Sewer deal gets messy

The plan to close sewage treatment plants in the Five Towns has been put on hold until East Rockaway’s Bay Park plant is repaired sufficiently to accept the increased sewage, in accordance with the county’s sewage consolidation program.

Cedarhurst and Lawrence officials were told by the county on Feb. 1 that the village plants — which were due to close in January 2012 — would continue operating “for the foreseeable future” due to the need for further renovations at the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Facility.

Last fall, the Bay Park plant was hit with numerous violations by the state Department of Environmental Conservation after it was discovered that for months the plant had been releasing partially treated sewage in greater concentrations than allowed by environmental law for months, which Nassau County officials attributed to malfunctioning equipment

at the plant.

In January, the Nassau County Legislature earmarked $3 million for new equipment and upgrades at the Bay Park facility to address the problem. DEC officials said the plant has taken steps to limit the discharge of partially treated solids, and the recent discharge has been below or very close to legal limits. But more work is needed, according to the county, before the Bay Park plant will be able to handle the load from the Cedarhurst and Lawrence plants.

Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner said that the village’s sewage treatment plant was not supposed to continue operating in any way. “At this point, I’m not sure what is going to happen,” Oliner said.

Village of Cedarhurst Administrator Sal Evola said he was told that the county would continue processing sewage in the Cedarhurst plant and send clean water through new pipes to the Bay Park plant until Bay Park undergoes the necessary renovations to take the increased volume of sewage. “We prefer the original plan because although the county is supposed to take over operating our plant when conversion is done, we’re still going to have a plant here in the village and we may still have odors from the plant,” Evola said. “We want to be out of the sewer business.”

While Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise questions whether the village will continue to maintain the sewer plant or the county will take it over, he said that if the plant remains open, he doubts taxpayers will be affected. “It will be the same, since every resident pays sewer rent,” Parise said.

Michael Martino, press secretary for the Nassau County Department of Public Works, said, “The currently proposed project scope change will impact the villages in that the treatment plants will remain in operation for the foreseeable future.”

“The Bay Park plant needs to be used,” said Nassau County Legislator Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence), “but we don’t want another ounce of waste coming to the facility until our problems are fully addressed.”