3 Huntington-Area Projects To Benefit Long Island Sound

A total of $2.04 million in grants allocated to local government and community groups will be used to improve the health and ecosystem of the Long Island Sound, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday.

Of those funds granted, $1.05 million will directly benefit New York State through 15 projects, which are funded through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF). These relatively small projects, the EPA says, will show how local communities and groups can make a big difference in improving the Long Island Sound’s water quality and restoring habitat throughout the watershed.

Three projects will impact the Huntington area.

• The LISFF granted $250,000, with $1,750,000 matching funds, to allow the Matinecock Court HDFC to install a wastewater harvesting system at an affordable housing development in the Town of Huntington. The EPA says the project will result in the “annual recapture of treated sewage effluent for reuse as on-site drip irrigation, and prevent nitrogen, total suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand from discharge into the Long Island Sound watershed.”
• Homeowners in the Town of Huntington, along with the Towns of Smithtown and Riverhead, will help homeowners switch to new and innovative alternative septic systems that reduce nitrogen into Long Island Sound. This project received $45,000 in LISFF funds and $36,000 in matching funds.
• The Whaling Museum Society, Inc. in Cold Spring Harbor also received $7,408 in LISFF funds and $4,000 in matching funds to hold a one-day public awareness event called SOUNDoff! to educate others on how to assist in the Long Island Sound conservation. The project is expected to reach about 300 people.

“The Long Island Sound is a precious feature of our life, culture, and economy, one that affects the livelihoods of thousands of Long Islanders, as well as our local recreation and tourism industries,” Rep. Lee Zeldin said in a press release. “Protecting and restoring this critical waterway, which has suffered from pollution and overdevelopment over so many years, is so important to improving our area’s water quality, restoring our area’s natural habitats, and improving Long Islanders’ quality of life.”

There are nine million people who live, work and play along the estuary while more than 1,200 invertebrates, 170 species of fish and dozens of species of migratory bird live within the habitat.

These LISFF grants will reach more than 870,000 residents through environmental and conservation education programs, the EPA says.

The water quality improvement project is expected to:

• Treat 439,000 gallons of water runoff
• Reduce more than 15,600 pounds of nitrogen
• Collect 2,800 pounds of floating trash

The $1.05 million in grant funds to New York will be matched with $2.58 million from the grantees, resulting in $3.63 million in community conservation, the EPA says.

Image: Patch file photo