Cleaning up the mess: A makeover for Crescent Beach

PSEG workers are repairing the north end of Crescent Beach, left torn up and in an unsightly mess when the ill-fated power pipeline was abandoned last autumn.

Work is being done to remove a steel sleeve that was supposed to encase the pipeline, according to Highway Superintendent Jay Card Jr. Also, the bathroom that was there before being removed by Bortech, LIPA’s contractor hired to dig a tunnel under the bay to the North Fork, will be reconstructed.

Lids to the septic system servicing the bathroom were broken by Bortech, Mr. Card said, and will be replaced.  A new sidewalk and curb will be constructed and PSEG will put in a new fence.

This seems to be the final chapter in the scheme to provide another power source to the Island by digging the tunnel to run the power cable to the Island.

The LIPA cable project ground to a halt after months of missed deadlines, botched work, cost overruns and cheery reports that all was well. Bortech’s contract was terminated, and on January 1 of this year, PSEG took over from LIPA running Long Island’s power supply.

Back up power for the Island, for now, will be provided by portable PSEG generators.