What does Legislator Debra Mulé plan on doing about infrastructure problems?

In response to a trio of subterranean collapses in the span of just over eight weeks, County Legislator Debra Mulé and other members of the Legislature’s minority caucus met with Baldwin community leaders and residents at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola on Aug 7.

On July 30, Nassau County Police responded to Foxhurst Road in Oceanside, where a sinkhole made the residential road impassible for several hours. Officials stated that the issue was caused by the eruption of an underground water main pipe, which caused the road above to buckle.

“This latest sinkhole – the third in just two months’ time — makes it clear that we are in the midst of a growing infrastructure crisis,” Nassau County Legislator Debra Mulé said in a release. “The current state of Nassau County’s aging sewer mains, water pipes, and other vital infrastructure demands an immediate response from leaders at all levels of government if we are to adequately safeguard the welfare of our communities and protect the environment from further harm. I am committed to making the implementation of those necessary short- and long-term solutions my top priority in the days ahead.”

Long Beach and Lido Beach residents won’t soon forget the 20-foot-deep sinkhole that opened up on Lido Boulevard at the end of May. For two weeks, lanes were closed, traffic was at a near standstill, the Lido Beach Fire Department had to set up temporary headquarters elsewhere and Lido Elementary School and the middle school were forced to close. Then, a month later, the ground gave way to another sinkhole on Grand Avenue in Baldwin.

Problems with infrastructure are increasingly impacting daily life in high-traffic areas of Nassau County. On Lido Boulevard, a manhole failed 20 feet below ground. In Baldwin, sewage was seeping up from a broken 36-inch pipe below Grand Avenue. In Oceanside, an underground water pipe burst on Foxhurst, between Oceanside Road and Locust Avenue.

Each required weeks to fix, and the emergency use of millions of dollars. Members of the County Legislature’s Public Works, Finance and Rules committee voted unanimously in July to approve amendments to the 2023-26 capital plan to dedicate additional resources to the “lateral sewer repair” capital budget line. But funds had been tapped from that category for the repairs.

Before the Aug 7 meeting, Mulé appealed to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, advocating for the release of funds meant for Nassau County in recent federal infrastructure deals.

“No one was injured or lost their life, (but) we may not always be so lucky in the future,” Mulé said of the sinkholes. “I have already written letters to our federal representatives to release that money as quickly as possible, and to make sure that it can be used for this purpose.”

Mulé said she had also contacted Gov. Kathy Hochul about speeding up the delivery of those funds to meet the county’s needs. Additionally, she sent a letter to County Executive Bruce Blakeman, asking for a renewed focus on infrastructure problems in this year’s financial plan.

She cited studies conducted by Suez, the county’s sewage treatment partner, on the sewer pipes, as data to consider. Similarly, she acknowledged the need for information on water pipelines in order for legislators to make realistic and proactive decisions.

“We as a legislature need to have accurate information to inform our decisions in what locations are the sewer and water pipeline the most fragile,” Mulé said.

Erika Floreska, of Baldwin, shared her experience with the sinkhole on Monday. “First, we lost access to Grand Avenue when the sinkhole happened,” she recounted.

“Then they had to reroute the sewer, and they added a pump towards the top end of the street, and a number of houses were cut off from there — from cars being able to get there. They ended up closing off the whole road. They added a second pump in the middle of the street, a third pump down towards the creek.”

According to Floreska, the continuous noise of the pumps was a constant disturbance, disrupting residents’ sleep at night. The vibrations shook their homes. They had to make their way over temporary wooden bridges that spanned the damaged pipes, which made navigating the area challenging and inconvenient.

Mulé and her fellow legislators urged federal, state and county partners to collectively work towards restoring and improving the county’s infrastructure.