Avalon Bay Destroying Quality Of Life

September 20, 2012 7:54 am | Filed under: Around Town,Code Enforcement,Environment,News,OPINION | Posted by:

Dear Editor,

 I’ve been a resident of Huntington Country Farms for 14 years. My lovely peaceful piece of the world has been shattered. My quality of life has taken a nosedive. All due to Avalon Bay!! Our Huntington Board seems totally oblivious (I am trying to be kind) or are they just uncaring! We are being subjected to unbearable noise levels and dirt and dust. I understand Avalon Bay is supposed to be controlling the dust with water spraying. Well, it’s a joke. The dust they are creating flies 20 – 25 feet in the air and they’re controlling it by having a once in a while water truck drive down 5th Street and spray the pavement. All this while the dust is flying into our backyards, over our homes and onto our cars in the parking lots.

Work hours are in accordance with town rules — 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is a pleasure not having to set my alarm clock and being awakened each morning by bulldozers, payloaders and the backward beeping symphony. As if that’s not enough, several weeks ago heavy equipment was delivered and removed at 11:30 p.m. and then again the following morning at 5:30 a.m. Last Tuesday evening I was again awakened at 11:40 P.M. Yes, P.M. by removal of heavy equipment from the site. At 11:45 p.m. I called the 24-hour public safety hotline to report what was happening… don’t know whether my info was passed onto the “powers that be”. What happened to the 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. rule?

Some type of barrier or trench was dug to prevent runoff from the site getting onto 5th Street. How feeble that lame effort proved to be last evening when 5th Street flooded causing abandonment of two cars. When last night’s storm hit at 9 p.m. heavy equipment was still operating onsite. Don’t know how far into the night it would have gone had the storm not occurred. 5th Street in all my years here, during hurricanes and storms, has never flooded! Not until Avalon Bay. The contaminants that they are purportedly disposing of have now I’m sure washed across 5th Street right into the Huntington Country Farms property.

E-mails had been sent to both Susan Berland and Frank Petrone asking them to join me for breakfast at 7:00 on my patio at which time I could share my “morning delight”. Sooooo surprising that neither invitation was acknowledged.  Prior to writing this letter I sent an invite to all the town Board members.  I will wait and see if anyone responds.

Sincerely,

Jean Marra
Huntington Country Farms Resident

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3 Responses to Avalon Bay Destroying Quality Of Life

  1. The Following is an update from Jean Marra (the author of the original letter):

    Two points were “corrected” this morning by the president of the
    Huntington Country Farms Board.
    1) She advised that the “dust” we are experiencing is actually mulch and the mulch is being sprayed with water onsite. Whatever the material is, it is flying 20-25 feet in the air and coming across 5th Street to our homes. The water spraying wherever that is actually taking place is not solving the problem.
    2) Flooding of 5th Street on Tuesday night was caused by our Town sealing the drains on 5th Street to prevent any rain runoff from entering the drains with soil contaminants. I’d like to know since the drains were sealed where did the runoff containing contaminants go but into my development’s property across the street.

    I spoke this morning with Public Safety and they were going to visit the Avalon site this morning and speak about the late hours and associated noise. As of tonight I’ve not heard back from them.

    The only Huntington Town Board member who responded to my breakfast
    invitation is Gene Cook. I believe he was very responsive to the Huntingtonian as well. We’re talking about Wednesday October 3rd for breakfast.

    Ilene Fucci - Editor
    September 21, 2012 6:50 am at 6:50 am

  2. Two points that I would like to add to the discussion

    1) Trees that were mulched on the property may contain arsenic as well. As someone who has been in the environmental field for 17 years I will say that trees absorb arsenic from the surrounding soil. Therefore the tree roots and the tree structure itself would contain a certain level of arsenic. So the mulch pile may not be immune from arsenic contamination.

    2) the drain was not sealed off. It was covered with a silt capturing device that allows stormwater to pass through the silt device while capturing silt and other street debris. After each storm the silt capturing device should be cleaned and the debris properly removed so that when the next storm comes along the water again is allowed to flow through. When these structures are NOT maintained then they cause flooding events like the one you witnessed.

    3) There is a test called a swipe test. Have a environmental consultant come in and conduct this very easy test. They literally wipe the surface of an area you think that might be contaminated and they can test for the presence of arsenic. Look in the yellow pages for environmental consultants and go from there.

    Dan Fucci
    September 21, 2012 7:13 am at 7:13 am

  3. Pingback: Update Avalon Bay & Huntington Country Farms | The Huntingtonian

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