Serving The Willistons, Albertson, Herricks, Mineola, and Searingtown
$1
Friday, August 19, 2016
vol. 65, no. 34
Back to School
EWSD oPEN ricE gaiNS BackiNg mEEtiNg QUEStioNS oF goP PolS
PaGEs 31-42
PaGE 2
PaGE 6
EPa clears ex Mineola plant after 16 years Site on First Street can come off Superfund list after $8.3M cleanup By N o a h m a N S k a r A formerly contaminated steel manufacturing plant in Mineola is ready for development after 16 years and $8.3 million of cleanup work, the Environmental Protection Agency said last week. “The contamination at this site that once threatened the community is now taken care of and the site can be redeveloped,” EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said in an Aug. 11 statement. The federal agency wants to remove the 1.5-acre Jackson Steel property at 435 First St. from its “Superfund” list of the most dangerous contaminated sites in the U.S., saying it “no longer poses a threat to public health and the environment.” The public can comment on the move until Sept. 11. The EPA has monitored contamination levels at the site since it finished removing harmful chemicals from the soil and groundwater there last May and will continue to
do so if it’s removed from the Superfund list, an agency spokesman, John Martin, said. Removing the property’s Superfund designation would clear the way for it to be occupied again after 25 years and put it back on the tax rolls for the first time since at least 2000. “Let’s get something there,” Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said. “Let’s get that property back to paying taxes, putting some money back into the community and making the property workable again.” The 43,000-square-foot building and adjacent 10,000-squarefoot parking lot have sat vacant since the 1991 closure of the plant, which manufactured steel pieces from 1970 until that year. The property has $4.4 million in unpaid county and village tax liens, Village Clerk Joseph Scalero said. The EPA placed Jackson Steel on the Superfund list in 2000 after the Nassau County Department of Continued on Page 59
(C)2016 Martha gorFEIN PhotoCoNCEPtS/WWW.MgPhotoCoNCEPtS.CoM
Dog days of summer North Shore animal league held its Dog Days of Summer Party held at Carlyle on the green in bethpage State Park on Wednesday, aug. 10. the fundraiser for the Port Washington-based non-profit featured drinks, music, photos with puppies, hors d’oeuvres and music by Jeff leblanc.
Chaminade graduates slam handling of sex abuse case By N o a h maNSkar
its former president, saying the elite Mineola academy has failed to live up to its motto. In a letter published MonChaminade High School graduates this week publicly crit- day in the New York Daily News, icized the school’s handling of seven graduates said Chaminade sexual abuse allegations against has not been forthcoming with
parents and alumni about the details of the “credible” allegations against the Rev. James Williams, telling them to ask questions individually rather than offering information openly. Continued on Page 52
For the latest news visit us at www.theislandnow.com D on’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow