Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 58

A57 OCEANSIDE Fire at old supermarket called arson BY LINDSAY FABER STAFF WRITER The fire that tore through an abandoned supermarket in Oceanside Sunday was intentionally set, investigators have determined. Officials from the Nassau County Police Departments arson-bomb squad and the fire marshal's office have officially ruled out every potential accidental cause of the fire, said Det. Sgt Kevin Power, the commanding officer of the arson-bomb squad. Such accidental causes include faulty utilities, power surges, lightning bolts, cigarettes and candles, Power added. We're calling it a suspicious fire, Power said.

I cant tell you yet exactly what caused it. The four-alarm blaze, which ignited at 3:33 p.m. at the old Foodtown at 2715 Long Beach raged until firefighters got it under control before midnight. Only one firefighter of the approximately 200 who converged on the scene was injured. Investigators are still waiting for lab results to determine what may have been used to set the fire.

Fire Marshal Vincent McManus said investigators are interviewing witnesses but have not identified any specific suspects as of yet. I'm really puzzled as to the motive here, McManus said. My hope is that we learn more soon. Firefighters battle the blaze Sunday at the former Foodtown in Oceanside. Officials now believe it was deliberately set.

because the plan included zoning changes that could scuttle a proposed asphalt plant on the west side of Rocky Point Road. It's a disaster waiting to occur, the air could be polluted, the soil could be polluted, Muraskin said, describing what she said would result from the 5-acre asphalt-production site that Roanoke Sand and Gravel Corp. wants to build adjacent to the company's sand- and gravel-mining operation. Councilwoman-elect Connie Kepert, of Middle Island, said the mining operation has exposed groundwater to easy contamination and the ingredients mixed at the proposed asphalt plant pose just such a threat. When rain falls it goes directly into the aquifer, Kepert said.

They have proposed to put the plant right next to that exposed drinking water. James Barker, president of Roanoke Sand and Gravel, referred requests for comment to Jane Rubenstein, of an outside public-relations firm. She said materials used in hot-mix asphalt are not water soluble and pose no risk to drinking water. ERIK GERMAN feet of water, police said. Sibley was the only one in the vehicle.

State police, the Nassau Police marine bureau and the emergency services bureau later recovered Sibleys body and the vehicle. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, state police said. All I know is he really didn't try to stop, said Senior Investigator John Lang, of the State Police's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which is handling the case. But he might have fallen asleep. CHRISTINE ARMARIO BROOKHAVEN 400 residents attend land-use plan meeting While a comprehensive land-use plan for Middle Island may not sound like the stuff of high political drama, this week's public hearing on the issue drew such a crowd to the Brookhaven Town board meeting that there was hardly room to stand.

Most of the 400 residents who came to support the plan such as Middle Island resident Roslyn Muraskin did so The $100-million Calpine plant on the former Grumman site on South Broadway in Hicksville can generate 79 megawatts of power. It went into operation in July. The $120-million Pinelawn plant on Patton Avenue is an 80-megawatt facility that began simple cycle operation July 1 and kicked in its second turbine Pet. 1 for combined cycle operation. Both plants sell their electricity to the Long Island Power Authority.

BILL BLEYER MERRICK Man, 43, dies after car veers into canal A 43-year-old North Merrick man was killed yesterday morning when his car drove off the Meadowbrook Parkway and into the Sloop Channel near Jones Beach. Police said Steven Sibley was driving north at 730 a.m. when his 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity veered off the road just before the Sloop Channel Drawbridge. The car went through a patch of grass and into the canal, submerging in 15 to 20 The gas leak was capped and the workers were allowed to return by 4 p.m., the department said. Gas service was restored to all the buildings, Parisi said, except for Expeditors.

She said KeySpan will continue to work to restore gas at that location. DENISE M. BONILLA LONG ISLAND Dedication ceremony for new power plants Two new electricity-generating plants that are more efficient than any existing Long Island facilities were dedicated yesterday in Hicksville and West Babylon. The two privately owned plants, Calpine Corpus Bethpage 3 Energy Center Hicksville and the Pinelawn Power Facility built in West Babylon by affiliates of Harbert Power LLC and DJ Power, are the first on the Island to use a combined cycle" technology. That means they have a second turbine to create more electricity using from the waste heat left by the first turbine.

Conventional plants have only a single turbine. INWOOD Gas leak forces 100 out A gas leak in an industrial section of Inwood yesterday caused more than 100 workers to be evacuated, fire and Key-Span officials said. A contractor who was digging in the ground to install a fence struck a gas main with his equipment about noon, said KeySpan spokeswoman Diana ParisL More than 100 people on Roger Avenue from several local companies, including Sony Pictures and Expeditors International of Washington, were evacuated, said the Inwood Fire Department. SQ0r8ia39W3AON 'AVttyH 'AVQSM3N worfepsMirMMM.