Tony Camporeale, Joe and Christine Blotta and Ricky and Nancy Garced, all of Hahn Avenue in Bethpage, live directly behind the Pathmark on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown. After a number of measures taken by both the Town of Hempstead and Pathmark to resolve these residents' concerns, they filed a lawsuit against the grocer in November of 2006.

Their complaints include bright parking lot lights shining into their homes, repulsive smells from an unsealed dumpster, garbage from the store's parking lot littering their back and front yards and trucks unloading during the prohibited time period of 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

According to the families' attorney, Adam Browser of Ruskin, Moscou and Falischer, their main goal is "to stop Pathmark from doing the things that are adversely impacting the clients' quality of life."

"Upon my visit to their property I understood the clients' concerns," he added.

He also went on to say that the objective was not to file a lawsuit but a lack of communication on Pathmark's part necessitated it.

Pathmark Store Manager Frank Orlando would not comment on the case. Pathmark Corporate Director of Public Affairs Rich Savner did say, "we have tried to be as good a neighbor as possible. We went above and beyond but the measures taken were obviously just unsatisfactory to the families."

All three families admit that Pathmark did try to address their concerns, but they said it was not enough.

"We just want our quality of life back," Camporeale said. "We just want three things. We want the dumpsters moved, recessed lighting put on all the lights, and the new fence to be put up."

Camporeale, 57, has been in his Hahn Avenue house since 1973, and has been the most outspoken in this lawsuit. He has also tried to prove there has been negligence on behalf of Pathmark and the Town of Hempstead.

His library full of pictures shows alleged dumpster leakage, trucks unloading at precisely 6:13 a.m. and garbage littered in the backyards of all three families, including the Garceds, with debris layering their pool. The families claim the garbage, which consists of plastic bags and Pathmark circulars, has come from the adjacent parking lot.

"Our property value is going down," says Nancy Garced, who moved there in 1999 when Pergament still inhabited the property. "It's embarrassing," she went on to say, in regard to a summer party she had in her backyard where people were forced to leave due to what she called the putrid chicken smell coming from the Pathmark delicatessen.

The Blottas and Camporeales said they called on government officials, including Hempstead Town Councilman Gary Hudes, on a number of occasions to rectify these issues before filling the lawsuit.

In a July 2005 Farmingdale Observer article on this topic Hudes said "the families' quality of life will be in place in four to six weeks in the form of a smog hog, which reduces the food-related and other odors emitted from the building."

"A great majority of the families [on the Hahn Avenue] have been satisfied with the concessions I have secured," Hudes said. "Some of the enhancements I have secured from Pathmark were white bordered vinyl fencing, shielded lighting, sound barriers and more."

"Hudes was with me at 5 a.m., four years ago to witness the trucks unloading," Camporeale said.

Still, Camporeale said the fencing didn't go far enough, and light shields were not put on all the lights.

Nassau County Legislator Edward Mangano has also been a strong advocate of the families.

"My only jurisdiction here is over the county recharge basin (to the rear of the Camporeale property), and the air quality and unidentified debris stemming from that," Mangano said.

He is also working on getting a fence put up to shield some of the light from car headlights in the parking lot, as well as the debris in the recharge basin, which is Nassau County property.

"My thoughts are that we are going to investigate with the department of public works if the county can create some kind of opaqueness to the fence," Mangano went on to say.

The Pergament Properties' lawyer Donald Pupke of Garden City did not offer any comment.