Groups to hold vigil over dumping at Brentwood park

Two community groups that have been vocal about health concerns and
residents' legal rights since officials announced toxic debris has been
dumped at several sites in the Town of Islip are holding a vigil
Tuesday outside the gates of the shuttered Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood.

Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change, as well as residents who live near the park, will "join together to mourn for their closed park," the groups said in a news release.

An estimated 50,000 tons of construction and demolition material containing asbestos, heavy metals, pesticides and petroleum-based products have been found at the park as well as a site on Islip Avenue in Central Islip.

The vigil will begin at 7 p.m. at the intersection of Broadway and Noble Street.

The groups, which called the Town of Islip "unresponsive" to their concerns, will ask town officials to clean up Roberto Clemente and other parks as soon as possible.

On May 27, the town board unanimously voted to sell as much as $6 million in bonds to clean up Clemente park. Last week, they released a plan to spend up to $160,000 to provide free bus service to another Islip Town pool and for other summer programs for Brentwood residents. The remediation plan has not been finalized by state agencies.