DEC must do more for clean Long Island water

Serious water quality issues continue to arise across Long Island, where health concerns from decades-old landfills and aging sewage treatment plants persist while emerging technologies like battery energy storage systems create new environmental problems.

Causes are investigated and solutions proposed, but Long Island municipalities are sometimes left to find short-term fixes on their own. Federal and state government has provided much-needed money for decades, yet still there are instances where the existing patchwork system failed. It’s a continuous struggle that requires federal, state and local leaders to work together to ensure Long Islanders have clean water.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is the lead governmental agency on these matters, but locally, officials complain of a lack of coordination and information. That must change.

No new solid waste landfills have been permitted on Long Island since late last century because of the threat to the Island’s aquifer, the sole source of its water supply, but plenty of problems are left over from those that were built.

In August, the DEC chastised Brookhaven Town for its proposed cleanup plans, giving the town until Nov. 5 to resubmit. The town contends that the state bears some responsibility since it operated the landfill before the town acquired it in 1976.

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico told the editorial board the back-and-forth between the town and DEC is about finding a fair solution. Holding Brookhaven financially accountable would be like making Riverhead Town pay for pollution originating from the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton, he said.

“I’m not blaming the state but pointing out the fact that this was created back when people didn’t understand the implication of these chemical compounds,” Panico said. “The state is the larger, superior entity with the financial ability to address solutions that are beyond the capability of a town that has worked cooperatively with the DEC and the state.”

SOUTHOLD WATER PROBE

In Southold, New York State and Suffolk County started an investigation of the transfer station in Cutchogue this summer after forever chemicals, or PFAS, were found in groundwater.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine has called the landfill contaminants there a threat to public health. Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said he first learned of the issue from Newsday, not the DEC. “It’s disappointing that they wouldn’t contact the town on something like this,” he told Newsday’s news division.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, told the editorial board the DEC must adapt in providing solutions because municipalities are dealing with threats to clean water that weren’t conceived decades ago.

“Our current government structure and laws weren’t created for the population and challenges presented,” she said. “That’s the heart of the problem. You can’t say no one is doing their job. The most current system no longer applies to the current situations.”

The race for cleaner energy and the subsequent construction of battery storage sites has led to another hazard degrading Long Island’s water quality.

Officials are just now understanding how a 30-hour fire at a battery site in East Hampton in 2023 caused a toxic groundwater plume. While the DEC announced findings this month, locals suspected the fire posed environmental dangers.

East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen joined Romaine in seeking the plant’s closure until the investigation is finished. The DEC “needs to get up to speed with better regulations” for such sites, Romaine told Newsday.

The need for more regulations is growing since approvals for battery storage sites are increasing. This week , the state approved eight sites, including two in Brookhaven.

TAPPING MORE MONEY

Aging infrastructure continues to plague Long Island’s water. A corroded 42-inch sewer main beneath Grand Avenue in Baldwin caused a sinkhole in 2023 that led to sewage entering a nearby creek and several residential yards. Residential septic tanks on Nassau County’s North Shore and in much of Suffolk remain a threat. Sewage treatment plants help mitigate the impact, but Long Island’s myriad plants under the oversight of various levels of government can lead to mishaps.

Maintaining water quality isn’t cheap. The cost to replace corroded pipes, build treatment plants and remediate forever chemicals from the groundwater is astronomical. This week , the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 which, if passed by the Senate and signed into law, would award $125 million for water infrastructure projects in Long Beach, Garden City and Freeport, a sliver of the $6 billion total. That’s a great step, but it’s not nearly enough.

The 2022 Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act — approved by 67.7% of New Yorkers statewide, including 67.9% in Nassau and 63.8% in Suffolk — allows for up to $4.2 billion in state borrowing to fund many projects, including to “safeguard drinking water sources.” But some Long Island officials and environmentalists say the region has yet to receive its fair share. New York recently sold $319 million in bonds to pay for various projects, including ones authorized by the ’22 bond act.

Panico said some of that money could be used at the town’s landfill. “If we’re going to be true partners, let’s sit down and talk about using some of the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, however, said the state has already provided over $1.1 billion for Long Island water quality improvements through bond acts and low-cost financing. A Hochul spokesman said she announced earlier this year a $3.75 billion plan for clean water projects statewide. “Every New Yorker should be able to count on clean, safe drinking water and we will continue to take aggressive action to protect their health and safety,” the spokesman said.

When Long Islanders can’t drink tap water, that’s a failure. Residents don’t really care what layer of government is to blame — they just want their kids to be able to drink clean water. Let’s get Long Island its fair share of the Environmental Bond Act money in the push to ensure our water quality is safe.