CEED gets county grant for new wastewater treatment system

Center for Environmental Education and Discovery has received a $95,250 matching grant from Suffolk County to help pay for replacing the wastewater treatment system at its Washington Lodge headquarters in Brookhaven Hamlet.

CEED will install an advanced wastewater treatment system that removes nitrogen and other pollutants, executive director Sally Wellinger said Monday at a check presentation at CEED headquarters. The grant will be used for planning and the first phase of the project, Wellinger said.

County Legis. Jim Mazzarella, who helped secure the grant and attended Monday’s check presentation, called the upgrade “a home run for the community and the environment.”

CEED will raise an additional $95,250 to match the grant, which comes from the county’s Water Quality Protection and Restoration program.

In 2023, CEED received a $100,000 grant from New York State Empire Development for a study to restore Washington Lodge. The new wastewater treatment system is part of what is expected to be a 10-year, $5 million restoration project, Wellinger said.