Nassau County Legislators Debra Mulè and Siela Bynoe would like to take preventative measures to stop more sinkholes from occurring on Long Island roads, following the sinkholes that formed in Lido Beach, Baldwin, and Oceanside this year.
What the legislators want to use to fund repair and prevention of sinkholes
The pair, along with stakeholders from the affected communities, called for the expedition of federal funds from President Biden’s infrastructure bill.
“As we all know, Congress passed — and President Biden signed into law — one of the largest allocations of money specifically for infrastructure in our country’s history,” Mulè said at an Aug. 7 news conference. “I have already written letters to our federal representatives to release that money as quickly as possible, and to make sure that it can be used for this purpose. In addition, I have written to the governor asking her to send the funds out our way as soon as it was received by the state. And a final letter was sent to county executive Blakeman, requesting that our infrastructure needs are addressed in this year’s capital plan.”
The sinkholes in Baldwin and Lido Beach occurred in June, while the one in Oceanside occurred in July.
“We were in a construction zone on this little side suburban street 24 hours a day,” Erika Floreska, a Baldwin resident, said. “Bright lights, pumps going — we had to put the air conditioners on, white noise, anything just to try to sleep — let alone getting your groceries and having to carry them up the block. No one should have to go through this.”
What happened to county money for sinkholes?
Mulè said that $15 million county dollars were spent repairing those sinkholes, which depleted the county’s emergency funds.
Should another one happen, the county would be forced to tap into emergency borrowing — hence why they want federal dollars.
“To our federal and state partners, to our county partners, let’s come together as a collective and work towards restoring and improving our infrastructure,” Siela Bynoe said.
