Hundreds of locals banded together Saturday to protest a consolidation plan that would bring more sewage into their town.

Alexis Johnson, 10, tells News 12 Long Island that local kids like playing in the town park, but that the area often smells bad. ?Like dead fish,? she says.

The reason for the bad smell is the sewage treatment plant located within the park. Nassau County?s Democratic majority passed a sewage consolidation plan that aims to shut down plants in Lawrence and Cedarhurst and bring their waste to Bay Park. County Legislator Jeff Toback says that the plan will save money and the environment, but locals are not happy about it.

?We already have enough sewage in a plant that is not working properly,? Bay Park resident Judy Caracciolo says. ?Our shores have foam, our beaches are closed during the summer when there?s rain.?

According to Toback, Bay Park?s plant is operating under capacity and the additional sewage shouldn?t have an impact on people?s quality of life. He says the new plan would only increase the volume of sewage at the Bay Park plant by 4 percent each day. Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony Santino argues that the plan should be changed.

?Nassau County should spend that money to rehabilitate the plants in Lawrence and Cedarhurst so the wastewater generated in those communities can be processed in those communities,? Santino says.

Community members are collecting signatures on a petition they plan to give the county legislature during its next meeting. Organizers say they?ve already gotten 700 signatures.