Friday, March 24, 2017
Vol. 77, No. 12
RAISING FUNDS FOR SOLDIERS
$1
Remediation to pollution plume underway BY GARY SIMEONE
The Lee Road Elementary School Community Service Committee in Levittown collected supplies for troops serving abroad, which benefitted the Long Island nonprofit organization Boots on the Ground NY. The students and their families collected individual snack packages, hot cocoa, coffee, baby wipes and socks that will now be included in assembled care packages and shipped overseas. Photo courtesy of the Levittown School District
Town work session on golf concessions
The Oyster Bay Town Board will hold a special work session prior to the Town’s regularly scheduled Town Board meeting on Tuesday, April 4, at 10 a.m. at Oyster Bay Town hall. The Board will publicly hear multiple proposals in response to a request for proposals for the operation of a food and beverage concession service at the Town’s Golf Course, Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Sala-
dino announced. The work session will take place in the Town Board Hearing Room in Oyster Bay Town Hall, located at 54 Audrey Ave in Oyster Bay, and will be open to the public, who are welcome to attend and observe the process. The public is encouraged to provide input by offer their comments on the process and presentations during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Additionally, the work session will be live streamed through the Town’s website, www.oysterbaytown.com. “When I took office, I promised residents that a new era would begin in the Town of Oyster Bay, one with the highest ethical standards, and complete transparency, to regain the faith and trust of our residents,” Supervisor Saladino stated.
The Oyster Bay Town Board approved the installation of a well in a residential neighborhood in Bethpage at a meeting in early March. The approval followed an agreement between Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and the Town to address concerns raised by residents in the immediate area. The well will help with remediation of a portion of the Northrop Grumman groundwater contamination plume. Currently the State is in the process of suing Northrop Grumman and the Navy for the cleanup costs that will be involved in this project. Town Supervisor, Joseph Saladino said that the agreement between Northrop Grumman and the Town will help to protect the Town’s residents and its taxpayers from any ill effects from the plume. “I’ve been in this position for only four weeks and this agreement is something that I’ve worked hard to put together,” said Saladino. “With this agreement we hope to contain and remediate this situation.” He said that the detailed agreement contains a long list of covenants that will help to protect Town of Oyster Bay residents and Bethpage residents who are living near the containment zone. One of those covenants includes plans for a barrier to be set up alongside the well to stop the movement of the plume in its tracks into the underground aquifer system. “The barrier will be set up hydraulically to prevent the plume from further moving into the Upper Glacial and Magothy underground
aquifers,” said Saladino. “The Magothy is a second tier aquifer and is the source of water for most of Nassau County and about half of Suffolk County.” Saladino said the hydraulic containment system is similar to that of an old style fish tank filter where water is drawn out and run through activated charcoal to help purify it. “Once the water is cleaned it is able to reenter the water supply in this case through the topmost layer or the Upper Glacial aquifer and down into the Magothy.” Saladino said he has worked diligently on projects like these even before he took over the Supervisor’s role. He said that in the past 14 years he has worked with leaders of the State to help clean up surface water and underground contaminants. “I worked in the State Assembly with the Governor and other State officials to help change the direction of the DEC,” said Saladino. In the past they were not committed to using superfund money to clean up plume sites but they are beginning to change their viewpoint on this.” He said that he helped to get a bill passed in the Senate to prohibit the underground process of hydraulic fracturing, which breaks up buried rock and releases gas trapped inside. The construction phase of the project is already underway and Saladino hopes that work can be completed by the end of the school year so that residents can enjoy their time outdoors without being restricted by environmental toxins.
Hundreds brave cold for a good cause PAGE 3 OCR School makes history happen PAGE 10