Town Vows To Continue To Seek Solutions To Montauk Wastewater Issue

MONTAUK, NY — East Hampton Town officials said recently that they will continue to seek solutions to the Montauk wastewater issue despite what they deem as a setback.

Town officials said they remained "concerned about the lack of adequate septic systems and

sewage treatment in densely developed areas of Montauk, and the environmental impacts to
surrounding surface waters and human health."

Recently, the Suffolk County Parks Commission not to recommend that county officials move forward with a land swap that would have provided the town with property where a wastewater treatment site could be placed, but would require alienation of a parcel of county parkland.

The town said the decision was "disappointing."

The land in question, 14 acres adjacent to the former town landfill, was identified as the only viable location for the wastewater treatment after a thorough analysis of Montauk parcels, town officials said.

Some had opposed the plan and applauded the decision by the Suffolk County Parks Commission.

The Coalition for Hither Woods, a not-for-profit Montauk-based environmental group dedicated to preserving public parkland at Hither Woods, thanked Suffolk County Parks trustees, who on
February 23, voted 10 to 0, with two abstentions, to recommend against East Hampton Town’s proposed acquisition of the 14 acres of county parkland in Hither Woods.

"The town wanted the land to build a centralized sewage treatment plant for downtown Montauk. Some parks trustees said the county would be breaking faith with its citizens if it were it to trade away parkland which the people had bought with their hard-earned tax dollars, believing that it would always be parkland," the group said.

Richard Whalen, president of the Coalition, added: “We don’t know if the parks trustees’ vote will end East Hampton Town’s almost obsessive two-year quest to build a centralized sewer system for Montauk, but we hope so. That decision is now up to the town board, which needs to hold its deliberations in public.”

And, said Whalen: “The decision of the parks trustees should send a clear message to the town board. It is time the board laid the Montauk sewer project by the wayside. There are better and cheaper ways to improve Montauk’s environment than to build a centralized sewer system for the hamlet.”

The group felt that what they called a ""1970s-style, high-cost, highly centralized approach to wastewater treatment" would be a critical threat to the sanctity and beauty of Montauk’s Hither Woods. And, they added that they believed while the town's centralized sewer proposal for downtown Montauk might be a boon for some Montauk businesses, but it would do nothing for Montauk’s environment.

East Hampton Town officials said they had been working with engineering consultants and an appointed citizens’ advisory group, to discuss preliminary plans for a proposed centralized wastewater treatment plant. The plant would be initially designed to accommodate a downtown sewer district but could be expanded to include other areas of Montauk, collecting and treating an estimated half-million gallons of waste from the four areas identified in a wastewater study — the Montauk docks area, the vicinity of the Long Island Rail Road station, and Ditch Plains, in addition to downtown.

"Effective sewage treatment through a centralized system would allow long-range planning goals for the hamlet, such as coastal adaptation in response to sea level rise and eroding shorelines, as outlined in the Montauk hamlet plan and East Hampton Town’s comprehensive plan, to move forward," the town said.

According to initial plans for the proposed treatment plant, clearing of 2.8 acres would be required, with 4.7 cleared acres needed at full build-out. In exchange for the county land, the town had proposed giving the county an 18.8-acre parcel on East Lake Drive, adjacent to Third House County Park, officials said.

"The town will continue to seek solutions to the ongoing wastewater problem in Montauk, where inadequate individual septic systems on properties in areas such as the downtown business district result in a release of raw sewage that exceeds Health Department standards," officials said.