Suffolk Gets $20M Grant To Improve Water Supply

HAUPPAUGE, NY — To protect New York’s drinking water supply, Gov. Kathy Hochul has allocated $225 million in grants to bolster water infrastructure projects statewide, including $20 million to help Suffolk County address substandard and failing water systems through the state Water Infrastructure Improvement, Intermunicipal Grant, and State Septic System Replacement programs.

The investment comes on the heels of the Supreme Court limiting the powers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than a week ago.

“It is still so shocking to me that just in the last week, when the steam roller known as the Supreme Court this year … took away one of our other rights and that is to protect ourselves and to make it more challenging for the EPA to do their job,” Hochul said at a press conference held at the Suffolk County Water Education Center in Hauppauge. “The reason they exist is to make sure that we have clean air, clean water, and a better future. And we made tremendous progress.”

Before former Pres. Richard Nixon created the EPA in 1970, Hochul recalled that she, along with other children, used to swim in Lake Erie, which is pristine now, but was once a site where a steel plant dumped toxic waste

“You could see at night, the sky glowed when the steel plant would dump and they didn't think we noticed it,” Hochul noted. “It looked like molten lava being poured in there, discharged there, and believe it or not, by day we were swimming in that water as kids, nobody knew any better.”

Similar to the work that has been done at Lake Erie during her time growing up in Buffalo, Hochul wants to not only protect Long Island's world class beaches, but its drinking water and to rehabilitate its sewer and water lines.

“I know we have to do this because three quarters of the homes in Suffolk County are not even sewered,” added Hochul. “That's just a statement of fact. So they use cesspools that are often contaminated. Barely treat the wastewater that goes into the ground and it doesn't just impact drinking water.”

Marine life like shellfish are also affected, she said.

“That is part of the quality of life here and the uniqueness of Long Island,” said the governor. “So it's an environmental issue. It's a quality of life issue. It's a public health issue. So while they may be underground, and you don't always see it visually, they're very, very, very much on our radar. And so we're feeling the effects of this for too long. And today we're doing something about it.”

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone was ecstatic about the funds.

“Even though we are not getting all the money, we are happy with what you just announced,” said Bellone. “She understands how important Long Island is to the state.”

Bellone said Long Island has had a Reclaim Our Water initiative for nearly a decade, which was created to improve water quality.

“For us on Long Island, it's our recreation, it’s our quality of life, it’s our economy and for many people it’s the reason we live here,” said Bellone. “The water that sustains us is beneath our feet, literally. That water can also be a danger to us in the form of extreme weather events driven by climate change that is happening. We are as vulnerable as any region can be.”

Pollution is driving into waterways on Long Island and it’s time to take action, according to Bellone.

“We won’t have a prosperous future here on Long Island,” Bellone added. “We have a million and a half people living above a sole source aquifer that mostly are utilizing outdated wastewater technology: old septics and cesspools. The result of that is, we have been seeping pollution everyday for decades into our waterways.”

Brown tides, beach closings and fish kills are just a few of the ways the polluted waterways have affected Long Island, according to the Suffolk County executive.

“The solution is clear: wastewater technology,” said Bellone, who thanked the governor who has already allocated $500 million in previous investments to Long Island for wastewater, sewer, and drinking water improvements.

“We have a number of sewer projects right now and some which are about to begin, which is great for jobs and water quality,” said Bellone. “The problem is so massive, there is so much that needs to be done and this occurred over decades and it’s going to take a long time to fix.”