A temporary restraining order approved by a state Appellate Court in November to stop construction of an air stripper device planned at Christopher Morley Park has been lifted, according to court records.
The decision by a panel of state Appellate Division Second Department judges, dated Dec. 5, came roughly three weeks after three Roslyn residents were granted temporary standing in the court to stop the Roslyn Water District from constructing the device.
“This is a very disappointing decision, but the governor has still refused to sign the ‘park land alienation’ bill needed to allow destruction in the forest, so nothing will happen yet and we need people to help us,” said East Hills resident Richard Brummel, who along with Roslyn Estates residents Joshua Dicker and David Greengold filed the initial lawsuit against construction of the air stripper and subsequent appeals.
Brummel said the petitioners would continue their appeal and are preparing a brief to bring before the full Appellate court.
Water district officials proposed the air stripper to the Town of North Hempstead in February as part of a $20.9 million capital bond, saying the project was necessary because chlorofluorocarbons, including Freon-22, were detected in the district’s well on Diana’s Trail in Roslyn Estates, requiring the well to be shut down.
The project was initially proposed for construction at the Diana’s Trail well site, but upon receiving complaints from residents about the potential health impact of the air stripper – which would rid Freon-22 from the water but emit the contaminant into the air – it was approved for the park on the condition that officials work to accelerate a park land alienation agreement with the state Legislature before the end of the legislative session in June.
The agreement was then approved in the county Legislature and in the state Assembly and state Senate, sparking the initial lawsuit against the project’s construction.
At press time, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had not yet signed the park land alienation bill.
Upon being granted the restraining order in November, Brummel said the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County and Roslyn Water District “blatantly violated” the State Environmental Quality Review Act in settling an agreement to acquire the park land for the air stripper.
In a statement, Nassau County Attorney Carnell Foskey said Nassau has “consistently applied the law regarding SEQRA and the courts have regularly upheld the County’s SEQRA determinations” and that Brummel’s accusations, “though frequent and at great cost to residents, have often been dismissed by the courts.”
“Misunderstanding of the function and purpose of SEQRA by individuals who do not understand its application do a disservice to the public at large,” Foskey said.
Efforts to reach legal representatives for the defendants were unavailing.
Dicker, Greengold and Brummel filed for a temporary restraining order in late June, saying the proposed project violated several state environmental protection laws and would destroy the forested area in the park reserved for hiking and wildlife. They also questioned the validity of the park land alienation agreement between the county and state.
Water district officials have said the air stripper is necessary because two other wells – on Mineola Avenue and beneath the William Cullen Bryant Viaduct – were also taken out of service after each was found to have contaminants, and in the last year water pressure decreased dramatically while the district’s demand for water increased.
Wells on Mineola Avenue and beneath the William Cullen Bryant Viaduct are also being treated to remove contaminants.
Exposure to Freon-22 has been found to cause dizziness, loss of concentration, depression and/or cardiac arrhythmia if inhaled in high concentrations, and can also cause asphyxiation if inhaled in confined spaces.
The Roslyn Water District serves the villages of Roslyn, Roslyn Estates, Roslyn Harbor, East Hills and parts of Flower Hill, North Hills and Port Washington and the unincorporated Roslyn Heights, Albertson, Greenvale and Glenwood Landing.
