_________ Oceanside/island park ________
HERALD Softball classic is a home run
Musicians duel with keyboards
Making the bleeding stop
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Vol. 58 No. 30
JUlY 20 - 26, 2023
$1.00
Concerns aired over
Equinor Wind project Questions raised about noise as well as impact on wildlife and property values By KEPHERD DANIEl kdaniel@liherald.com
Kepherd Daniel/Herald
Christina Kramer engaged the crowd as they listened, and criticized the empire Wind project during the informational session.
Residents expressed their concerns about Equinor’s $3 billion Empire Wind Project at informational sessions held last week in Atlantic Beach and Island Park. Empire Wind, is currently in the midst of a review by the state Public Service Commission, which assesses the need for and environmental impact of major utility transmission facilities in the state. The project will have two parts: Empire Wind 1, which will supply power to the Brooklyn area, and Empire Wind 2, which will power the Long Beach area and connect to the E.F. Barrett Power Station in Island Park.
Empire Wind 1 and 2 — stations housing the cables that transfer energy from the wind turbines to land — will be built 15 to 30 miles offshore, and 147 turbines, each standing 886 feet high, will be three to five miles farther out. Residents who attended meetings on July 13, at Atlantic Beach Village Hall, and the following day, at Hegarty Elementary School in Island Park, asked a variety of questions and voiced a range of reservations. “The entire board of trustees and I are vehemently opposed to this project,” Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty said at the Island Park session. Long Beach resident ChrisContinued on page 11
S. Nassau water board finally holds first public meeting By NIColE FoRMISANo nformisano@liherald.com
The atmosphere was tense in the meeting room in the Lynbrook Public Library on July 11 as dozens of South Shore residents gathered for a public meeting of the South Nassau Water Authority — the first since its creation in November 2021. “I don’t anticipate a very congenial meeting tonight,” said Seth Koslow, who is running for county legislator. “I think people are going to be upset and loud.” Koslow was right. The meeting began with John Reinhardt,
W
e have an affordability crisis, and we really need to work expeditiously to ensure that we are saving the ratepayers money.
MICHAEllE SolAGES Assemblywoman the authority’s temporary president, offering an overview of the timeline for its acquisition of Liberty Water, which pro-
vides water to most of Nassau County and is proposing a rate hike of up to 42 percent in some areas. Hempstead Town Supervisor D o n C l av i n p ro m i s e d t h e authority $500,000 in funding more than a year ago so it could move forward with acquiring Liberty’s assets. That May, the authority completed the first step in a fourstep process for the takeover outlined by the state Public Service Commission, sending an introductory letter to Liberty Water to make it aware of the authority’s intent to acquire those assets. Over the following weeks, Liber ty provided
enough infor mation to the authority to begin the valuation process. Last week’s meeting continued with Bill DeWitt, an attorney representing the water authority, passing several resolutions, including the appointment of Robert York as the authority’s chair man and Michelle Bocci as its treasurer. Nearly in unison, many attend-
ees asked with frustration why York was not at the meeting. When Reinhardt explained that York was on vacation, there were expressions of outrage, and the next several minutes were full of heated cross-talk, which set the tone for the rest of the evening. The board continued the meeting by announcing the hirContinued on page 17