By ANTHONY BOTTAN
Rob Weltner, president of Operation SPLASH, said he invited Ribeiro to the monthly meeting to gain a perspective on where the county stands with upgrading the Bay Park sewage treatment facility. "I was happy that they came down and that they plan to do upgrades," Weltner said. "The only thing I want to see more is nitrogen removal because [nitrogen] increases the growth of seaweed and eutrophication."
Eutrophication is the process by which a body of water becomes enriched in dissolved nutrients and stimulates growth of aquatic plant life -- like seaweed. As the plants die off, the dead and decaying plant life depletes the water's oxygen supply. This, in turn, leads to the death of fish in the water.
More than a year ago, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi lobbied for the consolidation of the Lawrence, Cedarhurst and Glen Cove sewage districts with the county's system in Bay Park. East Rockaway and Bay Park residents strongly opposed the consolidation, fearing that the extra 2 million gallons of sewage per day that would be diverted to the Bay Park sewage treatment facility would worsen the odor in the neighborhood and damage the environment.
Environmental groups also opposed the consolidation unless upgrades were made to the Bay Park plant and a TMDL -- total maximum daily load -- was conducted. A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards. The consolidation plan was nixed from the county budget before it was passed in April 2008.
Weltner said county officials told him that due to the economic crisis, funding for a TMDL -- which can cost more than a $1 million -- would not be available for a few years.
Some of the short-term capital improvements Ribeiro underscored during his presentation included replacing influent screens, adding new scrubbers and installing a new dechlorination facility. Bay Park plant uses chlorine as an antiseptic to the effluent before dumping it into the Western Bays. Ribeiro said a lot of the short-term improvements -- which he said would be done over the next five years -- would help reduce odor in the surrounding Bay Park community.
Mid-term and long-term improvements would be done over the next 10-20 years, he added, and the total cost for all improvements would cost about $216 million. Ribeiro noted in his presentation that out of the 400 pieces of equipment in the Bay Park sewage treatment plant, 66 percent of equipment is in good working order, while 33 percent of equipment is in fair condition. According to Ribeiro, an outside consulting engineer firm evaluated the plant's equipment using the Environmental Protection Agency comprehensive performance evaluation method.
Bay Park residents, like Kristen Ochtera, advocated installing an ocean outfall pipe, which would carry treated effluent from the sewage plant into the Atlantic Ocean, rather than dumping it in the Western Bays. Ribeiro said the construction of an outfall pipe would cost in upwards of $430 million.
He added that if the Bay Park facility took in sewage from Cedarhurst, it would result in a savings of $50 million, which would be applied to the cost of constructing an outfall pipe. He also said that the county will look to state grants and other funding sources for assistance in construction of an ocean outfall pipe.
Bay Park resident Kristen Ochtera, said she was surprised that more Bay Park residents were not informed of the SPLASH meeting, which ended up having a lot to do with her community. "We never get the information on the forefront," she said. "It's our intention to be proactive and help as much as we can. But without those upgrades, nothing else matters."
James Trantel, a Bay Park resident who attended the meeting, said he doesn't understand how the county can continue on with its wastewater facilities master plan, when they do not have the results of a TMDL. "Why would you move forward unless you know what the problem is?" Trantel asked. "The TMDL will give them that information. They should go into a holding pattern and find out what's going on first, and then take care of business."
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