Now, not later, let’s repair Bay Park plant

Nassau County’s Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant has released untreated sewage into South Shore bays since March, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Since March!

The Bay Park plant is one of two county-owned sewage treatment plants; the other is the Cedar Creek plant in Wantagh. The Bay Park plant discharges into Reynolds Channel just north of Long Beach, while wastewater from the Cedar Creek plant is piped three miles out into the Atlantic Ocean.

County officials say that malfunctioning equipment at the Bay Park plant has caused sewage to be discharged into Reynolds Channel. The obvious question, then, is, why hasn’t the plant been repaired? The answer: The county doesn’t have the money. Battered by the recent recession, it’s essentially broke.

More on that later.

First, though, what’s so awful about sewage sludge? It is a semi-solid form of human fecal matter, with a host of toxins mixed in. Left untreated, it can contain disease-causing organisms, including bacteria, viruses and parasites, as well as highly toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury, and even herbicides and pesticides, all of which are washed through the county’s sewer system.

High bacteria levels in bay waters have at times prompted the temporary closure of shell-fishing grounds in the Town of Hempstead.

Sludge also contains heavy doses of nitrogen, which accelerates seaweed growth in the bays. When the seaweed blooms to untenable levels, it breaks apart and robs marine life, particularly shellfish, of dissolved oxygen as it rots. Evidence of the unusually high rate of seaweed growth in South Shore bays is easily found in places like Point Lookout, where the tides wash dead seaweed ashore and it cooks in the sun, producing a terrible stench.

Our South Shore bays are far more than recreational boating and fishing zones. The wetlands, with their majestic carpets of Spartina marsh grass, are delicate natural habitats where hundreds of species of birds and marine creatures breed. In a nor’easter or hurricane, the wetlands act as sponges, soaking up the ocean’s tidal surge. Without them, we could kiss all land south of Sunrise Highway goodbye if a Category 3 hurricane were to strike.

Yet for decades we have treated the wetlands as a garbage dump where our waste — including human fecal matter — too often ends up. Now is the time to act.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer recently called on the Environmental Protection Agency to release $20 million that he said Nassau County is owed as reimbursement for sewage upgrades it completed back in the mid-1980s. The money could be used to fix the Bay Park plant.

We certainly agree with Schumer that the EPA should at long last release these funds. But frankly, we’re not anticipating swift action by the EPA simply because a senator has called on the agency to do the right thing. In all likelihood, the county will have to figure out how to finance repairs on its own.

In a controversial move, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano included a water-use fee for all nonprofit entities, including school districts, fire departments, universities and hospitals, in his 2011 budget. The county will reap tens of millions of dollars from the fee. The funds are supposed to be used to maintain the county’s sewer system. We believe the county should begin repairs on the Bay Park plant immediately and fund the work with the water-use fee.

Then let’s hope the EPA will finally give Nassau its due.