Blydenburgh Park dam faces vote on environmental review

More than 18 months after the Blydenburgh Park dam collapsed in a heavy rainstorm, the Suffolk County Legislature will vote Tuesday on whether the proposal to build a new dam should proceed without further environmental study, possibly speeding up construction that would recreate a manmade lake.

The vote would conclude the first act of a fierce debate that has pitted those who regarded the drained Stump Pond as a beloved recreation area against those who want to let the Nissequogue River continue to flow unimpeded, allowing nascent native wildlife populations to thrive.

An environmental advisory panel and Suffolk's environment committee both recommended forgoing a full review, arguing an existing county analysis was enough. 

Legis. Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport), the chair of the committee, said the recommendations were based on that analysis, "completed by experts in the fields of engineering, hydrology, environmental sciences, and planning, as well as input from other agencies and the public."

County Executive Edward P. Romaine and Republican legislators have supported building a dam since the old one collapsed in August 2024. 

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which would still need to issue permits before a dam is built, has raised concerns about the project. In a January letter to the county planning department, DEC environmental analyst Thomas Kohlmann said the proposed dam may conflict with state regulations protecting free-flowing rivers and wetlands, that it could be a flood risk and harm migratory native fish, threatened Atlantic white cedars and rare butterflies. 

Kohlmann advised that a full environmental impact study, which would consider all the possible negative environmental effects of the project and possible alternatives, was warranted.

In a second letter, Kohlmann disputed the county’s argument that a pond would benefit Atlantic white cedars and that sediment carried by a free-flowing river would be harmful to fish.

DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino in an email said the agency "remains committed to working with Suffolk County during the permit application and review process."

Legis. Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), a member of the environment committee who was first elected to office in 1984, said, "I've never seen the DEC insert itself into a matter like this in such an emphatic way."

He said he was concerned that if the county proceeds without an environmental impact statement, it will be vulnerable to lawsuits. If there is another breach — or chronic drainage problems from a higher water table — the county "is going to have to pay an awful lot of money to those people."

A full study typically would take six months to a year to complete.

Such a study would be more thorough than the review completed by the county planning department, Dara Illowsky, a lawyer for Connecticut-based Save the Sound, said. An environmental impact statement must by law fully evaluate alternative proposals — such as a lower dam and smaller pond — which were only briefly mentioned in the county’s analysis. And she said a full review would require a substantial discussion of how the loss of wetlands could be minimized and remedied. 

If the full legislature also votes against a review, the county will then seek permits from the DEC including on dam safety, freshwater wetlands and water quality.

Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville), the legislature’s presiding officer, said the permitting will be "a really intricate, long process."

"I'm looking forward to the process playing out and then seeing what the DEC comes back with," Piccirillo said.

Smithtown resident Gary D’Amaro said at Monday's meeting that the pond had been there for 200 years and should be brought back. "You have to look at the family values of the beauty of looking out at a lake," he said. 

Legislators, county staff and experts testifying at Monday’s meeting debated whether a new dam would be a flood risk.

The dam would be 3 feet higher than the old one, John Corral, the environmental projects coordinator for the county’s planning department, explained, which he said would help protect downstream residents from flooding.

Jake Dittes, an engineer with Save the Sound, said expecting a 120-acre pond to collect stormwater is like using a full bucket to catch water from a dripping pipe. The newly established wetland, on the other hand, would act like a giant sponge, absorbing downpours and prevent flooding.