Bethpage-Tribune_1984-08-16

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OLD BETHPAGE PLAINVIEW
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eCTHPAGCLIORARY 1
47 POWELL AV£
B C T H P A G C N Y I I 7 I 4
PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 19 NO. 20 Week of Aug. 16 - Aug. 22,1984 20 cents per copy
ino Ahead
In Resource
Recovery Plan
Presenting evidence of progress being made toward
implementing a resource recovery system that will permit
the closing ol the Town landfill. Oyster Bay Town Supervi­sor
Joseph Colby Assured the State Commissioner of Envir­onmental
Conservation that the Town was continuing to
move ahead.
"We cannot and will not allow the blocking of technical
legislation in the State Assembly to end our efforts to insti­tute
an environmentally sound and economically feasib.le
system for disposal of the refuse generated by our residents,"
Colby said.
At a meeting held in Albany with State Environmental
Commissioner Henry Williams, Colby assured the Commis­sioner
that every effort was being made to persuade the
Assembly to approve the financing legislation that would
ajilpw private funding to be utilized'for the resource recovery
pxDJect.,"ln addition I assured-the. Commlssion^^^^
staff that the environmental impact study concerning the
waste-to-energy project was proceeding and was nearing
completion," Colby said.
The meeting was requested by Colby following the failure
of the State Assembly to approve the technical financing-authority.
"While the passage of the legislation in the Senate
was significant, we had learned that the State DEC staff was
concerned as to whether we planned to proceed in view of
the Assembjy's failure to pass the bill," Colby explained. '
The State has allocated $5 million in Environmental Qual­ity
Bond Act Funds to Oyster Bay for use on the project. An
additional $14 million had been allocated to the Town of
Huntington and can be used for the project when agreement
is finalized with Huntington concerning use of the plant.
"The State DEC is in theiprocess of examining the funds
that it has reserved for the two Towns and we felt it was
necessary that we assure them that the project was proceed­ing,"
according to Colby.
in addition to providing the State Commissioner with
evidence of the Town's progress, the Town also presented
the Long Island Regional Office of the State DEC with facts
that demonstrate that by the end of this year the Town
should be three years ahead of the DEC guidelines concern­ing
implementation of resource recovery.
"Under the State Law requiring the 1990 closing of land­fills
and the implementation of resource recovery through­out
Long Island, certain actions are required by the State^at
particular times as the 1990 date approaches," Colby
explained. "The steps we have taken will put us ahead of the
State schedule by three years."
It is on the basis of the progress made to date that the State
law permits the Town's landfill in Old Bethpage to be tem­porarily
extended until the planned wastc-to-energy plant is
on line, "Because the Assembly failed to pass the technical
legislation, the State was concerned that it could not act on
the Town's application for the temporary extension that we
win need to dispose of refuse from the end of this year until
the plant begins operations," Colby said.
Without the extension, space at the existing Town landfill
is expected to be completely depleted by the end of the year.
"If we do not receive the permits for the temporary extension
that the State Law provides for, we will be out of landfill
space and will have to consider the possibility of shipping
Town refuse to a landfijloff Long Island until such time as
the permits are issued and we can construct the necessary
environmental safeguards for the temporary extension,"
according to Colby.
Before any refuse would be placed in the temporary exten­sion,
the Town would install two liners to prevent leachate
from seeping out of the landfill and a double collection
system to permit the liquid to be treated and pumped into
the sanitary sewer system.
GAP Says Thanks
ToGerweck
Oyster Bay Town Receiver of Taxes Gary F.
Musielio presents a plaque to John Gerweck, co-owner
of Unique Racquetball in Bethpage, in
appreciation of the free sessions Gerweck and his
partner, Seyd Khayami, have sponsored for
members of the Town's Group Activities Pro­gram
(GAP) for the handicapped. The plaque was
given by the Group Activities Program Parents
Association (GAPPA), represented here by
Ariene Halper of Hicksville. Also on hand for the
presentation were Jpe Lamia of Hicksville and
Laurie Nimmo of Syosset, who were there with
other GAP members to play racquetball.
Camj^us For Honor Students
lassau Community College English Professor
Carol Farber of Roslyn (c), advisor to the
Honors program, pauses near the library duringa
tour of the ultra-modern Garden City campus for
incoming Honors program freshmen (1. to r.)
Sharon Zell (of Bethpage), Karen Harz (of Mas-sapequa),
Sharon Spindler (of Levittown) and
Steven Harras (of Plainedge). Nassau's Honors
Curricula is a program of study for talented and
highly motivated students who want to develop
their potential more fully as they study for the
two-year Associate Degree.