The Suffolk County Water Authority has proposed the construction of a two-million-gallon tank in Wainscott adjacent to East Hampton Airport to supply water and provide additional capacity during times of peak demand, the town board was told on Tuesday.
JoAnne Pahwul, the planning director, told the board at its work session that she and Kim Shaw, the director of the Natural Resources Department, had consulted with hydrologists at the Suffolk County Health Department's Office of Water Resources, and "their evaluation was a storage tank would spread out pumping and be a better way to respond to demand," which would benefit Long Island's sole-source aquifer system. The hydrologists are comfortable with the project, she said.
Perfluorinated chemicals, known as PFAS, were discovered in many residential wells in Wainscott in 2017, and two years later 47 of 570 acres at the airport were included on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites, commonly called Superfund sites.
The water authority has not tested the site of the proposed water tank for PFAS, Ms. Pahwul said, but officials do not believe there has been contamination there, and three wells on the property support that belief.
The 40-foot-tall tank would be set back about 250 feet from Town Line Road, Ms. Pahwul said. One-quarter of the structure would be below grade. The water authority, she said, has agreed to submit a buffer plan for the town's approval to screen the structure from view. That buffer would likely run along the edge of the northern property line facing the Maidstone Gun Club and along Town Line Road.
The water authority will conduct an environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, Ms. Pahwul said.
John Jilnicki, the town attorney, said that the water authority is "basically exempt" from local review in cases of infrastructure related to its purpose of supplying water to customers. It sought the town's input "out of their interest in being a good member of the community and trying to address any of the town's concerns. But their position, and I think they're right, [is that] they are not subject to any permitting process or review by us."
"This is not adjacent to any residences," said Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc. The site is "in the hinterlands, if you will: that border between Southampton and East Hampton." A water tank represents "good news, as far as I'm concerned."
The water authority will hold a virtual meeting to solicit comments from the public on Feb. 22, Ms. Pahwul said.
