Lawrence village sewage plant to be dismantled

The decommissioning of the Village of Lawrence sewage plant could begin as early as April, and neighbors want to know what will be done with the 4.35 acres of land on Rock Hall Road that will be returned to the village, possibly by the end of the year.

At the Jan. 13 village board meeting, Mayor Martin Oliner said that the plant would be decommissioned soon, and the village must start thinking about how the land should be used. There was no further discussion. “We will be looking at different alternatives,” Oliner told the Herald. “We will have meetings, but not yet.”

Ari and Karen Buchman’s house, like several homes along Rock Hall Road, sits directly across from the plant. The Buchmans, who have lived there since 2004 and have young children, have strong opinions about what should and should not be done with the land.

“We don’t have any parks within walking distance, so we need a park like Zion Park on Central Avenue,” Ari told the Herald. “We need a crosswalk with a traffic signal.”

He said he hopes property values increase once the plant is dismantled. He and his wife said they want the village to hold a public meeting on what should be done with the property.

They agreed that they don’t want a high-density apartment building like the Regency on Central Avenue in Lawrence, but single-family homes would be all right as long as some of the land is set aside for a park. “Definitely not an apartment building — that would be a little scary,” Karen said. “We need a nice, clean park.”

Another Rock Hall Road resident said she didn’t want to see the site used for commercial purposes. “We need a park, with swings and slides,” said Fay, who declined to give her last name. When she was that told her neighbors also want a park, she said, “Everyone knows everyone, and we all have kids.” She also favors single-family housing on the site.

Dismantling the plant
Nassau County took control of the plant on Jan. 1, 2012, as part of its Sewage Treatment Master Plan, which includes transferring village sewage to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in East Rockaway.

About a half acre of the 4.35-acre site will be retained by the county. “The facility is to be decommissioned with demolition of all structures except for the effluent pump station and administration building that will remain in county possession,” said Mary Studdert, the spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Public Works.

Studdert said that the estimated cost of decommissioning and demolishing the plant is $1.3 million. The work will include the removal and disposal of hazardous materials, such as asbestos and lead paint, as well as any remaining biosolids (treated sewage residue), the disconnection of utilities such as power and water, the permanent plugging of the effluent line that connects to the plant, the plugging of the outfall pipe, the removal and disposal of all processing equipment, and the restoration of the property, including putting down topsoil and grass seeding.

According to Studdert, the work should take no more than 270 days. “If we get all our approvals by the end of March,” she said, “we can issue the contractor a start work letter effective early April, and complete all work by the end of the year.”

Have an opinion about what to do with the sewage treatment plant property? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.