With regard to
the expansion of the landfill, this past March, a New York State
Administrative Law Judge, Kevin J. Casutto, presided over a sequence
of hearings regarding the Towns application to build and operate Cell
5. Arguments against the granting of a permit were made by attorneys
representing the residents of Horizon Village, by the Environmental
Defense Fund and Sierra Club, and by a coalition of local civic groups
(including the BVA), with Parent- Teacher Associations and school
officials from the South Country and Longwood school districts.
Attorneys for Brookhaven Town and the New York State DEC argued in
favor of the expansion.
In the end, Judge Casutto ruled that there were no
substantive issues that warranted further judicial process. However,
in his ruling, Casutto noted that the potential for fugitive ash dust
escaping from the landfill does raise "very legitimate public health
concerns." The ruling notes that the Towns testing and monitoring of
the environmental impact of the existing Cell 4 has been inadequate,
and, "Ingestion of dust particulates must be addressed because of the
proximity of the Horizon neighborhood and the likelihood of ingestion
of dust and dirt particulates by residents, including children, in
neighborhoods nearby." The ruling adds a new condition to the permit
to operate Cell 5. The Town is directed to begin air monitoring
immediately, and the DEC staff is required to evaluate the monitoring
plan and its results, and determine, after one year, whether the
permit needs further modification or, possibly, should be revoked.
2. VID Industries
Over the years, the Brookhaven Village Association
has been concerned about VID Industries, a demolition debris recycling
company located on a 40-acre site between the Long Island Rail Road
and Beaver Dam Road, approximately 250 feet west of Arthur Avenue in
Brookhaven Hamlet. Approximately 30 acres of this site is an old sand
and gravel pit, which is at or near groundwater level. This site,
zoned Ll, is adjacent to a residential area, zoned
Al.
In December of 1983, VID withdrew its application to
dump waste materials. However, a follow-up inspection on January 31,
1984, by Thomas Cramer of Brookhaven Towns Department of
Environmental Protection found eight violations, including home
heating oil tanks, motor oil drums engine blocks, buried fuel storage
tank, three liquid storage tanks and 11 abandoned heavy-equipment
vehicles. Subsequently, the Town recommended: "Any homes with private
well water lying southeast of the site and northwest of the Beaver Dam
Creek should request that SCDHS test their drinking water annually."
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