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13286 OCZM Coastal Zone OCT 25 1977 W.P. Information Center GB 454 .B3 L66 1976 Jan 13 1998 LONG ISIAND WASTE POLLUTION STUDY AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NOAA COASTAL SERVICES CENTER 2234 SOUTH HOBSON AVENUE CHARLESTON, SC 29405-2413 Prepared in Partial Fulfillment of Task 8,7 of the New York State Outer Continental Shelf development Impact Study By The Long Island State Park & Recreation Commission New York State Office of Parks & Recreation November 1976. Proporty of CSC Library GB 454 .B3 L66 1976 CONTENTS SUMVARY THE STUDY Background Waste Pollution Problem BEACH ATTENDANCE BREAKDO14M ... o.......... 10 Gateway National Recreation Area Nassau County Beach at Lido Long Island State Park and Recreation Commission Fire Island and the National Seashore CONCLUSIONS 18 APPENDIX A ............... 22 DATA SO URCES 29 Summar During the period between June 15 and Julyl 1976, most of the approximately eighty ocean beaches along Lo ng Island's South shore between Rockaway and East Hampton were closed due to the washing ashore of sludge, tar balls, plastic containers, produce, and other waste materials. The origin of these materials became the subject of much concern and considerable debate as officials, environmentalists, and frustrated beach patrons sought to identify who or what was to blame. Now, several months later, the only thing that is certai n is that the blame must ultimately be shared by many parties. Despite this uncertainty, the implications of this. situation for Long Island's recreation and tourist industry was clear. The closing of many of the region's ocean beaches in June portended what could have been financially a disastrous summer-season'.,Recreation and tourism on Long Island has been.,estimated to be a $ 750 million-a-yearindustry, employing over:forty-five thousand persons during most of the year, and an additional six thousand during the suniner months. The Long Island Association of Comme.-ce and Industry claims that about 20% of this total - or about $ 150 million is ocean-related spending. With the beaches closed, and the public reluctant to consume locally caught seafood products, Ln > m m m A 010 C -n > C" z m z -n 0 p -4 > 3: m V 0 m C3 m z 0 m )p ,4* m lot Z vt z 0 0 > -n z C z lop -0 4b 0 C2 cl. N@\ Ln '4'o. .4 b lop C3 NP0 -Alt\ bIr I'S 4,t\ m m z oil NIS \ob the summer tourist season could have been ruined before it officially began. Tourist-related businesses suffered through a poor June, a disastrous July 4 weekend,, and a slowly improving July. Although most beaches were re-opened as of June 28, the major ocean beach facilities reported attendance levels to be 30% below those for 1975 as late as July 24. Private businesses suffered similar losses. Many bait and tackle shops in Nassau and,Suffolk Counties reported sales decreases in excess of 30% for the season. Hotel, restaurant, bar, and ferry servi ces on Fire Island suffered significant losses over the usually lucrative July 4 weekend and well into the month. Fortunately, August proved to be a good month, despite Hurricane Belle. Many persons who had been reluctant to visit Long Island during July came in August. Also, in August there was no summer Olympics or Bicentennial to compete with for,tourist dollars. Although many businesses reported overall losses for the summer, there is no doubt that, in many cases, a decent August kept many of them from ruin, Exactly how many millions of tourist dollars wer6 lost to the region's economy during this period is not known. Estimates run anywhere from $ 10 million ( plus an added $ 100,000. for cleanup costs ) to $ 40 million. A former Executive Vice'President of the Long Island Association of Commerce and Industry estirriated that each summer week during which area beaches were closed.would impact the regional.economy at the rate of $ 10 million. In view of the importance of Long island's ocean beaches to its economy, this figure seems reasonable. When applyi ng this to the length of the actual impact period - three weeks - we arrive at the estimation that the waste pollution problem cost Long Islandfs economy approximately $ 25-$30 million during the summer months. The Study The recent waste polluti.on situation on Long Island proved to be a useful model through which the potential negative effects of an oil spill resulting from planned offshore oil and gas development and transport.operations could be assessed and mitigated. Task 8.7, Sub-task 1, of the State's Outer Continental Shelf Development Impact Study requires the Office of Parks and Recreation to review the negative effects.of oil spills, given their magnitudes and strand times. Despite the fact that data on revenue losses and cleanup costs resulting from oil spills in other locations is easily available, there currently,is no-bard information on the negative effects of an oil spill in the waters adjacent to Long Island on Long Island itself. The waste pbllution problem provided an opportunity to quantify losses in recreation-related revenues resulting from beach closings and subsequent changes in public rec- reation demand and spending patterns. Long Island is the second after New York City most popular recreation and touris t region in the state. Depending upon your source of information, the recreation industry contr ibutes between $ 600 and $ 800 million annually to the economy, and represents one of its largest revenue and employment-producing sources. The key to Long Island's desirability as a summer resort area is the ocean. Thousands of out-of-staters take their annual vacations near the shore, and many times as many New Yorkers spend their free time during the summer season on Fire Island or in the Ham@tons, to the east. In addition, many day-trippers visit ocean beach facilities continually during the summer. The Waste Pollution Problem The first beach closings occurred soon after the explosion of two massive sludge holding tanks located in Island Park, just north of Long Beach. Nassau County health officials ordered the closing of over sixty local beaches on June 3, the day after the explosion, to determine the extent of the potential health hazard presented by the million gallon sludge spill. ..Two weeks later., thirty miles of ocean beaches were closed when combinations of raw sewage, sludge, plastics, and other wastes began washing ashore along the coast between Robert Moses State Park and the Moriches Inlet. Over, the next few days more and more facilities were ordered closed as these materials began stranding along,the shoreline further west. By June 24 almost every ocean beach along the south shore between Rockawayand East Hampton was closed, Atten- dance at the few facilities remaining open was at record low 6 levels, Governor Carey declared a disaster situation in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on June 23. With July 4 the traditional start of the summer - only a week and a half away, it appeared that the tourist season was doomed. It quickly became evident that the material that had been washing ashore since June 15 was not sludge alone, but a puzzling combination of raw sewage, oil., tar balls, produce, wooden and plastic containers, and other things. The entire blame, tberefore,,could be placed neither upon the June 2 sludge holding tank explosion nor the on-going ocean dumping of sludge by the City of New York and other jurisdictions. Businesses, both public and private, depending upon recreation and tourist dollars:, were more concerned with attracting customers than with law suits. The July 4tb weekend provided no relief, Ferry operators serving Fire Island reported ridership decrease.-, of as high as 80,% as compared@to July-4, 1975-@ Correspondingly, hotel and restaurant owners on Fir.e.Island.suffered significant losses. One hotel,proprieter reported a loss of $ 4ooo. over the July 4 weekend. Congressman Thomas J. Downey D-West Islip') held a series of meetir4,),s for local businessmen in early July at which-.tbey had the-opportunity to discuss their loss6s resulting from the pollution problem. In general, these businessmen blamed the media for what they described as 7 over-reacting to the problem and therefore blowing the whole matter out of proportion. Most agreed that,, despite the fact that the beaches were clean and safe by July I., most people were reluctant to use them because of negative reporting by the media. At these meetings, businessmen estimated their losses for the period between June 16 and July 6 to-be between 25% and 40 %. Congressman Downey promised a full report on the situation by mid-July, and told those in attendance that he bad co-sponsored an amendment to the Small Business Act which would allow for Federal disaster aid in the event of future waste*pollution damage's. This amendment had cleared the House by early.July., he repQrted,.and was being considered in the Senate. Commercial and recreational. fishing was also severely impacted. The public's fear of contaminated seafood reduced consumption during much of July. This resulted in sizeable revenue losses to ba it and tackle@ businesses along the south shore. Al,survey of nineteen of these establishments between western-Nassau and Hampton Bays indicated losses of 15% to 30% during the summer. Pier fishing@was widely prohibited., and the bait station at Captree State-,Park reported a 30% drop in business between June 15 and JuIlLy 4. .,,The $ 15 million a year hard clamming industry was not badly affected, despite a temporary ban on clammIng within 8. three miles of Fire Island which was imposed on June 15. As July progressed, attendance at Long Island's ocean beaches slowly climbed back up to seasonal levels. By July 28, attendance was back to normal at most facilities and continued to be so,until Labor Day. COASTAL ZONE INFORMATION CENTER Beach Attendance Breakdown Attendance at Long Island's ocean beaches was markedly down during the months of June and July. Decreases region-, wide ranged from 30% to 50% when com*pared to 1974 and 1975 levels. This is probably the best single indication of the magnitude of the summer's pollution problem. In early June, when many local beaches were closed down as a result of the sludge tank explosion, the ocean water was still too chilly for most people to swim in. Weekenders continued to travel to Fire Island and the Hamptons to enjoy sunbathing and socializing. Later on in the month, when water temperatures were higher but the beaches were closed, many of the weekenders stopped coming. Map 2 identifies the more popular public bathing areas on Long Island. These facilities are owned and operated by Federal, State,,and county governments, and are ones for whicb,comparative attendance.data bes t indicate the scale of the pollution problem. Gatci@ iav National Recreation Area According to the National Park Service, beaches in Jamaica Bay and at Sandy Hook., New Jersey, were unaffected by the pollution problem. However, the beach at Jacob Rlis Park' see Map 2 ) was closed at approximately 8:00 AM on June 30 and remained closed until 1:00 PM on July 1. 10 400 Its 00 0 .0 43 Cb TA CA c ;El n -n ca 0 00 Management at Gateway dedided to close the area due to the excessive amount of debris that floated in with the in-coming tide. The floatable materia 1, according to the Assistant Superintendant, consisted of plastics, charred wood, grease balls, etc. The visitation recorded on June 30 was 20,010, as compared to 63,113 for the same day in 1975. Riis Park re-opened on July I at mid-day, and attendance was comp, arable to the 1975 level of 40,630. .Nassau Beach ( Nassau County The June 2 explosion of the sludge holding tanks resulted in the immediate closing of over sixty nearby bathing aveas, including, all three sections of Nassau Beach - the only County owned ocean beach facility. At the time, County officials were more concerned with preventing possible out- breaks of hepatitus, tetanus and diphtheria, than they were with possible financial losses to the tourist industry. Located a few miles west of Jones Beach State Park., Nassau Beacb is mad-e up of' three separate beaches, each with their own terrace, pool, parking, and cabana facilities. The whole Beach was closed to ocean bathing during most of the period between June 16 and 27. Although August attendance ur as above normal, Nassau Beach.experienced an overall 27% decrease inlattendarice for the su;T,.mer, when compared to 1975 levels. Total. revenues collec"%-.ed for the 3.976 sqeason increalsed by 12 by about 18% ($519,000.vs.$425,300.) over 1975 levels. Total terrace and swimming pool attendance was greater than total beach attendance for the 1976 season ( 192,627 vs. 149,365), but in 1975 the opposite was true ( 161,000 vs. 206,500). This is attributable to the increased demand for swimming pool usage resulting from the beach pollution. Table 1 - Comparative Attendance Data For Nassau Beach For the Period of June 19 to July 17. Period 1975 1976 Comments June 19-26: 12,820 (beaches) 2,300 (beaches) Beaches closed 7,518 (pools) 1,975 (pools) to swimming in 20,338 4,275 1976. June 27 -July 3: 4,950 (beaches) 5,500 (beaches) Beaches reopened 5,095 (pools) 10,611(pools) but patrons fear 10,045 16,111 health hazard. Prefer pools. July-4-10: 11,900(beaches) 15,200(beaches) Holiday period. 16,223(pools) 16,100(pools) Attendance higher 28,123 31,300 due to holiday. July 11-17: 2,200(beaches) 12,650(beaches) Poor weather in 2,250(pools) 12,021(pools 1975. Normal atter 4,450 24,671 dance in 1976. (Source: Nassau County Parks & Recreation) Long Island State Park & Recreation Commission Beaches Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Parks were closed inter- mittantly from June 16 to June 26, with Janes Beach's West End closed until June 29. Attendance figures indicate a 24% decrease in the cumulative attendance at the two fecilities between June 15 and July 15, 1976, when compared to the same period in 1975 and 1974. This is 13 attributable to the beach closings and, to a lesser extent, to unseasonally mild weather in early July. The park admission fee increase to $2.00 per car, initiated in late July, 1975, is also a factor, albeit a minor one. Table 2 -Attendance At Jones Reach. Robert Moses and Captree State Parks For the Period of June 15 to July 15, 1974, 1975, & 1976. 1974 June 15-30 July 1-15 Jones Beach 683,682 1,573,119 Robert Moses 136,798 375,936 Captree 89,448 143,461 909,928 2,092,516 Total - 3,002,444 1975 Jones Beach 1,056,256 932,068 Robert Moses 261,944 233,652 Captree 123,948 123,452 1,442,148 1,279,172 Total - 2,721,320 1976 Jones Beach 536,102 974,414 Robert Moses 97,840 244,278 Captree 75.040 122,296 709,C40 1,340,788 Total - 2,049,828 (Source: Long Island State Park & Recreation Commission) The Jones Beach Catering Corporation, which operates all restaurants and food concessions at the three State Parks, reported a 21% decrease in revenues during the above period in 1976, as compared to 1975. As a result of reduced sales, the Corporation cut back the number of summer employees hired and reduced the working hours of many of those who were hired. 14 These seasonal employees are mainly students who rely on summer earnings to pay tuition or related expenses during the year. The major State Park facilities within the Long Island region experienced differing attendance patterns during the summer of 1976. While Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Parks bad declines in attendance of between 20% and 30% in June and July, other facilities - those not located on the ocean - experienced measurable increases in theirs. Table 3 - Attendance At Major Long Island State Parks During June and July, l975 & 1976. June-July June-July 1976 1976 1975 change Belmont Lake State Park 150,200 134,000 +12.0% Heckscher State Park 259,700 262,000 -1.1% Hempstead Lake State Park 170,000 166,000 +2.1% Jones Beach & Captree State Parks 3,662,000 4,584,000 -20.0% Robert Moses State Park 701,600 1,002,600 -30.0% Sunken Meadow State Park 437,300 419,400 + 4.3% (Source: Long Island State Park & Recreation Commission) The two to twelve percent increases in attendance registered at the non-ocean front facilities does not offset the decreases reported at Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Parks. Apparently, many persons who normally would have gone to the beaches, had they been open, instead chose to patronize other facilities, such as local swimming pools, or visited areas off of Long Island. 15 Fire Island & the National Seashore All of Fire Island's thirty miles of ocean beaches were closed to swimming an June 15 as a result of the washing ashore of raw sewage and oil at points between Robert Moses State Park and Smith Point County Park. Under normal conditions, approximately 70,OO0 persons visit this area daily during mid-June. On June 18, when the volume of debris washing ashore declined, these beaches were re-opened. However, on the following day they were forced to close down again as the pollution condition worsened. All of these beaches, with the exception of Smith Point Beach, remained closed until June 28. According to data provided by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, attendance at Smith Point Beach for the first two weeks in June was well above that for the same period in 1975. Between June 15 and 21 the facility was closed and, although it remained open for the remainder of the month, attendance dropped some 30% below 1975 levels. Overall attendance for the summer of 1976 was 15.1% below that of 1975, and toll revenues at the park declined approximately $14,2000. The remainder of the National Seashore is made up of small towns and settlements along the ocean and the Great South Bay between Smith Point and Robert Moses State Park. Many businessmen operating in these areas opend upon the summer tourist season for their livelihoods. During late June 16 and early July, most of these businessmen suffered signif- icant revenue losses. Unfortunately., although the pollution situation was well documented in area newspapers, very little research was done into a determination of the actual financial losses experienced by these tourist-dependant businesses. Certain individual losses, such as that of the ferry operator who reported that his Sunday business dropped from 250 passangers on June 13 to just nine of the 20th, were covered in local newspapers. No data was compiled on losses suffered by segments of the industry such as-all ferry operators or all hotel owners. Because of this lack of general information, we can only get a sketchy idea of actual,losses to the economy. Conclusions There are a number of ways of arriving at the approximate cost to the region's economy of the waste pollution problem. One way would involve the soliciting of information about revenue losses and cleanup expenses from every segment of the tourist and recreation industry that is involved with the ocean. This would necessitate contacting and getting accurate data from every hotel, motel, restaurant and bar, ferry and taxicab service, commercial and recreational fishing operation, public and private beach and club operator, and food and souveneir concession in business along Long Island's south shore. Time and financial resources limit this type of research as a feasible alternative. A more practical method involves the use of a given data base and the application of basic mathematics to come up with the kind of estimate employed by the Long Island Association of Commerce and Industry, and other public business/commercial-oriented organizations. Many of these organizations use the base figure of $ 700 millon (in 1970 ) as the annual contribution of rec- reation and tourism to Long Island's economy. With inflation, increases in discretionary free time, and other factors taken into account, this figure could easily be increased to or beyond the $ 790 million base figure used by the Long Island Association of Commerce and Industry. 18 Base data for tourist and local recreation-related spending on Long Island varies from source to source. Regional State Department of Environmental Conservation Director Donald Middleton, in a July 24 statement before the House Sub-committee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conser- vation, put the loss in revenues due to the pollution prob- lem at $100 million. This does not include beach cleanup costs, which be estimated to total about $ 100,000. -In contrast,, Robert Sellers, a former Executive Vice President of the Long Island Association of Commerce and Industry, estimated that losses would have amounted to $ 10 million per week. Research into' the costs of the pollution problem has lead us to believe that the actual losses to the economy lie somewhere in between Middleton's $ 10 million figure and Sellers' much larger figure. .In determining the length of the actual impact period it must be kept in mind that in mid-June, demand for ocean beach facilities is. not at peak levels. Peak demand usually Occurs in early -to -mid: July on Long Island. As was mentioned before, ocean temperatures don't reach their most comfortable levels until. mid-to-late July. It must also be remembered that, although July attendance was well below normal seasonal levels, attendance levels increased steadily throughout the month. This would serve to mitigate the overall loss for the month. Therefore, 19 the rate of financial loss to the economy declined as July continued. For these reasons, and others, the actual impact period for the calculation of total revenue losses to Long Island's economy was between two and four weeks. The last two weeks in June can't be counted as two weeks of lost revenues because peak demand had yet to occur at tqhe beaches. The three weeks of low attendance in July were mitigated by a slowly climbing attendance rate. Taking these factors into account, it is possible that the impact period of the pollution problem lasted for three weeks. Applying the $ 10 million per week standard to this, we arrive at the approximate revenue loss figure of $ 30 million for the summer of 1976. The stranding of" sludge and other waste Materials along one hundred miles of the Long Island ocean-front points 'out the vulnerability of the south shore to a possible disaster situation resulting from a major oil spill in the waters adJacent to Long Island. Studies commissioned by the Nassau/Suffolk Regional Planning Board indicate that during certain times,of the year - specifically the spring arid summer when currents and prevailing winds, are from the south and east oil spills occurring within a reasonable distance of Long Island stand a very good chance of washing ashore within a relatively short period of time. 20 Despite technological advances in oil spill cleanup and containment operations, it is quite possible that a major spill occurring anywhere along the shipping route that parel"els the south shore will strand somewhere on the oceanfront before it can be completely cleaned up or contained. With plans now underway to lease tracts for oil and gas exploration and development on the Georges Bank, it is possible that oil transport to refineries in New Jersey by tanker will become a daily phenomenon. This increased oil transport traffic will greatly increase the chance ofa spill near Long Island. A major oil spill would have the same effect as the sludge and waste pollution problem of 'Vhe summer of 1976. If a-spill occurs in the spring or summer it is possible that, in addition to severe ecological. damage to marine life and water fowl, beaches will be fouled and forced to close doi-,rn for periods much longer than two weeks. 21 APPENDIX A SLUDGE PROBLEM ON LONG I SLAtTD Summer 1976 The following represents an approximate chronological history of the past summerls sludge problem on Long Island, according to-local newspaper ac- counts and other supportive data. June 2, 1976 -, Explosion of sludge holding tank(s).on Hewlett Bay in SW (Wed.) Nassau'County releases 1.3 million gallons of sludge waste into the Bay and surround ing waters. June 3 -.62 beaches in SW Nassau County are closed by health officials. (Thurs.) Projected cleartup costs estimated to reach $4 million. June 4 - NYC health officials closed 5 milos of beach along the (Fri.) Rockaw 4y Peninsula. Nassau beaches remain closed. Jun'e 15 - 30 miles of ocean beaches along Fire Islat)d are closed when (Tues.) sewage and solid wasLe materials of questionable origin be- gin washing up on shore. Robert Moses and Smith Point (Suffolk Co.) beaches are closed. These areas usually ac- commodate approx. 70,000 bathera per day at this time of year. June 16 All 3 Babylon Town (Suffolk Co.) ocean beachas are closed as (Wed.) sewage spreads west. All clamming within 3 miles of Fire island's beaches is banned. June 18 - Most of above beaches are reopened as the sewage problem abates. June 19 - New discoveries of waste materials alon g Fir@@ Island beaches (Sat.) and points west forces closing of about 20 miles of be.ach, including Robert Moses State Park and all of Isl1p Town's 22 SLUDGE PROBLEM ON LONG ISLAND --- Summer 1976 (cont'd) June 19 (Suffolk) beaches. Source of pollution is still a question. (cont'd) Investigators and airline pilots claim that the sewage is floating in the waters off of L. I. in patches about 1.5 to 3 miles wide. June 21 As of today, every ocean beach between Jones Beach State (Mon.) Park and the Moriches Inlet was closed due to continued stranding of sludge and other waste materials. June 22 Sludge forces closing of most of remaining Nassau Co. beaches. (Tues.) For first time, sludge washes ashore on east end of Long Island, including Southampton, Bridgehampton and Ainagansett. Beaches along the 60 mile stretch between Atlantic Beach (Nassau) and eastern Fire Island were gererally deserted. Suffolk's Smith Point beach was open, but attendance was off about 70% for this time of year. As of today every beach between western Nassau County and the Fire Island National Seashore (including all State Parks) were closed, with the exception of Smith's Point. June 23 Articles in Newsday and the L. 1. Press report that many (Wed.) Fire Island businesses are suffering business losses of 30 to 60%. These tourist-oriented businesses include ferry ser- vice, hotels, bars and restaurants, umbrclla rentals, food stands, etc. Gov. Carey declared Nassau and Suffolk Counties a disaster 23 SLUDGE PROBLEM ON LONG ISLAND --- Summer 1976 (cont'd) June 23 - area and asked President Ford for Federal funds to help (cont'd) clear up over 100 miles of shoreline fouled by waste mater- ials over the past 9 days. All of Nassau's ocean beaches remained closed for bathing (including Jones Beach State Park@, but Smith's Point in Suffolk remained open despite-very low attendance. All State facilities along ocean were either closed or experi- encing low attendance. Eight village beaches In Southampton Township were closed. Cleanup costs for 2 Islip Town facili- ties expected to exceed $6,000. June 24 Situation continues. All ocean beaches between Jones Beach (Thurs.). and the 11amptons remain closed except for Smith's Point, which has been open throughout the month. All Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven and Southampton Town facilities are closed, in- cluding all State Park beaches. June 25 Most Nassau and Suffolk beaches reopen as sludge pollution (Fri.) eases. Jones Beach remains closed to swimming as new debris appears on west end. Only Islip Town's Atlantique Beach re - mains closed in Suffolk... East end facilities are hurried in order to be ready for coining weekend. DEC opens information center to answer questionp'on the status of beaches on L. 1. June 26 President Ford orders job corps per3oanel to clean up area (Sat.) beaches. Denies disaster aid funding as requested by Gov."Carey. 24 SLUDGE PROBLEM ON LONG ISLAND --- Summer 1976 (cont'd> June 26 As of today, almost all beaches along L. I. shore are open. (Cont'd) Jones Beach is open, except for west end. June 27 Attendance at open L. I. beaches reported well below normal. (Sun.) Jones Beach attendance is about 40% below normal for the last weekend in June. Robert Moses State Park attendance is about.55% off. Smith Point Beach is a bout 40+7. below normal. North Shore facilities report attendance above normal, bu t not enough to take up slack resulting from low attendance on south shore. Many people.are staying away from beaches in general. Cab services at east end LIRR stations report marked decrease in weekend recreators. June 28 Crowds at oce'an beaches east of Jones Beach were down about (Mon.) 50% compared to last weekend in June 1975. Since June 25 one-third of about 40,000 calts asking about L. I. beach con- ditions came from persons living in Jersey or in areas other than L. 1. itself. Good indication as to origin of large segment of summer weekend visitors to L.-I. June 29 - West end of Jones Beach reopened for first time id 2 weeks. (Toes.) July - Congressman Tom Downey (D -@West Islip) holds meetings on (Fri.) Fire Island and in Bay Shore to hear local businessmen discuss problens resulting from sludge pollution. Many put their loss- 25 SLUDGE PROBLEM ON LONG ISLAND --- Summer 1976 (cont'd) July 9. - es at between 25 and 40% for period of June 15 to July 6. (cont'd) One ferry operator claimed his July 4 weekend business was down over 80% from the 1975 level. Many businessmen blamed the media for "blowing the whole situation out of proportion." They claimed that the public was afraid to return to the beaches due to news stories, even though the ocean was very clean by late June. Congressman Downey is a member of the House Small Business Committee. He introduced a bill amending the Small Business Act to provide Federal aid to businesses in future sewage catastrophies whether a "disaster" is declared by the Feds or not. July 23 Overall attendance at ocean beaches is still below normal. for (Fri.) July. This can be attributable to the Bi-centenhial, the Summer Olympics, the sludge problem,'or a generally below par weather picture (many cloudy days in July 11). North shore facility attendance is up by I to 5% as com- pared to same period in 1975. Sunken Meadow State Park had 4.31 increase in attendance in June and July, 1976 over same period in 1975. Picnic-oriented facilities away from ocean beaches, such as Belmont Lake and Hempstead Lake State Parks, had attendance increases of 12 and 2.1% respectively over June and July 1.975. Between June 15 and July l1a, 1976, Jones Beach a.ttendance was down 560,000 (20%) from.1975 levels. 26 SLUDGE PROBLEM ON LONG ISLAND --- Summer 1976 (cont'd) July 23 - Robert Moses attendance was down 158,000 (30%) from 1975 (cont'd) levels. Captree State Park, which has many fishing piers, and does a large charter boat fishing business, saw a 20% decrease (60,000) in paid attendance over the.same 30 day period. During the same period, attendance at Nassau County's only ocean beach was up about 5% over J.975 levels. However, this.. facility has a minimum of five pools, which showed attendance increases of 11%, indicating that most of the attendees were using the pools, not the ocean beaches. Smith's Point, the Suffolk County facility, showed a decrease in attendance for the same period of 28%. July 24 Attendance at Jones Beach was about 30% below normal mid-July (Sat.) levels. Robert Moses attendance was off about 33%, but mild weather throughout the we ek of July 18 could be a reason. July 25 Despite sm all washup of debris on Jones Beach's west end, All (Sun.) south sbore beaches were open. September 15 - In retrospect, the summer of 1976 was not the financial disaster (Wed.) that was first feared. Businessmen from 14ontauk to western Nassau a,grced that despite the poor start due to t he sludge, things could have been worse. Most said that August was a good month, which made up fo r a poor June and a moderate July. Problems arose when L. I.-was hit by Hurricane Belle on August 9, 27 SLUDGE PROBLEM ON LONG ISLAND Summer 1976 (cont'd) September 15 - and the south shore beaches were once again badly impacted. (cont'd) Both the Bi-centennial and the.Montreal Olympics contributed, most felt, to any decreases in tourism on Long Island during the summer season. Many businessmen were unable to determine what percentage of their losses resulted from each of the above-mentioned pheno- mena. One motel owner in Montauk claimed to have lost more ($1200.) due to Belle than due to the sludge situation. Suffolk County's Dept. of Public Works claims t@at its toll at the Smith's Point b.r idge collected $14,200 less in 1976 than it did in 1975, but attributed this loss to no one reason in particular. 28 LONG ISLAND WASTE POLLUTION STUDY Data Sources Newsday, New York Times, Long Island Press Articles Long Island Association of Commerce and Industry ( Thomas Conoscenti Long Island State Park & Recreation Commission Revenue Office N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conserva tion ( Middleton, MacMillan, Poole Suffolk County Supervisor's Office ( Ms. Judith Fischer Suffolk County Department of Public Works ( Deputy Commissioner Evans Suffolk County Department of Commerce & Industry ( Comm. Gilbert Hanse Suffolk County Parks & Recreation Commission Comm. John Chester Narsau County Health Department, Bureau of Wat er Pollution Control Cusumano Nassau County Department of Parks & Recreation ( Ingolia, Piccininni Congressman Thomas J. Downey's Office ( Fred Kass Robert Sellers, Former Exec. Vice President of the LIACI Irving Like, Special Attorney.For Suffolk County in Litigation Over offshore Oil and Gas operations DeWitt Davies, Principal Planner for the Nassau/Suffolk Regional Planning Board C> Helen Calderone, Assistant Supervisor of Babylon Township Vincent Marina, Babylon 'Town Parks & Recreation Department Long Island Business Review ( Townshcrid, Sanders Kenn(-th 0. Morgan, Acting Assistant Superintendant, Gateway National Recreation Area James Heatley, Publ ic Relations Director, Curney's Inn ( Montaull- James K. Mitcbell, Professor of Environmental Resources, Rutgers University Howard Udell., Director of Hempstead Town Department of Waten,7ays Jones Beach Catering Corporation, Wantagh, L.I. 29 Data Sources continued Lessing's Catering Corporation, Amityville, L.I. serves Babylon Town Beach facilities Fire island Fisheries, Inc., Bay Shore, L.I. South Bay Clam Company, Brightwaters, L.I. The following commercial and recreation fishing-related businesses were contacted in late November 1111 to ascertain their particular losses due to the waste pollution problem: SUFFOLK COUNTY Char-lie's Bait & Tackle, Lindenhurst Augie's Bait & Tackle Shop, Babylon Babylon Fishing Station Captain Andy's Fishing Station, Mastic Beach Moriches Bait & Tackle Cerullo Brothers' Fishing Station, East Moriches Skidmore's Fishing Station, East Moriches Seatuck Cove Fishing Station, Eastport Bradley's Fishing Station, Hampton Bays Shinneeock Bait & Tackle Company, Hampton Bays NASSAIJICOUNTY Chet chapel's Bait & Tackle Shop, East Rockaway B.J.'s Bait & Tackle, Lynbrook Beckmann's Fishing Station, Long Beach Commodore Fishing Station, Island Park Freeport Sea Clam, Freeport' Causeway Bait & Tackle, Wantagh 30 COASTAL ZON WdRQ@ Tlok E DATEDUE GAYLORDINa. 2333 PRINTED IN U.SA t 36668 14 079766