiro, an outside consulting engineer firm evaluated the plant's equipment using the Environmental Protection Agency comprehensive performance evaluation method.

Bay Park residents, like Kristen Ochtera, advocated installing an ocean outfall pipe, which would carry treated effluent from the sewage plant into the Atlantic Ocean, rather than dumping it in the Western Bays. Ribeiro said the construction of an outfall pipe would cost in upwards of $430 million.

He added that if the Bay Park facility took in sewage from Cedarhurst, it would result in a savings of $50 million, which would be applied to the cost of constructing an outfall pipe. He also said that the county will look to state grants and other funding sources for assistance in construction of an ocean outfall pipe.

Bay Park resident Kristen Ochtera, said she was surprised that more Bay Park residents were not informed of the SPLASH meeting, which ended up having a lot to do with her community. "We never get the information on the forefront," she said. "It's our intention to be proactive and help as much as we can. But without those upgrades, nothing else matters."

James Trantel, a Bay Park resident who attended the meeting, said he doesn't understand how the county can continue on with its wastewater facilities master plan, when they do not have the results of a TMDL. "Why would you move forward unless you know what the problem is?" Trantel asked. "The TMDL will give them that information. They should go into a holding pattern and find out what's going on first, and then take care of business."

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