Newsday Article about Thursday's Carmans River Meeting

 

Residents praise plan to preserve Carmans River

Originally published: July 28, 2013 6:14 PM
Updated: July 28, 2013 7:22 PM
By CARL MACGOWAN  carl.macgowan@newsday.com

Photo credit: Carl Corry | A view from Indian Landing in the Carmans River in Shirley. The stop-off, now part of the Wertheim National Widllife Refuge, once served as a meeting place for native Americans. (Sept. 09, 2012)

Brookhaven Town's revamped plan to preserve the Carmans River received generally positive reviews from residents last week.

Residents questioned some details of the Carmans River Conservation and Management Plan during an informational meeting at Town Hall on Thursday. But they said the proposal -- which the town board is expected to vote on in the fall -- is better than a plan that was withdrawn last year because it lacked support.

"I think it's an improvement over the last one," said Jim Gleason, vice president of the East Moriches Property Owners Association. He was among about 20 people who attended the informational meeting in Farmingville.

"I think it's a step in the right direction," Gleason said. "I don't think the last one was ready for prime time the way it was put together."

The new plan, backed by Supervisor Edward P. Romaine, calls for the town to purchase vacant private land and impose new zoning to restrict development along the 10-mile river.

A key element of the proposal is state legislation expanding the protected Central Pine Barrens region to include 3,875 acres along the river; the bill is awaiting approval by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The previous plan, proposed by then-Supervisor Mark Lesko, was criticized by residents and officials for allowing high-intensity development elsewhere in exchange for conserving the river. Lesko withdrew the resolution last year.

A public hearing on Romaine's plan is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday at Town Hall.

Romaine, in remarks on Thursday, said he will ask the town board to accept written comments about the plan through August. Another public hearing will be held in September or October, and the board will vote before Election Day in November, he said.

Preserving the river is "absolutely critical" for conservation of the Great South and Moriches bays, Romaine said. "I don't think anyone wants to see Brookhaven overdeveloped," he said.

Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, attended the meeting and warned that development would increase "tenfold" if the plan is not adopted.

Andrea Spilka, of Eastport, said she was "cautiously optimistic" after hearing town planners describe the proposal. She said it is a "big improvement" over the previous one.

"I was pleased to hear more about the process [and] that there will be another public hearing prior to the approval of the final version," she said.

 

Woodruff Cemetery Restoration completed

From: Martin VanLith Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 12:51 PM
Subject: Woodruff Cemetery Restoration completed

 More information on the Woodruff Private Family cemetery and the folks interred there  may be found here:  http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/HamletPeople/tng/showmap.php?cemeteryID=17&tree=hamlet

 Dear All,

 As usual, Hollis and George did a nice job repairing this cemetery. Thanks to all who helped clear the brush from the cemetery so that Hollis could do the repairs. Here are pictures taken at noon today.

   

Note pieces of stone behind first headstone (Matthew Woodruff)-

 This is the headstone I mentioned in a previous e-mail in which we weren't sure if it could be repaired. Hollis did a lot of bench work in his shop to make it one piece. The dates are missing but the pieces with the dates on them are behind the stone- 

  

If one tries to find out the dates can be deciphered from these pieces -

--Marty

Azel Hawkins Cemetery headstones repaired. Azel Hawkins Cemetery

From: Martin VanLith
Subject: Azel Hawkins Cemeterry headstones repaired

More on Azel Hawkins Cemetery here:  http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/HamletPeople/tng/showmap.php?cemeteryID=16&tree=

Pix: Hollis and George at the Azel Hawkins cemetery this morning -

 Note the good job the Town is doing in maintaining the grass -

 This is Matthew Woodruff's headstone (from Woodruff Family Cemetery, see later post). The middle section had disintegrated. We were going to lay the pieces flat in gravel like we did at the Rose cemetery but Hollis bought it back to his shop, cut and glued the two solid pieces together to make it like this-  

The crumbled mid-section of the stone will be left at the base of the headstone.

 More pictures of the repaired Woodruff cemetery to follow later today when Hollis is done. 

--Marty 

Brookhaven Community Coalition Prevails in Long Island Compost Negotiations

Monday, June 24, 2013

FW: Brookhaven Community Coalition Prevails in Long Island Compost Negotiations

From: Adrienne Esposito [mailto:aesposito@citizenscampaign.org] 
Subject: Brookhaven Community Coalition Prevails in Long Island Compost Negotiations

 

 

At Brookhaven Town Hall:  Brookhaven Community Coalition (BCC) and Brookhaven Town Officials:

Brookhaven Community Coalition organizations representatives:

FW: Brookhaven Community Coalition Prevails in Long Island Compost Negotiations

From: Adrienne Esposito [mailto:aesposito@citizenscampaign.org]
Subject: Brookhaven Community Coalition Prevails in Long Island Compost Negotiations

 

 

All BCC Coalition Members and Supporters

 

As many of you may know, the BCC Executive Board has worked tirelessly and aggressively for 2 years to resolve the many concerns at the Long Island Compost.  We are delighted to provide you with the significant end results that we are very hopeful will address the concerns and improve our quality of life for all Brookhaven residents.

 

On Monday, a critical announcement will be made -  a stipulation agreement to settle the DEC action rescinding the variance allowing Long island Compost to operate an open air transfer station has been agreed upon. Normally this process would happened in private between Long Island Compost (LIC) and the DEC with the assistance of an Administrative Law Judge.  An agreement would be worked out or a judgment would be imposed by the Administrative Law Judge. Due to BCC efforts, this time things went dramatically different.

 

Since the DEC announced they were rescinding LIC’s variance, in October 2011, the BCC executive board has been very busy. We have traveled twice to Albany to meet with DEC officials, department heads, and our state representatives. We put together a huge packet of information, community testimonies, maps and letters written by adversely impacted residents and sent it to the administrative law judge handling the case. We had countless meetings with, DEC Region One Director, Peter Scully and his staff. We had a number of meetings with Charles Vigliotta. 

 

We toured the LIC facility with DEC and elected officials and their staff members. We have spent hundreds of hours studying every law, regulation and judgment, from DEC permits to the clean air act. We have spent even more time researching everything from anaerobic digesters, other technologies and  to how manganese gets into the ground water from composting processes.  We have met with numerous elected officials from Supervisor Ed Romaine to Charles Schumers chief of staff.  Citizens Campaign for the Environment allocated a great deal of resources to this campaign.

 

We even, traveled with Charles Vigliotti to see a compost facility in Massachusetts, in an effort to gain on the ground information for odor control measures. While on this trip. we met a very knowledgeable consultant who was utilized by the Massachusetts facility. We advised DEC that this national consultant should be hired by LIC to figure out the best way to deal with all the issues. Peter Scully agreed and LIC hired him. He conducted an extensive odor and dust study which culminated in a presentation to BCC executive board, DEC, town officials, and representatives from our elected officials.

 

Based on those findings, input from BCC, CCE, and directives from DEC, a stipulation agreement was drawn up and in an unprecedented move LIC allowed BCC to review the agreement and make recommendations which we did.

 

On Monday June 24 the stipulation will be made public. We view the dramatic changes that will take place over the next two years as a huge victory because a number of issues that are not associated with the transfer station are being addressed and the way compost is processed on LI may be changed for the better by this agreement. Please understand, we don't anticipate that all odors will be gone however, we do believe our quality of life will be dramatically improved. We are hopeful for the future. Thank you to everyone who stuck with us and supported the BCC is these efforts. 

 

Please feel free to join us Monday at 10:00 am at town hall for the announcement.   (outside on the lawn!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWSDAY- Yaphank composter agrees to waste management pact

GOOD NEWS

 

Yaphank composter agrees to waste management pact

By MARK HARRINGTON  June 23, 2013 

Years of complaints about odors, dust and noise at a compost and mulch facility in Yaphank are set to be addressed by an unprecedented agreement Monday that would enclose and seal off large portions of the operation.

Long Island Compost has reached an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and citizens groups to invest tens of millions of dollars in the new facility.

The plan includes construction of an anaerobic digester on Long Island Compost's 62-acre facility to seal off the dust, odors and noise of the composting operation that neighbors have complained about for more than a decade.

Trucks coming and going at the Horseblock Road facility would be air-locked to prevent odors and material from escaping. The facility also would have an enclosed tipping operation and bagging facility, and roads will be paved to eliminate dust.

The agreement includes new limits on the amount of mulch stored at the facility, a major source of odor complaints. Mulch on site would be limited to 15,000 cubic yards, down from totals that have risen to as high as 150,000 cubic yards.

"It's a landmark agreement that will change the way organic waste is managed on Long Island," said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, an environmental group, who helped broker the agreement. "It sets a new precedent for community involvement and managing compost and mulch."

She worked with the Brookhaven Community Coalition, a group of 30 family members and local activists, on the push for changes. The process was "challenging, emotional and grueling," Esposito said.

Kathleen Lacey, an executive board member of the Brookhaven Community Coalition, who lives about a mile from the facility, said, "I have very high hopes that it will work this time. We've been extremely diligent for over two years on this project. This agreement forces them to actually change the way they're doing things."

DEC Region One director Peter A. Scully called the agreement historic. "Recycling of organic materials is a critically important part of successful efforts to manage solid waste on Long Island, and sound operating practices will ensure that these activities can take place without significant impacts to the community," he said.

Since it moved to Yaphank from a facility in East Moriches more than a decade ago, Long Island Compost has won plaudits for its ability to turn leaves, grass and other organic waste into compost and mulch -- and sell it at a profit. But almost from the beginning it has elicited complaints from neighbors.

The new agreement would settle a filing by the DEC in October of 2011 that sought to revoke Long Island Compost's variance to operate a yard-waste facility without a structure, based on years of odor complaints.

For Long Island Compost, the agreement comes with another benefit: methane gas produced from the new digester will be used to fuel Long Island Compost trucks and other mechanical operations. Producing its own energy not only will mean big cost savings, but will allow the facility to sharply cut back on noise and greenhouse gases.

Charles Vigliotti, president and CEO of Long Island Compost, called the changes a "complete re-engineering of the company's process, looking with fresh eyes at how organic waste is handled."

The company will spend upward of $50 million on the modernization of its operations, he said, but will save money on fuel, power and other efficiencies while reducing its carbon footprint.

"It's a game changer for how waste is handled for Long Island," Vigliotti said.

The state DEC in 2009 launched an investigation of Long Island Compost's Horseblock Road facility after elevated levels of heavy metals and radionuclides were found in ground water samples in and around it. Manganese levels also far exceeded drinking water levels.

The department, with the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, undertook tests of scores of wells at 12 ground water sample dozen organic waste and related facilities in Suffolk -- from Islip to Southampton. Others, including a mulching facility on Main Street in Yaphank, also showed elevated levels.

A report on the Horseblock Road investigation is due this summer.

 Ed Warner, the manager of Long Island Compost in Yaphank, stands on top of a large pile of compost.

 

 

 

FW: Manoj Bhargava now owns the former Levytown site

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/suffolk-closes-on-land-sale-for-rail-hub-1.5362461

Suffolk closes on land sale for rail hub

Originally published: May 29, 2013 2:33 PM
Updated: May 29, 2013 2:53 PM
By RICK BRAND  rick.brand@newsday.com

Photo credit: Joseph D. Sullivan | Brookhaven Railroad Terminal in Yaphank, which opened in September 2011, has two diesel trains, and one railcar alone can carry four truckloads’ worth of freight. (June 22, 2012)

Suffolk County has closed on the $19.4 million sale of 230 surplus acres in Yaphank for a rail hub even though a lawsuit seeking to block the deal is pending in State Supreme Court.

The county filed the sale to Oakland Transportation Holdings LLC on May 20 after several delays since late last year. The deal closed less than two weeks after county Comptroller Joseph Sawicki cited the delayed sale as part of the reason the county ended 2012 with a deficit of $155.5 million, which was higher than expected.

"We gave it several months, but we were at a point if we waited much longer we would put the deal into jeopardy," said Deputy County Executive Jon Schneider. The deal was approved by the county Legislature last summer and will put the property back on the tax rolls, generating $3.1 million in new revenue annually, Schneider said. Much of the money will go to the South County andLongwood School Districts.

But Reggie Seltzer, the attorney representing the four local residents seeking to block the sale, sale the county's action showed "total disrespect for the court and the judge hearing the case." The case is pending before Justice Martin Smith in Riverhead.

County Attorney Dennis Brown said there was nothing to prevent the county from moving ahead because the plaintiffs never sought a temporary stay. Brown said the county is "very confident" it complied with county and state law.

In their suit filed last September, the Yaphank residents claimed the county did not undergo a public bidding process to get the highest price for the land. They said the rail hub would jam local roads and threaten the Carmans River waters, and that the buyers have failed to disclose their plans for the tract.

The hub started in 2011 with 30 acres and expanded to another 88 acres where construction has begun on a 60,000 square foot warehouse to store building products for Home Depot. Officials say the hub so far has brought 1,400 rail cars carrying materials including flour, building supplies, stone aggregate for roadwork, biodiesel fuel and bentonite used for landfill liners, removing the equivalent of 5,600 tractor trailer trucks from the highways.

Daniel Miller, chief executive of Oakland Transportation Holdings, said, "I'm pleased to have completed the land purchase with Suffolk County and we look forward to further development of the railroad."