Newly budgeted money for water quality upgrades is welcome news. Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed legislation for $30 million from the state to replace old and failing septic systems, mostly on Long Island. Funding for up to $25,000 per property for modern, contaminant-removing systems is now available — on top of incentives provided by the county and towns. The additional cash should help accelerate the rate of adoption; in East Hampton Town alone, there are an estimated 19,000 individual old-fashioned cesspools and outdated leaching fields. Only about 640 of the new, so-called innovative/advanced units have been installed to date. Clearly this is a long-term undertaking. Even at a greatly accelerated pace, it would take 20 years or more to get the job done.
Though the septic replacement program was conceived as a way to reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching surface waters such as ponds and bays, evidence of specific nitrogen reduction remains elusive. We have argued in the past for increased surface water sampling as a way to judge the success or failure of the expensive systems. Nonetheless, the incentive programs are worthwhile, especially as officials have increased the number of eligible properties.
On the South Fork, a steady stream of money for waste, literally, is indeed available, thanks to a set-aside added to the law governing the community preservation fund, allowing for up to 20 percent of annual income to go to water improvement.
The new septic systems can often be identified where they have been installed by three green plastic lids. The action happens under the ground, as wastewater is pumped through a series of connected chambers where helpful bacteria break down pollutants, the flow is filtered, and finally treated to sharply reduce bacteria associated with human waste, phosphorus, and so-called forever chemicals.
It is important to note, however, that these systems are not “set it and forget it”; twice-yearly maintenance is generally required. There is also the cost of the additional electricity needed to keep the pump running. At some point, too, having the “solids” hauled away is another expense, though on par with that of existing, old-fashioned systems. Property owners are also responsible for their own replanting and landscaping around the installations.
One of the concerns about the septic money is that it is generally not available for commercial properties with an additional and complicated process that must be approved by town boards. This is shortsighted. Groundwater cannot tell the difference if pollutants come from a home or a restaurant, for example. From an ecological point of view, it is the same kind of effluent and often in greater volume. Especially in already designated groundwater protection districts, money for the biggest seasonal polluters should be made more easily available.