To protect the health of residents and stop sewage from backing up into homes, hospitals, schools, firehouses, nursing homes and restaurants, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced Wednesday that the County and State critical response teams, aided by Governor Andrew Cuomo, State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, are relieving sewage pressure values throughout the Bay Park Sewage Treatment System and securing pumps to divert sewage from backing up houses and streets.
The critical response team of engineers is actively initiating a three-part Mitigation Plan:
- Immediately - Emergency relief will divert raw sewage to Rockaway Channel
- Up to 30 Days - Triage repairs to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant anticipates partial treatment of sewage.
- 6 - 12 months - Comprehensive repair of the facility. Initial assessments indicate that repair will require replacement parts to be engineered, manufactured and replaced. The assessment process is ongoing and plans will be updated as they become available.
The Nassau County Commissioner of Health warns residents to avoid contact with sewage which initially may backup at manhole covers and basement drains. The Nassau County Department of Health advises residents to:
- avoid contact with sewage;
- wear gloves and use soap and water for any required clean-up, followed by disinfecting the area with a 10% household bleach solution; and
- items which cannot be cleaned must be discarded.
- limit water usage immediately, including a ban on watering grass and washing cars;
- limit laundry and washer/dryer usage to full loads;
- shorten shower time; and
- limit flushing toilets.
