Earlier this month, on May 2 and 3, about two dozen Roslyn area activists gathered at Christopher Morley Park to protest the proposed air stripper construction at the park.
Last year, the Nassau County Legislature approved the construction, designed to purify contaminated water.
At the rallies, Roslyn area residents expressed their concerns.
“I will rethink bringing my 2-year-old grandson to this park due to emissions of Freon and other chemicals from the air stripper,” said Nancy Weiss of Flower Hill.
“What I find most upsetting is the lack of care and concern by the officials we elect to protect this county for the public benefit. There are very few spaces left of natural beauty and forests. This is one of the few of them and it’s being destroyed for no good reason,” added Joshua Dicker of Roslyn Estates, one of the plaintiffs.
“I am very opposed to our parkland being
used for this. When my son was a Boy Scout
they used the park for learning experiences for them, for wilderness experience. And I’m upset that it won’t continue for people like the Boy Scouts,” said Bobbie Levy of Roslyn Heights.
“The Freon is a greenhouse gas 2,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It should not be emitted into the atmosphere 24/7 as planned,” said Richard Brummel of East Hills, another of
the plaintiffs.
Opponents have brought a pending lawsuit, which is now before the state Appellate Division. The plaintiffs argue that Nassau County, which owns the park, along with the Roslyn Water District and the Town of North Hempstead, which run the local water system, failed to perform the required steps of state environmental review for the proposed project.
