New Study Underway on Bay Park Discharge Pipe

 This article was written by Stephen Bronner.

A “major” study to explore new methods of discharging treated wastewater from the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant began over the summer and will last about a year, Nassau Executive Ed Mangano announced Monday.  

The study — funded by Nassau County Capital Improvement Funds and a reimbursement grant from the Environmental Protection Agency — will look to identify ways to improve the facility and determine the feasibility of constructing an outfall pipe that would extend into the Atlantic Ocean, according to a press release.  

The treated discharge is now released into Reynolds Channel on the north shore of Long Beach.  

“For decades, the community has sought alternatives for discharging treated sewage from the Bay Park Plant,” Mangano said. “Today, those hopes come alive thanks to environmental cleanup commitments made by Congressman Peter King, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand and my administration. Together, we will work to improve our environment and repair the county’s aging sewage treatment plants.”  

The Colorado-based CH2M Hill will conduct the study. The EPA will provide 55 percent of the project costs, up to a maximum of $275,500. The county is putting in money for the study “in lieu of a compliance order set forth by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) connected to violations that resulted from a spill of treated solids into Reynolds Channel in October 2010.” 

At that time, Long Beach resident Scott Bochner raised awareness of excessive sewage that was released into Reynolds Channel from the Bay Park Sewer Treatment facility, located across the channel in East Rockaway. Later, Bochner reported that from August 2010 to January 2011, the Bay Park Sewer Treatment Plant dumped 38 million gallons of partially treated sewage into Reynolds Channel and did not notify the public.  

According to the county, there have not been any environmental violations at Bay Park in about 18 months.  

“I look forward to hearing the results of this study,” said Legislator Denise Ford, R-Long Beach. “The potential of having a viable solution to treat and minimize effluent in Reynolds Channel would be a major environmental victory for the residents of Long Beach and Nassau County.”