An appeal to the United States Supreme Court by a former East Hills resident was denied last week.
Former resident Richard Brummel, who has since moved to New Jersey, said the court rejected his appeal alleging the New York courts denied due process in his case against the air stripper facility in Christopher Morley Park, a $4.4 million project approved in 2014 by the North Hempstead Town Board as part of a $20.9 million capital bond.
“I am disappointed but not shocked,” Brummel said in a statement. “I needed a lot more firepower from environmental groups some of which expressed support but declined to help — at least at the state appeals level.”
Previously, Brummel’s lawsuit against the air stripper facility made its way through Nassau County Supreme Court, a state Appellate Court in Brooklyn Heights and the New York Court of Appeals where it was repeatedly denied.
“The decision by the court to dismiss the petition demonstrated that the petition was baseless,” Roslyn Water District attorney Peter Fishbein said of the dismissal.
The air stripper facility moves air through contaminated water in an above-ground treatment center to remove chemicals known as volatile organic compounds. Previously, Brummel said no environmental impact statement was written, but Roslyn Water District attorney Peter Fishbein and Town of North Hempstead spokeswoman Carole Trottere both said a study was done before the project began construction
The water district also received a $2.6 million state grant in October as part of a $27 million block of grants for Long Island water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
Brummel, a longtime resident of East Hills, recently moved to New Jersey because the state is more environmentally progressive in terms of open space preservation and environmental litigation, he said.
“New York has a crony politicized corrupt judiciary that accommodates highly destructive real estate development even in the face of blatant violations of environmental laws designed to create accountability by government agencies in environmental decisions,” Brummel said.
