Suffolk County Water Authority Responds To Opposition Of $20 Fee

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY - The Suffolk County Water Authority sent a message to residents after receiving some opposition to the new $20 quarterly fee which will be added to customer's bills in 2020. The fee will cover the cost of developing and operating treatment systems for 1,4-dioxane and the perfluorinated compounds PFOS and PFOA.

"As you may be aware, the New York State Department of Health is imminently approve new regulations for the emerging contaminants 1,4-dioxane, Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)," the letter from Jeffrey W. Szabo, SCWA's CEO reads. "As we've said since state officials first began considering the regulation of 1,4-dioxane and perfluorinated compounds, we fully support regulators taking measures they feel are necessary to ensure our customers continue to have a drinking water supply that is among the best in the country."

However, several residents have opposed this fee, even starting an online petition on Change.org to try and stop the fee.

"Our concerns are that once this authority opens the door these additional fees when will it stop? Will the fees end once the system built and running? If there is no state law now why build this system to begin with, what happens if the requirement doesn't become law?" the petition reads.

The SCWA warn residents that regulations will come at a high cost.

"New treatment systems will have to be designed, constructed, installed,and operated in order to comply with these new standards. These treatment systems will cost in excess of $177,000,000 over the next five to six years," Szabo wrote int he letter.

In order to make enough money to install and operate these new systems, the SCWA Board made the decision add the fee to be added to all customer bills beginning January 1, 2020.

"We understand that asking our customers to pay more is never a popular decision. However, faced with these new mandates from our regulators, we believe it is the necessary course of action."

The company has submitted a total of 12 applications this year alone for New York State grant funding to help offset these costs. On Wednesday, New York State awarded the Suffolk County Water Authority $12.6 million to help remove contaminants.

The SCWA also filed two lawsuits against the manufacturers responsible for polluting Long Island's groundwater with the containment and are seeking to cover the costs of treating the contaminated water.

"We strongly believe that the resolution of these cases will ultimately have a positive impact on SCWA rates, but the cases may not be resolved for years, and the Authority has already begun to install advanced treatment systems," Szabo wrote in the letter.