Town of Hempstead removes hundreds of dead fish from East Rockaway basin

Anthony D'Esposito.

Courtesy Town of Hempstead

The Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways removed hundreds of dead fish from East Rockaway’s basin on Aug. 22 and disposed of them at the Covanta waste facility in Westbury.

“There are no more dead fish floating around,” said Village of East Rockaway Trustee Richard Billelo.

The response came after several local business owners called Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony D’Esposito’s office to complain about the fish. “You know, the first couple of days it didn’t look so good and it smelled a little bit,” said Paul Pandolfi, the owner of Lazy Lobster.

On Aug. 22, D’Esposito, a Republican from Island Park, spoke with Thomas Doheny, the commissioner for the Department of Conservation and Waterways, who said something similar happened about 13 years ago. Doheny told D’Esposito that there was nothing wrong with the water, but because Long Island has been getting a lot of rain, the fresh water at Hempstead Lake State Park overflowed into the salt water downstream. That, D’Esposito explained, diminishes the amount of oxygen in the water and kills the fish.

Billelo also said that the mixture of different types of water caused a “co-mingling of fresh water and salt water,” which meant that only bunker fish and carp water fish were washing ashore.

“It didn’t affect the fish that are deep bottom feeders,” D’Esposito said. He added that the town would continue to monitor the basin for several tide cycles.

Billelo said that when he checked on Aug. 24, he did not see any more dead fish and has not heard any more complaints from business owners. “Everyone felt that it was back to normal,” he said, “so I think we’re good.”