Hempstead to tackle smelly seaweed

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has approved a permit for the Town of Hempstead to address the accumulation of rotting seaweed along Jones Inlet in Point Lookout, after residents said they were overwhelmed — and in some cases even sickened — by the potent stench of the decaying vegetation.

Since June, people who live in Point Lookout have complained about large, decaying heaps of emerald-colored seaweed that emit an odor similar to rotten eggs. Residents say the seaweed is often 3 feet deep, and they have called on local officials to address the issue. It took on added urgency over the summer, when many people reported symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting and persistent coughs.

The odor has been identified as hydrogen sulfide, a gas that can be smelled inside homes and businesses as well as outside, residents said.

State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) said that the volume of seaweed has increased in the northeastern stretch of the hamlet over the past 10 to 15 years.

The town has been unable to take any action up until now because it had to provide additional information to the DEC in order to amend an earlier dredging permit that addressed erosion in Point Lookout. But on Dec. 24, the DEC issued a modified permit that would allow the town to address the situation.

“Together with Town of Hempstead staff, we have been working over the past two weeks to advance a solution to this problem,” DEC Regional Director Peter Scully said in a statement. “By modifying this permit, DEC has approved actions that should limit the accumulation of this material in Point Lookout and the odors it generates, while providing erosion protection for the area.”

In a Dec. 28 press release, DEC officials said that the new permit will allow the town to dredge up to 20,000 cubic yards of sand from Jones Inlet and deposit it on a severely eroded section of the Jones Inlet/Reynolds Channel shoreline in the northeast corner of Point Lookout.

The permit will also allow the removal of large quantities of seaweed, which has accumulated along that section of shoreline between two jetties, or groins, and replacing it with the dredged sand, in order to build the beach up and out.

The lack of sand between the groins has allowed the seaweed to float in on high tides and become trapped as the tide ebbs, according to the press release. If the project is successful, the DEC said, the seaweed will no longer collect in that area and will be carried out to the ocean.

Hempstead Town spokesman Mike Deery said that work on the project will commence “as soon as possible,” though it will depend on weather and conditions in the inlet. Deery added that “Mother Nature is an issue” the town is concerned about.

While Deery did not estimate the project’s cost, he said it would be undertaken by town employees using a dredging machine. “We’ve been assembling and testing a dredge bought a year and a half ago,” he said, explaining that it was purchased with the help of a $1.1 million state grant provided by Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre).

The issuance of the modified permit came after a heated town hall meeting on Dec. 14 at the Bishop Molloy Recreation Center, which included local officials and representatives of the DEC and the Nassau County Department of Health, at which many

residents demanded answers about

the odor.

In early October, residents were told that the health department tested the area and detected levels of hydrogen sulfide atop the seaweed of up to 2.5 parts per million. Officials explained that because the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recommended limit of exposure to the gas is 10 parts per million, no action was taken. John Jacobs, director of the county health department’s Bureau of Environmental Sanitation, explained that hydrogen sulfide can cause a range of symptoms, but he characterized them as “short term.”

Linda Mulvey, a longtime Point Lookout resident who lives on Mineola Avenue, said she was pleased to hear about the progress, but remains concerned. “I don’t know if it’s the sustainable answer to the problem,” Mulvey said. “You can put the sand on the beach, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stay there. [But] we’re thankful for anything they’re

doing now.”

Weisenberg, who called on the state Department of Health to conduct tests to determine the level of threat to residents’ health, to help inform them how to protect themselves and to help find a permanent solution, said he is still waiting for a response. He added that now that the modified permit has been issued, it is time for progress to be made.

“I thank the Town of Hempstead and DEC Regional Director Peter Scully for his response in addressing the situation,” Weisenberg said. “We addressed the issue,” he added, referring to the December town hall meeting. “Now the job has to be done.”

Environmentalist Morris Kramer attributes the Point Lookout odor to nutrients in the discharge into Reynolds Channel from the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in East Rockaway over the years, as well as the severe storm that rocked the South Shore last March, eroding the beach in the vulnerable northeast corner of Point Lookout, where the seaweed piled up.

Kramer applauded the DEC for moving quickly to approve the permit, and commended Weisenberg and Skelos for hosting the town hall meeting. However, Kramer said, the town will have to act quickly. Otherwise, it will run the risk that potential storms will hamper its efforts.

“We have approaching winter storms to contend with — there’s bound to be some,” Kramer said. “The town has to act and finish the project quickly. And if it doesn’t work, then we have to have a backup plan available to make it work. Point Lookout residents can’t go through being subjected to the toxic fumes again.”

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