Veterans Nature Study Area Reopened After Decades-Long Cleanup

The Veterans Nature Study Area in East Northport has been reopened following a $2.284 million project to remove contamination dumped at the site decades ago, Town of Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone announced Tuesday.

Petrone made the announcement as part of the Town’s annual Arbor Day celebration.         

“I am pleased that after many years, groups will now be able to return to the Veterans Nature Study Area for the educational tours that the Town will resume,” Petrone said. “The trails being restored will provide students and interested adults a unique opportunity to learn about the natural features of this area.”              

In 1974, the Town obtained 33 acres from the Veterans Administration, including the land that became the Veterans Nature Study Area. One of the conditions of the acquisition was that the three-acre Veterans Nature Study Area be used for educational purposes, and for a number of years, groups were taken on tours of the site.              

Subsequently, however, it was discovered that the VA Hospital had used the site as a dumping ground for all sorts of material, and that the property was a brownfields site in need of remediation. The site was closed to tours while the process of cleaning the site began.              

The Town worked with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which initially wanted to leave the site as a landfill with an adjacent recharge basin but was convinced by the Town to reverse its opinion and provide funding for the cleanup. Eventually, the state picked up 90 percent of the cleanup cost, or $2.050 million, with the Town’s share at $234,000.              

Most of the work was done in 2011. The contractor removed 36,000 cubic yards of material, mostly the residue of what had been burned on the site, but also some construction-type debris. However, it was not until December 2012 that the state completed the process of certifying that the site could be reopened for public recreational use.               

The Town will plant trees at the site and create new trails that will be used on the tours. Staff members from the Town Department of Planning and Environment are coordinating the plantings. Additional planting of larger trees will follow over the next month.

As part of the Arbor Day celebration, the Bellerose Avenue Elementary School 4th and 5th grades assisting in the planting of over 300 seedlings and young trees (white pine, red cedar, black cherry, white oak, red oak, flowering dogwood).                            

Petrone also recognized two Girl Scouts, Brianna and Alex Sierra, for caring for and growing a large number of larger white pines for the restoration project, which were planted prior to the ceremony. Brianna and Alex live adjacent to the property.              

The Town holds an annual Arbor Day observance as part of the requirements for maintaining its Tree City USA status.               

This is the 15th year the Town of Huntington is being recognized as a Tree City USA. Tree City is a designation from the National Arbor Day Foundation awarded through the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. It recognizes communities that have a tree ordinance, Arbor Day ceremony, and annual minimum budget per capita toward tree resources (planting and maintenance).  

The Veterans Nature Study Area is located between Bellerose Avenue and Middleville Road.