Several Oyster Bay Harbor beaches reopen after Friday sewage release

Three Nassau County beaches have reopened this weekend after they were closed because of a wastewater plant malfunction that released thousands of gallons of sewage into Oyster Bay Harbor on Friday, the Nassau County Department of Health announced.

Centre Island Bay Beach, Centre Island Sound Beach and West Harbor Beach, all in Bayville, are now open, but Soundside Beach in Bayville, Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Beach in Oyster Bay and Laurel Hollow Beach in Laurel Hollow remain closed, county officials said.

The health department closed the six beaches on Friday as a precaution after the bypass at the Oyster Bay Sewer District's wastewater treatment plant, during which 125,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater were released into Oyster Bay Harbor. The sewage was released due to a malfunction, according to the district's engineering firm.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation also closed 8,150 acres of shellfishing beds along the north shore of Oyster Bay and in the Town of Huntington on Friday due to the hazard posed by the wastewater. Shellfish that have been exposed to sewage, and its attendant pathogenic bacteria and viruses, can become unsafe to eat.

Information on beach closings is available from the health department's recorded information line at 516-227-9700, and information on shellfish closures can be found by calling the DEC's emergency hotline at 631-444-0480.