Long Island water quality getting worse, Stony Brook University researcher says

A report released last week by a Stony Brook University researcher found that water quality in Long Island waterways mostly got worse this year.

The report found a record three-dozen dead zones and more than two-dozen harmful algal blooms, driven by oxygen-depleting nitrogen coming from aging septic systems, Dr. Christopher Gobler, SUNY distinguished professor at Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said at a news conference on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Gobler’s research found fish kills in the Swan River and at Shirley Beach at Smith Point.

“When waters are robbed of oxygen, marine life will die,” he said.

Warming water temperature conditions that alternate between heavy rain storms and drought are making things worse, Gobler said.

The one bright spot Gobler found was a 60 percent reduction in nitrogen levels in western Long Island Sound, thanks to upgrades to New York City wastewater treatment plants.

The press conference at Mascot Dock, in Patchogue, came as environmental groups rally Suffolk County voters to approve Proposition 2, which is on the Nov. 5th ballot.

The measure would increase the county’s 8.65 percent sales tax by one-eighth of a cent to pay for new sewer lines and replacing outdated septic systems across Suffolk County.

If passed, the measure would increase the amount of sales tax by 12 cents per each $100 and raise $50 million a year, which could be used to match state and federal grant funds, Suffolk County Legislature presiding officer Kevin McCaffrey said at the press conference.

If voters approve the proposal, “we are going to look back one day and say we made a difference on Long Island for many years to come,” McCaffrey said.

Only about 30 percent of homes in Suffolk County, almost all of which are in western Suffolk, are connected to sewers, said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. That’s less than half the rate in Nassau County, where about 70 percent of homes are sewered.“Long Island is called the septic capital of the world,” said Esposito, whose group is among those working to pass Proposition 2. “We don’t want that claim to fame. We have a plan to make a difference.”

Kevin McDonald, with the Nature Conservancy, said voters will have the chance on Nov. 5 to “decide whether we change things or keep doing the wrong things.”

“If you care about water quality in Suffolk County, we hope you’ll vote ‘yes,’” McDonald said.