Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced the beginning of critical projects at the Hurricane Sandy-stricken Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant. The projects begin to address the massive damage done to the plant by Hurricane Sandy, which sent raw sewage spilling into homes in two South Shore Communities.
“My administration is aggressively moving forward with critical repairs to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant,” said County Executive Mangano. “These projects will greatly improve the operations at plant and the quality of life for those who live closest to the facility.”
Among the most critical projects are those that address odor control and power at the plant. Other projects continue to enhance the treatment process at the Bay Park Plant. In addition, County Executive Mangano announced the early success of a pilot program at the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant to remove nitrogen from the treated effluent water which could have a tremendous impact on the surrounding waterways. Since put into operation in July, results indicate that more than 80% of the nitrogen is removed from the treated water that was introduced into the system. A full-scale facility could reduce the total amount of nitrogen by 20%.
“With those kinds of numbers it illustrates how far we can go with a full-scale DEMON™ facility at Bay Park,” said County Executive Mangano. “The results are very encouraging.”
Upon taking office, the Mangano Administration invested more than $70 million into the plants to address years of neglect under the prior administration. Progress was significant in the months before Hurricane Sandy’s flood waters overtook the plant, rendering it inoperable for almost two days, and the plant had marked more than one year without a violation from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) - something not seen in years. The facility has been fully meeting all DEC permits since mid-December 2012. These latest projects must be performed for the facility to continue operations.
“When these projects are completed, Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant will have cutting-edge technology in operation and will once again become a model for other facilities across the U.S.,” said County Executive Mangano.
The projects that are being worked on under the Mangano administration include:
The design of improvements to the plant’s Influent Screening Facility is complete and will be put out to bid early next month. The design of improvements to the plant’s Grit Removal Facility is nearing completion and will be in the bidding process soon. The Grit building rehab design is complete and will be in the bidding process soon. Recently, the County Legislature authorized $262 million to begin these repairs; however, Democrat Legislators have withheld their support for the remaining $300 million needed to fully repair the plant.
“We are moving forward aggressively, fixing this plant and addressing the issues that have defined the Bay Park community and beyond for too long,” said County Executive Mangano. “We promised to fix this plant and nothing will stand in the way of delivering on that promise.”