Suffolk County Health Department officials detected nitrates and manganese above water quality standards in some of the 102 private wells it had tested in an area surrounding the closed landfill and at least two commercial composting or mulching operations along the Springs-Fireplace Road corridor in East Hampton and Springs as of Nov. 15.
Twelve wells were found to have nitrates above drinking water quality standards and another showed elevated levels of manganese, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said at the town board’s Nov. 19 meeting. Detection of other potential contaminants was within the safe drinking water levels. The county had “completed outreach” to 247 private property owners as of a Nov. 15 conference call, he said.
The county had announced in September that it would conduct a survey of the approximately 515 private wells in the area, a move it described as precautionary.
Most of the wells in which elevated levels of nitrates or manganese were detected are near public and private composting sites in the survey area, which spans land between Three Mile Harbor Road and Accabonac Road, bounded by Floyd Street to the south and Copeces Lane to the north, Mr. Van Scoyoc said. “It’s not clear yet in terms of water flow and detections where this particular contamination is coming from.” Nitrates and manganese, he said, “are symptomatic and are common around those types of facilities.”
Sampling of private wells would happen at a rate of 15 to 20 per week, Mr. Van Scoyoc said in September. The Health Department is collecting a suite of samples for analysis. Its Office of Water Resources screens for approximately 300 contaminants including coliform and E. coli bacteria; metals and inorganic compounds including iron, manganese, and thallium, and volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds including chlorinated solvents — chemical compounds containing chlorine that are used for a variety of commercial and industrial purposes — as well as pesticides, radionuclides, and 1,4-dioxane.
The supervisor said on Nov. 19 that the testing regimen “emphasizes the importance of protecting our drinking water. Whether you’re a residential property owner or a commercial property owner, what you do on your property can have major negative effects on your drinking water and the drinking water of others.”
Another conference call with the Health Department is to happen later this month.
