The Suffolk County Department of Public Works has commissioned the use of $7.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds towards planning and designing to expand the Southwest Sewer District serving portions of Wyandanch, Wheatley Heights and Deer Park.
The funds will be used to pay for the engineering design and planning phase of a $158 million project which will expand the Southwest Sewer District to serve areas located within three hamlets of the Town of Babylon.
The announcement comes in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 2 as part of the Suffolk Water Quality Restoration Act to improve water quality and fund long-term investments in clean water systems and technologies. The bill extends the existing one-quarter-percent sales tax that funds water quality initiatives and establishes a new one-eighth-percent sales to modernize sewers and fund critical wastewater infrastructure in Suffolk County.
“Clean water is essential to the long-term viability of our region and the allocation of more than $1 billion towards wastewater infrastructure in the County’s capital budget signifies our commitment to build a better future in the Town of Babylon and throughout Suffolk County,” said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine.
The 2025-2027 Proposed Capital Program includes more than 35 critical wastewater infrastructure projects with a total investment of more than $ 1.23 billion. The extension of sewer service will spur economic development and eliminate the use of thousands of outdated residential and commercial cesspool systems, which improves water quality and increases resiliency throughout Suffolk County.