Improving Water Quality of Bays & Sound Is In Our Hands

Fish die-offs during the summer in the bays around Huntington are a common, if not annual event. And the water quality of the bays frequently gets so poor that beaches must be closed. The dolphins and other sea creatures that old-timers remember as frequent visitors to our bays and the Long Island Sound are gone, as are the abundant shellfish.

Who is responsible and who can bring improvement? All of us. That was the message of speakers at a Water Quality Workshop held last evening at the Northport Yacht Club. Our septic systems and cesspools as well as our use of nitrogen lawn fertilizers are responsible for the problems. Too much nitrogen in the water leads to algae growth and low dissolved oxygen, causing fish to suffocate. A major change in the infrastructure at our homes, plus changes in how we maintain our lawns, can and will restore our water quality if we all cooperate.

Suffolk County is about to embark on an unprecedented county wide home improvement program aimed at stopping nitrogen pollution from cesspools and septic systems. These old systems must be replaced with new, more expensive systems that remove nitrogen rather than allowing it to seep into the ground and eventually out into surrounding waters.

Dorian Dale, The Sustainability Director for Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning, said the new systems cost nearly $18,000 while an old-fashioned septic system costs between $4,000 and $6,000. To help homeowners afford the nitrogen-removal systems, the county has proposed an incentive program to make up the cost difference.

Priority will be given to homes within 1,000 feet of a water body. Incentive grants of $10,000 will be available if the county legislature votes to approve the plan on May 16.

However, Ed Carr, Director of Maritime Services for Huntington, said that homeowners’ use of lawn fertilizers on the North Shore may be adding as much, or more, nitrogen to bays and sound as are septic tanks. Exactly how much has never been studied as it has been on the South Shore.

No plan has been proposed so far to reduce use of such fertilizers either through public education about organic lawn maintenance, for example, or through bans or restrictions on use of nitrogen fertilizers.

Carr also called the first half hour of rainfall “lethal” to water bodies as it carries antifreeze, gasoline, dog wastes, fertilizer and other contaminants along with it into the bays. All these contaminants are the result of the actions of people who do not realize that what they spill on the ground ends up in the water.

Residents also have the power to avoid pushing up drinking water costs. Joseph Porkorny, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Operations at the Suffolk County Water Authority, said that demand for water peaks during the summer as residents all set their automatic sprinklers to water the grass at about 5 a.m. To meet peak demand, the Authority must drill more wells and build pumping stations at significant cost. By using less water, or just changing the timing of sprinkling, residents can keep water costs down.

“In the summer, we’re an irrigation company,” said Pokorney, suggesting that a system of alternate day watering would lower the peaks. ##