Brookhaven Village Association Letter to Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko on Town Landfill

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Introduction:

The Town of Brookhaven, NY Landfill is located just north of Sunrise Highway, NYS route 27, off Horseblock Road.  It serves not only the Town of Brookhaven , but also other towns and villages on Long Island.  The Town is proposing a significant expansion of the Landfill, primarily as a means of increasing town revenues.  The Brookhaven Village Association has written the following letter to Supervisor Lesko.

 

 

 

Mark Lesko, Supervisor

Town of Brookhaven

1 Independence  Hill

Farmingville, NY 11738

                                                                                                           

February 23, 2012

Mr Lesko:

 

The Brookhaven Village Association stands adamantly opposed to your plan to expand the Brookhaven Town landfill. In 1995,The Brookhaven/Southaven Hamlet Study, authored by the Brookhaven Village Association, Post Morrow Foundation and South Haven Civic Association had the following to say about the landfill’s impact on our community:

            “... More than a decade ago, it was recognized that leachate from the landfill has been advancing in a plume through the groundwater south toward the Bay, contaminating wells and threatening the waters of Beaver Dam Creek, and ultimately the Bay itself…”

            “…Odors from the landfill have been a major problem in our study area…serious concerns …raised the issue of a direct impact on the health of local citizens due to emissions from the landfill.”

            “The expansion of the landfill and its continued use to stockpile ash, with its known high content of toxic components, further threatens the health and environment of our community; and this use of a landfill, as a highly effective revenue engine fueled by garbage, skews the economics of waste management in Brookhaven Town in such a way as to discourage efforts at recycling and reducing the overall waste stream.”

 

The above could have been written now, which shows how little things have changed in this Town, and not for the better. In the intervening 17 years we have seen an increase in water contamination, complaints about smells, and quality of life destruction, not to mention a sharp reduction in property values. Who knows what the long-term health effects might be? The landfill sits well within the boundaries of the Carmans River watershed, which has already been adversely affected by its presence. When toxins from the landfill reach the Great South Bay and render inedible our incredible treasure of shellfish, crabs and other sea life, who will regret the decisions we make today?

 

We demand that the Town find other sources of revenue, and/or to make appropriate reductions in spending, and stop relying on the landfill to balance the Town’s budget. For our Hamlet’s citizens, and all citizens of Brookhaven Town, including you, Mr. Supervisor, the price is way too high, and not worth whatever reduction in taxes we may get from it. At some point the landfill will have met its capacity. We have been promised again and again that the landfill would be closed forever on specified dates that have come and gone. We feel we have been lied to, taken advantage of, and that we are the victims of shortsightedness and greed. What would you like your legacy to be? We insist that you do the right thing: Work with the LLC to develop a plan to close the landfill and give our Hamlet, and the whole Town, a break.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Brookhaven Village Association

 

Kathleen Scheibel, President

Frank Miller, Vice President

Ellen Clyne, Secretary

Janet Quirk, Treasurer

Carol Capaldo, Director

John Curiale, Director

Lenny DaConto, Director

Michael Rizzo, Director

Jeffrey Jensen, Director

Deborah Love Sack, Director

John Knapp, Director

Jeremiah McGiff, Director

Steven Christopher Marshall, Director

Martin VanLith, Historian

Andy Rubin, Dockmaster

 

cc: Kate Browning

      Connie Kepert

      BCC

      BVA