Crescent Beach: A Success Story of Water Quality Restoration

Crescent Beach, the smallest of the three City of Glen Cove public beaches, is located on the north shore of Long Island. Due to bacteriological indicators in water samples collected by the Nassau County Department of Health, Crescent Beach has been closed to the public since the summer of 2009. H2M prepared a report that presented five alternatives to remedy bacteria contamination.

One alternative that was implemented based on a design prepared by H2M was installation of a stormwater filter housed in a precast concrete vault on the outfall pipe from two freshwater ponds in the drainage area tributary to the beach. The filter media reduces the concentration of E. coli and fecal coliform.

A permit was obtained from the NYSDEC and US Army Corps of Engineers that allows the City to periodically place fill and grade the beach. The permit allows a seasonal activity to help reduce standing water on the public beach that can occur as the tidal cycles shift the beach sand.

The most significant of the alternatives implemented to date is the restoration of an 87 foot long 18-inch diameter drain culvert that was clogged.  To increase flushing and salinity of the formerly connected tidal wetland, a 2 foot by 4 foot precast concrete box culvert was installed. Native wetland vegetation was planted in areas disturbed during replacement of the culvert.