The Wantagh-Seaford Citizen, 2004 February 19, Cedar Creek Golf

A Golf Course at Cedar Creek Park?
by Laura Schofer

Originally published in the 2004 February 19 edition of The Wantagh-Seaford Citizen.
Published online with kind permission from our friends at The Citizen.

How about a nine-hole golf course, a miniature golf facility, putting greens and a concession stand at the southern end of Cedar Creek Park instead of dredge spoil and fill areas? The county Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums on February 9 issued a request for proposals (RFP) to build a golf facility on the south side of Cedar Creek Park in the vicinity of the sewage treatment plant. The course will border on Seamans and Cedar Creeks and the Great South Bay to the south, although the actual amount of land available for construction of the facility is still to be determined by the parks department and the county Department of Public Works.

Golf courses are notorious
groundwater polluters...

...there are organic methods
to keep the golf course green.

So far, so good. But the proposal as of February 9 does not indicate that the golf course should be pesticide-free. Golf courses are notorious groundwater polluters because of the large quantities of chemicals used to keep grass green and free of pests. “It must be pesticide-free if it’s near the estuary,” said Rob Weltner of SPLASH (Stop Polluting, Littering and Save Harbors). “It’s not good for fishing, boating, or swimming. It’s not good for nesting and birds. Remember how DDT wiped out the ospreys [in this area]? It took 30 years for them to come back.”

Christine Marzigliano, Chairperson of the Cedar Creek Health Risk Assessment Committee, has been following this issue since 1997 when then County Executive Thomas Gulotta unveiled plans for a pesticide-free golf course at Cedar Creek Park. The biggest concern with using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers is the problem of run off that would go directly into Cedar Creek and the bays and wetlands to the south. According to the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve, nonpoint source pollution, including runoff, is the nation’s largest water quality problem. Eighty percent of pollution to the marine environment comes from land-based sources, including fertilizers and pesticides.

In the Comprehensive Management Plan published by the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve it states pesticides can cause “excessive algal growth (blooms). Algal blooms create low dissolved oxygen levels (hypoxia) through their nighttime respiration and gradual decomposition, threatening the health and survival of finfish and shellfish in eutrophic waters. They also shade out and destroy seagrass beds, estuarine habitats that are nursery areas for juvenile finfish and shellfish and feeding areas for waterfowl.”

Neil Lewis of the Long Island Neighborhood Network told The Citizen that there are organic methods to keep the golf course green. “You can use an organic fertilizer which has a slow release nitrogen. There is also something called Compost Tea which is beneficial in preventing fungal disease which is common on the greens,” he said. Mr. Lewis also recommended using kelp (which comes from the ocean) as an organic fertilizer.

“It can be more expensive to have a golf course maintained in this manner. I suspect that it may raise the operating costs about 10 percent but it’s still manageable,” said Mr. Lewis. He also reflected on whether there might be an unwillingness to bid on a nine-hole course with this restriction.

The RFP says it will give preference to a bidder who proposes an Audubon course. “This means the course is designed to keep some [grassy] areas higher for birds and nesting,” said Mr. Lewis. “It’s nice to follow these guidelines but they are usually overstated. Virtually every proposal claims to follow Audubon but very few actually apply and achieve the status of an Audubon course,” said Mr. Lewis. “They [Audubon courses] do not address pesticide use or water impact,” said Mr. Lewis.

In a letter dated February 17, Legislator David Denenberg wrote to Deputy County Executive Mike Klein about his concern of the golf course being an audubon golf course rather than a pesticide-free golf course. “Notably, the proposed Audubon course is near and/or adjacent to Mandalay School located on Bayview Avenue, Wantagh, and the Seaford Harbor School off of Neptune Avenue, Seaford. Although Audubon golf courses are subject to fewer pesticide treatments than a normal golf course, I am concerned that a considerable amount of pesticide drifting may occur,” he wrote.

David Denenberg

Mr. Denenberg said that it has taken the county several years to have this piece of state land transferred to Nassau County. “The previous administration never had the property transferred. The transfer is now complete and we are waiting for the deed to the property,” he said.

“It is still our intent to make this golf course as pesticide-free as possible,” said Mr. Denenberg. “Anything otherwise would be unacceptable.” He said he spoke with Curt Schmidt and a golf specialist about the development of Cedar Creek golf course. “The county has taken a good hard look at the golf courses that border the water, including Bay Park,” he said, where they use organic pesticides. By February 16, the county had removed the RFP for the Cedar Creek golf course from its website. Spokesperson Karen Rice told The Citizen that the RFP had been pulled so officials could make a few revisions for clarity.

Nassau County Legislator Dennis Dunne, whose district includes Cedar Creek Park, did not return The Citizen’s phone calls for comment.

The golf course will be constructed and maintained by a private developer with fees set by the county. In March of 2003 the county issued a Request for Expression of Interest on various county park facilities with the intent to “generate and increase revenues and to solicit interest in and guidance about the types of and characteristics of potential revenue-enhancing projects.”

Other Concerns
Mrs. Marzigliano also raised other concerns about the RFP for the Cedar Creek Golf Course. She explained that the peninsula is the location of ancient midden mounds (piles of clam shells) left by the Indians who inhabited Long Island hundreds of years ago. Several midden mounds were uncovered during the construction of the sewage treatment plant but were deemed not archaeologically significant enough to preserve. Mrs. Marzigliano hopes that if midden mounds are uncovered that they be kept as traps along the golf course.

Bruce Piel, Chairman of the Parks Advocacy and Recreation Council of Nassau, wrote to The Citizen last week addressing concerns about whether the county should be permitted to privatize county parks, including golf courses. “If unchecked, the county can be expected to accelerate the privatization of more and more of our parks and services, regardless of the needs or wishes of our residents,” he said.