$849G project to connect Wyandanch school buildings to sewer district
Workers use heavy machinery to lower a section of concrete pipe into the ground in front of the Wyandanch Schools administration building on Straight Path in Wyandanch on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Work has begun to connect parts of the Wyandanch School District to the Southwest Sewer District and end the use of failing cesspools that were once described by a school official as a "ticking time bomb."
The Martin Luther King Jr. and Lafrancis Hardiman Elementary schools, along with the administration building and a maintenance garage, will be hooked up to the sewer system via the line that runs up Straight Path. The buildings currently rely on 47 cesspools that date to the 1950s and have begun to fail.
"We are elated," said district Superintendent Gina Talbert. "It was a true health and safety issue and we’re so glad that we’re able to make this progress for our students, our families, our community."
Last year, Talbert described to the Suffolk County Legislature how heavy rains and rapid snow melt would cause a "horrific" backup of sewage through the floor drains of bathrooms at the MLK school, and how a nearby play area had to be cordoned off because sludge would seep up onto the field and produce a "very foul sewage smell." A facilities director for the district said then that the area was a "ticking time bomb" in danger of collapsing.
Construction costs were originally estimated at $1.2 million to $1.8 million, but it was a competitive bidding process, said Rich Snyder, the district’s business administrator. The district has hired Hirsch & Co. of Shelter Island for $849,000. State Sen. John Brooks (D-Seaford) and State Assemb. Kimberly Jean-Pierre (D-Wheatley Heights) have secured $500,000 each toward the construction.
In addition, Suffolk County Legis. Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon) got legislation passed to waive more than $500,000 in hookup fees.
"Students were having to deal with backflowing toilets," Richberg said. "We’re talking about elementary kids. They shouldn’t be worried about where to step when they go to the bathroom."
The district’s middle and high schools will continue to rely on cesspools as they are too far from the Straight Path sewer line. Richberg said he hopes to get the schools connected if funding can be obtained to support an expansion of the line to Little East Neck Road.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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