(GLEN COVE, N.Y.) - Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D - Glen Cove) is pleased to announce that the second of two Helix water filtration systems, installed earlier this winter on private properties as part of the Crescent Beach reopening strategy, is fully active.
City of Glen Cove Department of Public Works (DPW) officials confirmed that, on Tuesday, April 12, Fabco installed filters cartridges into the second Helix filter, marking the long-awaited start to active water filtration. The Helix systems were first installed on private properties adjoining Hempstead Harbor earlier this winter.
The filters are central to a comprehensive plan for reopening Crescent Beach, which has been closed for more than a decade due to bacteria contamination from a nearby estuary. The installation of a new culvert and sand replenishment and re-grading are the final two major steps as part of the remediation scope, officials said.
“Crescent Beach has always been one of my favorite places in Glen Cove. With the progress we have made in recent months, I am truly optimistic that we will soon be able to re-open Crescent Beach,” Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton said. “I thank everyone who has remained so focused on restoring a true gem of our community so that a new generation of Glen Cove residents can make cherished memories there like my family and I did.”
ABOUT THE CRESCENT BEACH REMEDIATION PLAN
Since becoming a Nassau County Legislator in 2012, Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton has secured essential County funding for studies and worked closely with the DEC, NYIT Associate Professor and overseer of the school’s Center for Water Resources Management, Sarah Meyland, H2M architects + Engineers and former Glen Cove Mayor Tim Tenke to determine the cause of the contamination and devise a strategy for ameliorating the pollution so the beach can reopen.
Last fall, the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) has approved a remediation plan for Crescent Beach. In addition to installing the Helix systems, plans call for the clearing of pipes and the planting of sea grass and other wetland plants - the roots of which effectively absorb harmful bacteria without harming the plants themselves.
In addition, a basin slope will be created, and pipes will be installed to channel the estuary water into a bioswale (sloped retention area) where hundreds of plantings will provide natural filtration to purify the water before it flows to Crescent Beach and Hempstead Harbor.
