Residents react to sewage smell

The smells issuing from the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant are just one of the concerns of nearby residents. Community members are urging county officials to come up with a long-term solutions for not only the odors at the facility, but also the problems with its discharge.

Richard Brennan, president of the Bay Park Civic Association, wants residents to be aware of what he calls the plant’s “poor” condition. As reported in last week’s Herald, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the plant’s release of effluent and suspended solids into Reynolds Channel last month.

Last year, Cedarhurst and Lawrence diverted the effluent to the county facility in Bay Park. Before the consolidation, the Bay Park plant processed 60 million gallons of sewage per day. With the addition of Cedarhurst and Lawrence, the plant processes another 2 million gallons daily. Bay Park is permitted by the DEC to process up to 72 million gallons a day.

“Something has to be done about this problem,” Brennan said. “Whether the discharge is semi-treated or treated, it must be addressed immediately.” He said that the excess sewage poses a danger to other area waterways in the area, and that the odor is beginning to affect more homes. Brennan said that his worst fear is that sewage itself will back up into those homes.

“The odor is unbearable,” said Bay Park resident Judy Caraciollo. “The plant is our backyard and we have made the calls about the plant’s problems.”

Brennan noted that members of the civic association walked through the plant with Nassau County Legislator Howard Kopel and Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony Santino last spring. According to Brennan, the association, along with members of Freeport’s Operation Stop Polluting littering and Save Harbors, or SPLASH, or have contacted the county several times and was told that the county is trying to find the funding to fix the facility’s problems.