Nassau tests air at Point Lookout over foul smell

After months of complaints from Point Lookout residents, Nassau health officials are testing the air there to see if a pervasive stench from rotting seaweed poses health risks.

Air samples taken Tuesday contained levels of hydrogen sulfide - a potentially harmful gas produced during decomposition - that were "well within" acceptable limits, said health department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain. More samples will be taken this week.

But residents remain concerned about long-term exposure to the foul-smelling gas, which kept many of them inside for much of the summer.

"Kids literally threw up at the bus stop this morning," resident Debbie Golden said Tuesday. "I don't want my daughter breathing this."

While there is limited information on the effects of long-term, low-level exposure to hydrogen sulfide, two New York communities that were exposed to up to 4 parts per million over some months reported people experienced headaches, nausea, and eye and throat irritation, according to a state health department information sheet.

Nassau's tests showed hydrogen sulfide concentrations at Point Lookout ranged from 0 to 2 parts per million, topping out at 2.5 parts per million right near the seaweed. The federal worker safety standard for exposure over an eight-hour workday is 10 parts per million.

The problem has sometimes flared up, but longtime residents said the smell has never been worse. "It feels like you're breathing pure sewer gas," said Dana Conklin, 63, of Mineola Avenue.

Town of Hempstead officials said the problem may be worse because erosion from last year's storms carved out an area where the seaweed gets deposited by the current. Town workers periodically remove the rotting plants to alleviate the smell. "It's very unpleasant, but it's a naturally occurring product, decomposing seaweed," said town spokesman Michael Deery. "We think we're going above and beyond to try and help residents."

Many residents blame sewage treatment plants that empty into the back bays north of Point Lookout. They said nitrogen from effluent that's been discharged acts like fertilizer to spur the growth of seaweed.

Officials with the state Department of Environmental Conservation have said other potential growth triggers include stormwater runoff from the South Shore or nutrients seeping from cesspools in Point Lookout.