They also say they have been complaining about the unsanitary working conditions at the Cedar Creek facility for years, to county officials, legislators, news outlets and oversight agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), but to no avail. They describe rush cleanups that take place whenever OSHA inspectors are coming. Laricchiuta, who was elected union president only a few months ago, says his office has been hearing about problems at Cedar Creek and, to a lesser extent, Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, from employees via numerous anonymous and non-anonymous calls—at first just one or two a week, but more recently as many as one a day.
Bay Park was ranked one of the worst-run facilities in the New York/New Jersey area for violations including failure to submit reports and discharge of excessive pollutants. The report, conducted by the national nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, used data from the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Permit Compliance System from 1995 to 1999.
The overarching problem, the workers say, is inadequate maintenance, an outgrowth of budget and staff cuts.
“Certain areas of the plant are down mechanically because we’re just so worn out and they won’t give us overtime. We only have eight hours in a day and there’s so much equipment broke and we can’t keep up,” says a longtime employee. “So what’s happening is you’re getting a buildup of sludge here that’s getting here that shouldn’t come here because we have nowhere to put it.”
WHO FLUNG POO
Cedar Creek and Bay Park are owned by Nassau, but Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi had no idea about the appalling conditions, according to a spokesperson, and other administration officials similarly denied any knowledge of the plant’s problems.
Mainly, the proverbial buck in this case stops with Richard Cotugno, superintendent of both plants. Cotugno started his career in Nassau County as a sewage treatment plant operator trainee at Bay Park. How he became supervisor isn’t entirely clear. The union and others affiliated with the plant say he was appointed; the county says he merely gained enough seniority. The Press was informed by Peter Gerbasi, Nassau’s deputy county executive of parks and public works, that Cotugno would not return our calls. Gerbasi spoke for him.
Both Gerbasi and Dena Miller, deputy commissioner of public works, denied there were any spills or internal problems at the plant and defended Cotugno.
“Rich runs a tight ship,” Gerbasi says. “There are absolutely no violations.”
It’s a remarkable statement, given the evidence found in the videotapes. The administration and the union appear to have come away from the Wednesday morning tour with remarkably divergent experiences. Miller denied having seen any health or safety hazards. Laricchiuta found a disaster area.
HUSH HUSH
Plant officials are supposed to notify the county health department and DEC if there is ever a spill outside the plant, and immediately launch a hazardous waste cleanup. Workers say this is never done and allege constant cover-ups.
“Cotugno would never call in a spill,” he adds, “because if he would have called it in, there would have been an investigation and he would not have looked good.”
Fonda of the DEC says that Cedar Creek seems to have earned mostly “satisfactory” ratings so far.
Marzigliano’s watchdog group was formed in 1991 over public health concerns about odors emanating from the facility. The two buildings closest to the facility are Mandalay Elementary School and Seaford Harbor Elementary School. Cotugno takes the watchdog group—a handful of concerned citizens—on a tour of the plant twice a year.
Marzigliano says she and her organization are also supposed to be notified any time there is a spill or a problem at the plant, and that she used to hear of incidents two or three times a year, but that she wasn’t informed about any of the problems in the videotape. She says she frequently asks Cotugno if there are any issues at the plant, even offering to raise funds though her group. Her last meeting there was in May.
“He said, ‘Everything’s fine,’” she says.
That, workers say, is also typical of current management, which they claim does everything in its power to hide the plant’s problems, including pressuring staffers not to report spills or leaks. They describe Cotugno as vindictive and threatening.
Marzigliano, who was horrified by the videotape, plans to demand legislative hearings and an independent investigation.
“Every process in the plant has to be taken a careful look at to ensure that the sludge in this county is being properly processed,” she asserts.
Laricchiuta says union officials will return to the plant this Friday, Sept. 23, in an effort to make a comprehensive list of violations, which will then be sent to OSHA as well as CSEA’s headquarters in Albany. The union also intends to go over the list point by point with County Executive Suozzi and demand results. As early as next week, the union could file health and safety grievances against the county. He also promises to examine the alleged intimidation tactics employed by management to keep workers quiet.
“I’m being told that our employees are being stifled from showing these violations and reporting these violations, and they’re being intimidated, coerced and threatened by the superintendent,” says Laricchiuta. “Whatever legal resources or whatever we have in our power, we’re going to use against that kind of bully management.”
Corr urges members who witness specific violations but are afraid to report them to OSHA for fear of retribution to file their complaint through the union. Union leaders will put their own names on the form instead of the employees’. Gerbasi says this shows the union “reacting to a small group of disgruntled employees who rather than working to make things better would rather create crises that don’t exist.”
FALL FROM GRACE
The Press showed the video footage to a former high-ranking plant official.
“You have no idea how upsetting this is,” he said, his voice fluttering with heartache. “It will take millions and millions of dollars to fix this place.”
Throughout the Press investigation, it became evident that Cedar Creek staff members take pride in their work. They speak of statewide competitions they used to win throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. A large display of their many trophies in the hallway of the plant’s administrative building proves this.
But those sparkling trophies do little to boost morale today. These days, the only trophy workers seek is a clean facility. Now that these festering ills have been exposed to a little public sunlight, they just might get it.