
Previously Published in The Messenger
By Matt Meduri
The Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) has completed the first phase of one of their most ambitious projects in decades. The South River Road water main is set to bring clean water to residences in Calverton whose wells have been impacted by PFAS – otherwise known as “forever chemicals.”
The SCWA has installed 20,000 feet of new water main, which gives up to ninety-two homes access to high-quality, clean water. The $8.65 million project was fully funded through $5 million in Congressional Directed Spending, $1.85 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and $1.8 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) from the Town of Brookhaven.
Phase 2 is already underway, which will extend to eighty-one more homes south of Nugent Drive. The second phase is funded vis-à-vis $3.8 million in State and County grants. Phase 3, expected to be completed by the end of 2026, will connect thirty-six more homes on Starr Boulevard using $1.3 million in Suffolk ARPA funds.
SCWA Chairman Charlie Lefkowitz was joined by SCWA CEO Jeff Szabo and board members John Rose and John Porchia against a picturesque autumn scene at Peconic Lake in Calverton on Wednesday morning for the announcement.
“The Suffolk County Department of Health Services discovered that PFAS were in private wells, found at high levels 180 parts per trillion (ppt),” said Lefkowitz. “That’s eighteen times the State standards and forty-five times the new federal standards.”
Lefkowitz added that “not a dime of money came from the local taxpayers” to fund this project. He also teased ongoing clean water expansions on deck for Westhampton, Medford, and the Town of Southold. He shared that there are still about 25,000 homes on private wells.
“Please get the water tested, and if we have the ability to hook you up to public water, we will try to do that,” said Lefkowitz.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches), who once represented the area in the County Legislature in two separate stints, thanked Congressman Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-Park Slope) for their help in appropriating federal dollars for these projects.
“PFAS is a growing threat throughout this county. Let’s make sure that everyone that we can possibly spend money on will have access to clean, drinkable, and bathable water,” said Romaine.
Romaine pointed no fingers in particular, saying he didn’t want to “speculate” the origin of the contaminants. However, conventional wisdom surrounding water quality issues in Riverhead, Calverton, and parts of Manorville often dictates that the former Grumman site in Calverton could be a culprit. Federal agencies left the site in more or less the same condition in which they left Bethpage.
“PFAS today could be something else tomorrow,” said Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Center Moriches). “Unfortunately, this issue, like every other issue today, is mired in politics. People are afraid of overdevelopment and their way of life changing. People are also afraid that the Governor will try to override municipal home rule, as she did a few years ago. The science has taught us that the old ways of doing things and what we put into the ground we stand on above our aquifer – it’s not if, it’s when we find the next compound to remediate.”
State Senator Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) urged residents that hooking up to the sewer main comes with “no cost.”
“This doesn’t happen without people all pushing in the same direction,” said Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow) of the nonpartisan nature surrounding water quality issues in Suffolk. “The County Health Department really stood up in testing their wells to identify contaminants.”
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, discussed the health ramifications of PFAS-contaminated water.
“PFAS is so toxic that it’s measured in parts per trillion,” said Esposito. “It’s closely associated with thyroid cancer and disease and liver damage and disorders. The SCWA works with every level of government to make projects like this happen.”
Executive Romaine further discussed the precarious environmental nature of the Peconic River.
“I have concerns because the Peconic River has been impacted by PFAS from the Grumman Site. I think the federal government should be stepping up and doing the right thing here,” Romaine told The Messenger. “This contamination didn’t come from nowhere. When the New York State Department of Health says to not eat the fish from Peconic Lake, you have to worry.”
Romaine called for a “deeper dive” into this issue and that the federal government and the Navy “should be held responsible if they are found to have contributed to this problem.”
“What’s west of here? Bethpage. Tell me how well the Navy has done on that. I’ve had concerns since I was a Legislator that the Navy did not do the appropriate cleanup. Ask them about the burn pits they had here in Calverton.”
Overall, the project marks a significant turning point for water quality, particularly for the East End, home to some of the more staggering challenges of that issue out of nearly anywhere else in the county.