After a heated public hearing Tuesday morning, Nassau lawmakers scrapped a $150 million environmental bond that would have built a pipeline to discharge sewage.

The pipeline, proposed by Legislator David Denenberg (D-Merrick), would release sewage from the Bay Park plant into the ocean instead of the bays. He calls saving the South Shore Estuary the single greatest environmental concern in the county.

At the hearing, residents said they want the western bays cleaned up. However, there was no consensus on how to do so. Some took lawmakers to task for asking taxpayers to pay the county even more money with the bond proposal.

Environmentalists argued a pipeline should be part of the county's capital budget and not left up to voters. Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) called the bond fatally flawed.

The issue of upgrading the South Shore sewage plants remains. Officials say Nassau may have to follow Suffolk?s lead and fund pipeline repairs as a public works project.