Navy's Seamans Neck Road Water Plant Project Heads To Zoning Board

The U.S. Navy’s planned new treatment system at Aqua NY’s Seamans Neck Road Water Plant along the Seaford-Levittown border is scheduled to go before the Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals Wednesday afternoon.

The Navy Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic’s proposed project aimed at improving area drinking water would feature construction of six 20,000-pound Granular Activated Vessels enclosed within a building on 670 Seamans Neck Road. Lora Fly, Remedial Program Manager for the Navy Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, explained during an informational meeting about the project held on Jan. 10 at the Seaford Public Library that the new treatment system will feature large-scale versions of home filtration systems shown to reliably remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. VOCs, which have been detected in area water recently, are chemical compounds based on carbon and hydrogen structures that are vaporized at room temperature and turn into an air contaminant. 

The source of the VOCs is linked to the nearby former Northrop Grumman Corporation property in Bethpage, which the Navy used to own a portion of before it was closed in 2003. The Seamans Neck Road project, which the Navy is fully paying at an estimated $4.5 million, is aimed at improving drinking water for residents Aqua NY services in the northern sections of Seaford and Wantagh as well as the southeast tip of Levittown.

The Navy is hoping to start construction of the full-scale long-term system at Aqua’s 670 Seamans Neck Rd. property in the spring with completion by next winter. The Navy is also planning to construct an interim treatment system of three 20,000-pound Granular Activated Vessels by April. The site of the project is just north of East Broadway Elementary School.

The U.S. Navy is not subject to local zoning regulations but agreed to hold the Jan. 10  community informational meeting in Seaford and go before the Hempstead BZA for Wednesday’s hearing.

The Seamans Neck Road Plant was built in 1952 and currently features two wells operated by Aqua NY, a subsidiary of Aqua America that serves more than 152,000 residents in the New York City metropolitan area including Seaford and Wantagh as well as the southern section of Levittown. Aqua  America announced last July that it was planning to sell all its regulated operations in New York to American Water Works for around $71 million. 

Wednesday’s BZA hearing will be held inside the at the Nathan L.H. Bennett Pavilion adjacent to Hempstead Town Hall. People unable to attend Wednesday's zoning board hearing on the Navy’s proposed water facility project on Seamans Neck Road can fill out a comment form on the Town of Hempstead's website.