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Navy water project nears completion

Final testing taking place around Seaman’s Neck Road site

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A planned new U.S. Navy water treatment facility off Seaman’s Neck Road, nearly three years in the making, is reaching the final stages.

The Navy has been conducting tests this summer in the vicinity of the planned facility, at 670 Seaman’s Neck Road, along the Seaford-Levittown border, in advance of a late-fall completion. The Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals granted the Navy zoning immunity in early 2012 to build six 20,000-pound “granular activated vessels,” enclosed in a 30-foot building, aimed at removing volatile organic compounds from the area’s water supply.

The VOCs were linked to the nearby former Northrop Grumman Corporation property in Bethpage, a portion of which was operated by the Navy until its closure in 2003.

Preparing for the new facility, the Navy installed a temporary carbon filtration system at the plant, which is just north of East Broadway Elementary School in the Levittown School District. The latest testing has been taking place on Harriad Drive West and Lawrence Road.

Navy spokeswoman Lora Fly said that the recent water testing has involved drilling related to the installation of vertical profile borings, monitoring wells and outpost wells that are designed to provide early warnings of groundwater contamination. She said that while drilling is slated to occur up to the opening of the new facility, efforts are being made to minimize the impact on local residents. The plant, built in 1952, formerly featured two wells operated by Aqua America, which was the water supplier for Seaford and Wantagh before the company was acquired by American Water Works.

“We are doing sampling to make sure the water meets all health department requirements,” Fly said. “What we’re doing doesn’t impact any of the local residents.”

Fly said that the Navy has been in communication with district officials about the drilling locations to keep them informed about the process. Levittown district officials could not be reached for comment on how the drilling may impact the start of the school year, but at a recent Board of Education meeting, they talked about the impact on transportation, and the ability to send buses down the streets where the drilling is taking place.

  Marie Pustorino, who lives on Harriad Drive West near the Navy project, said that drilling has been taking place since June, starting at around 7:45 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m. She said that the testing has created a “blaring” sound in her neighborhood, and that she is concerned about what will happen once the school year begins, when buses need to get through the area.

  “It has been disruptive and has been very loud,” said Pustorino. “It gets frustrating after a while.”

The Navy’s temporary water filter system on Seaman’s Neck Road began operating in May 2012, after being approved by the Nassau County Department of Health. The total cost of the Navy’s project is estimated at around $5 million.