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Cedar Creek Plant in Muck and Mire
Originally published in the 2005 October 06 edition of The
Wantagh-Seaford Citizen. Christine Marzigliano, Chairwoman of the Cedar Creek Health Risk Assessment Committee, had a hard time believing what she saw on a video tape brought to her home by a reporter from the Long Island Press. There was almost four hours of tape that allegedly recorded a myriad of problems at the Cedar Creek Sewage Treatment Plant that has always been touted as a state-of-the-art facility. "In the west corridor there was a substantial amount of sludge (on the walls and floors). There were open electrical boxes and other electrical boxes with water dripping through them" she added.
The 35-year old Treatment Plant is a municipal facility owned by Nassau County. The facility, located behind Cedar Creek Park in Seaford, processes 55 million gallons of sewage a day. Effluent, which is cleaned and treated water, is discharged through an outflow pipe into the Atlantic Ocean, two miles offshore. The remaining solids are trucked offsite. Mrs. Marzigliano, an environmental advocate, has chaired the Health Risk Assessment Committee since 1991. The committee, part of the Wantagh/Seaford Homeowners Association, acts as a community watchdog over the plant and oversaw a $1.5 million health study of the air, water, ground water and soil in and around the plant. Meetings are held twice a year with officials from the plant as well as with Peter Gerbasi, Nassau's Deputy County Executive of Parks and Public Works. The meetings draw a handful of people and include a tour of the facility. Mrs. Marzigliano said "the last tour was on May 11. I was taken down the east corridor; we always take the east corridor and there is no problem in that corridor. But I've never been in the west corridor. I've never been in the men's bathroom or locker room, for example," she said. Mrs. Marzigliano added that there have been no odor complaints this year and if there is any kind of spill or problem, the plant is supposed to call. "I was told everything was fine," she said. Mrs. Marzigliano has not been back to the plant since viewing the tapes. However, she did go before the Nassau County Legislature on September 26 to ask them to review the situation at Cedar Creek. "It was a bi-partisan response. Everyone agreed that a hearing should take place," said Mrs. Marzigliano. The hearing will be on October 17 at 9 AM. County legislators will tour the facility on October 10, also at 9 AM. Health risk? That depends on who you talk to. Jerry Laricchiuta, the recently elected President of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 830, also viewed the tapes obtained by the Long Island Press. "What I saw (on those tapes) were serious health and safety violations. There was raw sewage on the floor, electrical boxes close to water. The place is beyond normal maintenance repairs. We know that some of the county buildings are old, but this is beyond that. Employees are telling us they have constant coughs and sore throats."
Mr. Laricchiuta toured the plant on September 23 and then again on October 5 with Nassau County Legislator Dennis Dunne and Ella Stevens, President of the Wantagh/Seaford Homeowners Association. Mrs. Stevens described what she saw as "disgusting". Legislator Dunne did not return phone calls to The Citizen. Mr. Laricchiuta told The Citizen that "I saw raw sewage and standing water. There was a 4,000 volt electric box covered with a plastic garbage bag to protect it from a leaky roof above it. We had to jump over dirty water. One room was filthy. There were bugs all over the place. I asked when was the last time it was cleaned? I got an evasive answer. I believe they need to hire more maintenance people," he said. Peter Gerbasi said the plant "has no health and safety issues. This is election time and you have a new group of (CSEA) representatives that are trying to focus on being the voice of their constituents. Richard Cotugno, (Superintendent of Cedar Creek sewage Treat Plant) runs a tight ship. He is tough but fair." Mr. Gerbasi added that "the so-called raw sewage is either ground water or effluent. We use the reset pump and it drains and dries out. Unfortunately in a facility like this you sometimes get water on the ground."
Mr. Larrichiuta said the union would file health and safety grievances but Mr. Gerbasi said "we have not received anything from the union other than a request for documents about standard operating procedures. If they believe there are health concerns, why not tell us? There is a Commissioner of Investigations who will look into anonymous calls." Mr. Larrichiuta said employees "are thanking us for showing up. Cotugno has used bully tactics (against workers)." Mrs. Marzigliano has also received telephone calls from workers, now that the Long Island Press brought the issue to the public's attention. Mr. Larrichiuta added that the union has notified Public Employees Safety and Health (PESH) who sent an industrial hygienist to the plant. PESH is the agency that oversees health and safety issues for public employees, similar to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which oversees private industry health standards. PESH was unavailable for comment prior to press time. "This person (from PESH) will come up with a plan. After we have our results from PESH we will speak with the county executive and will appear at the legislative hearing (on October 17)" said Mr. Larrichiuta. Mr. Gerbasi added that "we sent a letter to the New York State Department of Labor (before the story broke) and asked them to come and review operations for health and safety. We were told that review will take place within a month." A Danger to the Public at Large? If, as the union alleges, there are health and safety issues inside the plant, is there a problem with potential spills, or back-up of sewage to residents? Bill Fonda, spokesperson for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said they received an anonymous call on September 9 about raw sewage spilling onto Jones Beach on September 8th. "We called the (Town of Hempstead) Bay Constable who found nothing" he said. The Nassau County Department of Health said they "were not notified of any potential spill from the DEC or the plant."
Another alleged spill was spotted by a Nassau County Police helicopter but that was also dismissed. Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg said that "I've received dozens of calls about sewage spill, and when the DEC examines it, they find it's nothing." Mr. Denenberg added that the issue at Cedar Creek isn't about spills it's "about maintenance at the plant. This is what we must take a look at." The DEC, which does an annual operational examination of the plant said "the plant has a good history of compliance with SPIDES," said Mr. Fonda. The DEC also does reconnaissance inspections about twice a year. The last one was on September 20 and The Citizen obtained a copy of the report issued to Cedar Creek. The letter addresses maintenance issues giving unsatisfactory ratings to the sludge processing pumps at the sludge holding tank building, the sludge dewatering or belt press building that has feed pumps and belt presses. "We've put $40 million in capital improvements into Cedar Creek in the last five years including new scrubbers and aeration tank covers" said Mr. Denenberg. "I don't believe there are violations of any material being emitted outside into the air and water. The DEC would be all over them. Everything is contained within the operational unit. What we need to do is talk about upgrading equipment and to ascertain if employees are exposed to unsatisfactory conditions for this kind of facility." Mr. Gerbasi added that three new employees have been hired at Cedar Creek this year. Mr. Denenberg said 12 more will be hired in 2006. Public Reaction The Wantagh/Seaford Homeowners Association held a meeting on September 28 to discuss the Cedar Creek issue. "The Homeowners Association met to review the possible health risks to our community," stated President Ella Stevens. "If Cedar Creek cannot maintain its operations and shuts down, we will all be at risk." The Wantagh/Seaford Homeowners Association hopes to hold a public forum for residents to air their concerns sometime in the near future. Bruce Piel, a park advocate from Wantagh said he sent e-mails to make people aware of the situation at the plant. "If you have been to the Cedar Creek Park and get sick, you should know about possible exposure so you can tell your doctor" he said. "It could be a factor." Mrs. Marzigliano said that at this point no further study would be done on health risks at Cedar Creek which found that odors, although annoying, are not hazardous to health. "Let's repair and keep in good working order what is at the plant" she said. "First we looked at health issues, then capital improvement and now we'll have to work on maintenance and staffing." |
