Long Beach Person of the Year

Every day, West Pine Street resident Scott Bochner, 55, steps out onto his balcony and takes in the view of Reynolds Channel across from his home.

Whether in the morning, before work, or in the evening, when he comes home, Bochner said, his daily routine has become a tradition with his family — his wife of 19 years, Amy, 50, and two boys, Jordan, 17, and Jesse, 14.

But that mesmerizing view of the bay — the idyllic winters and thriving summers, filled with boaters and fishermen — was spoiled in August 2010, Bochner recounted, when the water darkened and a repugnant odor began to fill the air. An alarmingly large brown plume could often be seen moving across the channel, which Bochner would later learn was a discharge of partially treated sewage — in greater concentrations than allowed by environmental law — from the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in East Rockaway.

Angered by what he described as the inaction of local officials, Bochner, the Long Beach Herald’s 2011 Person of the Year, fired up his camcorder and began documenting the sewage plumes and posting the images online. In doing so, he let other residents know about a serious environmental hazard that both local and state officials eventually scrambled to address. Those close to Bochner say that had he not acted quickly, the situation might have escalated to the point where residents became ill and the channel suffered serious environmental damage.

“He brought to the public knowledge of an environmental disaster,” said City Councilman Len Torres. “I saw a sincere individual concerned for the health of his family and the people in Long Beach. He was concerned about the impact this would have for future generations.”

Bochner, an avid outdoorsman who has lived on the channel for nine years, said that last fall, the discharge from the Bay Park plant — which is owned and operated by Nassau County — was happening on a daily basis and was not being addressed. “You could smell it, and the birds were eating human feces,” he said. “You question it and people give you excuses to say no, it’s fine. But it wasn’t fine.”