SOURCE:
https://patch.com/new-york/northport/li-water-purity-bi-partisan-issue-leading-election-day
By Michael DeSantis - October 29, 2019
Candidates from both sides of the aisle have made it clear that cleaning up Long Island's water is a key issue ahead of Suffolk elections.
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Water is a precious natural resource. It's to be expected that when one goes to drink water from a tap, it'll be clean and safe. That assumption could be at risk, particularly for Long Islanders.
Long Island has the most contaminated water in New York State, according to a May 2019 analysis of EPA data by New York Public Interest Research Group. In drinking water, there are three specific emerging contaminants: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFO) and 1,4-dioxane. Long Island, by far, has the most cases of detection of these emerging contaminants found in drinking water, according to the report. Nineteen distinct emerging contaminants were detected overall.
"The mere existence of an emerging contaminant in a drinking water supply does not necessarily put consumers' health at risk; however, the presence of emerging contaminants should spur a rapid science-based response by public officials," the report states.
Ahead of the 2019 elections slated for Nov. 5, Suffolk County candidates, both incumbent and challenging, have taken growing concerns over the purity of Long Island's water to heart. Water has become a significant bi-partisan issue.
In questionnaires filled out to Patch, Robert Trotta, Republican incumbent candidate for Suffolk County Legislative District 13, Janet Singer, Democratic challenging candidate for Suffolk County Legislative District 13, Joan Cergol, a Democratic incumbent for Huntington Town Council, and Andre Sorrentino, a Republican challenger for Huntington Town Council, all listed protecting the island's water as an important issue to their respective campaigns. You can read each questionnaire for more information on the candidates by clicking their names. Patch followed up with each candidate to hear more about their strategies for combating the issue of these contaminants in our water.
"Nothing is more important than ensuring our drinking water is safe and clean," Sorrentino said.
Sorrentino said, should he be elected, he would fight to shut down any drinking water source that has been contaminated and make those who contaminated the water pay for the clean-up. He added that in order to combat the "overburdened" infrastructure, he would be in favor of adding strict requirements to prevent any new development from adding to the current water quality problem.
Trotta said protecting Long Island's sole source aquifer is "critically important" towards ensuring the health and safety of Suffolk residents and Long Islanders as a whole. Almost all of Long Island's drinking water is from groundwater with surface water hardly a factor, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC called the Upper Glacial Aquifer, the Lloyd Aquifer, and the Magothy Aquifer Long Island's three most important aquifers.
Trotta pledged his efforts to ensure the quality of the island's drinking water would continue on multiple fronts if he's re-elected on Nov. 5. He plans to continue working with town, county and state elected officials to bring long-awaited sewers to Kings Park and other areas to help reduce pollution from antiquated cesspools. He added the county is further expanding and refining the its advanced alternative wastewater treatment program and striving to protect open space.
"I plan on reintroducing my legislation to ensure that all of the quarter cent sales tax money that is supposed to go towards protecting our groundwater is actually used for that purpose," Trotta said. "This is not a new tax, just directing the money to go where the people believed it was going when they voted on the referendum. There is much more to be done."
Singer also noted Long Island's rare situation in that it sits on top of its drinking water supply.
"Due to the fact that close to 75 percent of our residential buildings do not have any sewage treatment, excess nitrogen has caused toxic algae blooms around the Island, hurting both surface water, coastal waters, and it is seeping directly into our drinking water," Singer said.
She said there's a long-term plan that County Executive Steve Bellone put before the County Legislature to address excess nitrogen. According to Singer, the plan includes installation of some sewers and some alternative onsite wastewater treatment, and has additional components. She added that many engineers and hydrologists deemed the plan "very promising."
"From what I have read so far this is a good plan and when I am elected, I will do what is necessary to ensure that our citizens are protected to the best of my ability," she said.
Cergol said purifying Long Island's drinking water is of "paramount importance."
"Our human and economic health depend on it," she said.
Cergol specifically named 1,4-dioxane when referencing the emerging contaminants reported to be seeping into drinking water. There have been 34 water systems on Long Island with detections of 1,4-dioxane, a cancer-causing carcinogen, per the report.
Cergol noted that although there's no federal limit on 1,4-dioxane, she said she has worked with the Dix Hills Water District to take proactive measures to prepare for the adoption of new, stricter standards on contaminants. She hopes to take polluters to court, as she voted in May to start a lawsuit against a few companies to hold them accountable for the costs related to removing 1,4-dioxane from local water supplies.
"The obvious goal of our lawsuit is to force the parties responsible for the presence of 1,4-dioxane to pay the cost of removing it — so it does not fall on the backs of the water district's customers and ratepayers," she said.
Singer echoed Cergol's sentiments that cleansing our water of nitrogen, 1,4-dioxane, PFOs and PFOAs is essential, noting that each contaminant requires a different action in order to protect residents.
She said the water authority districts servicing Long Island are working with the State to develop and implement the steps needed to tackle the 1,4 dioxane contamination and meet the new New York State guidelines, though normal filtration does not eliminate 1,4-dioxane from water.
"While the Legislature cannot endorse any plan they have not reviewed, it is essential that we stand behind the appropriate agencies as they search for the most cost-effective means to clean up our water, including seeking grants from the federal and state governments for cleaning up the listed chemicals, as well as other recently identified potentially dangerous chemicals, and joining together to seek reimbursement from the companies that profited in the past, and continue to profit, from contaminating our water," Singer said.
The incumbents, Cergol and Trotta, shared some measures they've already taken towards purifying Long Island's drinking water and/or preventing further contamination.
Cergol directs Suffolk residents to visit Citizens Campaign For the Environment to not only learn more, but take action. On the site, they can click a link that will generate an email message to the NYS Department of Health urging the adoption of strong drinking standards for 1,4-dioxane, as well as PFOAs and PFOs. Just click the "Take Action" button.
Trotta pointed to his efforts of fighting to prevent the independent sales of the 25-acre Steck-Philbin landfill and adjacent 5-acre Izzo site and getting the Landbank to agree to sell the parcels to one owner as an example he could get results.
"Without my intervention, the Steck-Philbin property may have been condemned to remaining an uncapped landfill in perpetuity, potentially contaminating our drinking water, endangering the health of those in the area," he said.
Based on how candidates from both major parties in Suffolk County feel about fixing the problems with Long Island's drinking water, voters shouldn't worry about if steps are taken to address the issue, but rather which ones.