Cuomo Announces Plan to Improve Water Quality

STONY BROOK, NY - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Friday in Stony Brook, a series of aggressive water quality initiatives to protect both the public health and the environment.

Cuomo will be creating a Statewide Water Quality Rapid Response Team which will identify and develop plans to address critical drinking water contamination concerns, as well as related groundwater and surface water contamination problems.

He is also proposing statewide regulations in the coming days to regulate mulch processing facilities to strengthen oversight and safeguard natural resources.

In addition to these statewide actions, Cuomo announced that the state has begun testing samples from the Northrop Grumman plume on Long Island.

The state will also partner with the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a comprehensive ground water survey to ensure Long Island’s drinking water is protected and properly managed, which will be shared with the Massapequa Water District

The initiatives come after U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman to share data from their monitoring wells with all affected Long Island Water Districts last month.

In November, the Massapequa Water District requested access to the wells in order to perform an isotope analysis on water from the Superfund site in Bethpage in order to test whether the contaminated water had the same chemical composition as the water in the monitoring wells and in December, the Navy and Northrop Grumman were still reviewing the Water District’s request.

“Every New Yorker has a fundamental right to clean and safe drinking water,” Cuomo said. “Water is a priceless resource that requires the highest levels of protection, and I am proud to continue this administration’s legacy of standing up for the environment. We are taking aggressive and proactive steps to ensure clean and healthy communities throughout the state – both for current residents and for generations to come.”

To learn more about the initiatives, check out Governor Cuomo’s powerpoint presentation here.