Yaphank Residents Oppose Sandy Car Auction; Cite Environment
YAPHANK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - There is a plan to clear 55 acres of forest on Long Island to create an auction site for vehicles damaged by superstorm Sandy, but there is a battle over the plan.
25 residents of Yaphank, along with the Suffolk County Water Authority, have filed a complaint to stop the town of Brookhaven from clearing the site, which sits over their drinking water supply.
The Long Island Pine Barrens Society supports the complaint.
Yaphank Residents Oppose Sandy Car Auction; Cite Environment
"Sandy is ancient history. We had a natural disaster we could not control. We need not make one that we can control," the organization's Richard Amper told WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs.
Residents said they worry that leaking salt, oil, and other fluids from the thousands of vehicles that would be brought there contaminate their drinking supply.
"The Sandy cars have caused major problems across Long Island, which depends, for its drinking water, from underground resources. So, what goes on on the surface has an impact on the groundwater below," Amper said.
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