Denenberg Calls for State Investigation into Sewage Treatment Plant Privatization Proposal

Nassau County Legis. Dave Denenberg, D-Merrick, is calling on state officials to investigate the legality of Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano's proposal to  the county's sewage treatment system as way to close a more than $300 million deficit.

Denenberg, whose 19th district covers the area in Wantagh where Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant sits, sent a letter to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli Wednesday asking for an investigation regarding the proposed sale or lease of Nassau County's sewage treatment system. Nassau County also operates plants in East Rockaway and Glen Cove. 

Denenberg's letter to Schneiderman and DiNapoli comes a week after the Nassau County Legislature's Rules Committee approved a contract for Morgan Stanley to consult on the county's bids for privatizing its three sewage treatment plants in a 4-3 vote along party lines.

The interested bidders include 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. Morgan Stanley would receive a percentage of the transaction if the privatization plan goes through.

Denenberg said in his letter that Morgan Stanley was hired by the county in March 2010 to conduct a financial analysis of privatizing the sewage treatment system without the public's knowledge long before last week's approved contract of the Wall Street giant. 

"I request an investigation into this process and whether state municipal laws and/or regulations with respect to proper bidding processes and proper contracting processes were violated," said Denenberg in his letter. 

Denenberg's letter also requests that the state attorney general and comptroller offices investigate "whether a county can unilaterally consummate a privatization of infrastructure and assets that were purchased and constructed utilizing, in material part, state and federal funds." 

Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin was critical of Denenberg's request for an investigation and pointed to how the plants were not properly maintained under his watch after he first got elected in 1999. 

“The only person who should be investigated by the attorney general is Dave Denenberg for his neglect and failure to properly oversee Nassau’s sewage treatment plants over the past decade as they polluted the environment and fell into a state of disrepair," Nevin said. "The administration will only move forward with a public-private partnership for Nassau’s sewage treatment plants if it protects the environment and county taxpayers."

Denenberg officially called for the state investigation into Mangano's privatization plan during a Thursday morning press conference held in a playground area at , just steps from the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant in Wantagh.

Denenberg was joined at the press conference by local community activists including Ralph Spagnola of Wantagh, a retired worker of 40 years at the Bay Park and Cedar Creek plants, Long Beach resident Scott Bochner from the Surfrider Foundation and Claudia Borecky, president of the North and Central Merrick Civic Association. 

"If a private contractor comes in … we lose control of the plants," said Spagnola while emphasizing the potential maintenance neglect that could result if the county does not control the facilities anymore. "There is no way we can stop [private contractors] from going on strike." 

Long Beach City Councilman Michael Fagen also joined Denenberg's call for an investigation at the press conference and expressed concerns about how a privatization plan would impact notifications of when sewage from the Bay Park plant in East Rockaway gets pumped into Reynolds Channel.