Workers at the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant in Wantagh expressed concerns this week about their uncertain futures as Nassau County wrestles with budget restrictions while also considering a possible privatization plan for the facility.

More than a dozen plant workers flocked to Tuesday night’s Cedar Creek Oversight Committee meeting to air their frustrations over recent transfers to other county departments they have seen happen to fellow employees, restrictions on working overtime and uncertainty on how a potential privatization would impact their positions. 

Nassau County Deputy Commissioner of Public Works Richard Millet attended Monday’s meeting and emphasized that if a privatization or public-private partnership of the facility occurs, the new operator will offer all workers jobs at the plant. If workers decided they did not want to stay with the plant under the new arrangement, they would be offered other jobs somewhere else in the county, Millet stated.

“If [plant workers] choose to not to go with the operator, if there is an operator chosen, they will be absorbed back into the county workforce in either roadways or facilities and we will find an opportunity for them to continue with the county,” Millet said. “No one who is a county employee is going to lose their job if a private-public venture occurs.”

Three companies responded to a request for proposal (RFP) process to operate the county’s three sewage treatment plants including England-based Severn Trent PLC; Paris-based Veolia Environment SA, which has its American headquarters in Lombard, Ill; and Harrington Park, N.J.-based United Water, Inc. Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley was hired by the county as a consultant during the RFP process, which has a March 31 deadline.

In response to Cedar Creek worker concerns about less overtime, Millet said the extra hours are still allowed but they are taking a closer look at how it is allocated. He said last year $1.6 million in overtime costs were paid for maintenance at the Cedar Creek plant.

“It just can’t be a daily thing where 15 people are working overtime,” Millet said. “It has to be a little more organized.

Cedar Creek Oversight Committee Co-chairman Phil Franco said during Tuesday’s meeting he would like the county to hold hearings on work conditions at the Wantagh plant and said many workers have indicated frustration with communication on their futures and possible transfers.

“What I’m hearing from people in the plant on the ground is that this place is going backwards,” said Franco, a lifelong Seaford resident and advocate for improving conditions at the Cedar Creek plant. “There is no transparency.”

Millet said he would not comment on personnel matters but mentioned that the county has been making transfers in different departments this year. He said the plant currently has 96 workers but will soon be fully staffed at 100.

Nassau County Legis. Dennis Dunne, R-Levittown, said during Tuesday’s meeting that if the county selects a private operator for the Cedar Creek plant, hearings will be held most likely at Wantagh High School or Seaford High School.