Was a date set for Brookhaven plume?

On Feb. 26, the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group held a press conference at the Town of Brookhaven.

Advocates from Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group (BLARG) and other local groups came together to urge the town council and town supervisor, Dan Panico, to set a date for the mandated special meeting regarding the Brookhaven groundwater plume and fully and meaningfully engage the public regarding this issue.

This press conference was sparked by the Town of Brookhaven delaying the mandated special hearing and the lack of transparency and information about what is going on in our groundwater.

At this press conference were Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group cofounders, Hannah Thomas, who led the press conference, and Monique Fitzgerald; BLARG cofounder Kerim Odekon; as well as Lynne Maher, Michelle Sanantonio and William Kokell.

Brookhaven residents at the town hall were very concerned about the inaction of the Town of Brookhaven and the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC).

In an interview with News12, supervisor Panico put this off on the DEC, as we have seen Brookhaven Town officials do in the past. However, he did share that the special hearing will be held on Friday, Mar. 27, but he failed to share the time.

Odekon reached out to the Town of Brookhaven waste commissioner to get that date and the time in writing. No response has been given as of yet.

As they wait for a response, the group said they will continue to raise this concern to the public and continue to call for full information about the plume and meaningful engagement for the special meeting.

“It is nearly a decade from when this plume was first detected and the Town of Brookhaven continues to ‘slow walk’ action and point fingers back at the DEC. It is so exhausting and dangerous to be in the crosshairs of all of this,” said Fitzgerald.“What is a verbal date without written confirmation? What is a date without a time?

Supervisor Dan Panico needs to share the details with the community, so that we can prepare and be in attendance. I encourage our community members to reach out to the town to get these answers. But it is absurd that the town supervisor is saying that he needs the DEC to tell him what to do. He knows what needs to be done. Clean it up and close it down. We have a right to clean air and clean water,” added Thomas.For more information, contact landfillaction631@gmail.com or Monique Fitzgerald at 631 275-8236.