Skip to main content

New ‘No’ to a Sewage Plant in Hither Woods

Thu, 06/30/2022 - 10:52

The Coalition for Hither Woods, an organization of conservation groups that formed in 1982 to oppose proposals to develop that area of Montauk, has reformed as an incorporated not-for-profit to oppose the potential siting there of a sewage treatment plant to serve the hamlet.

A town committee has been meeting regularly to identify a site for a facility that would serve the hamlet’s downtown, where properties are typically too small to accommodate “innovative alternative” septic systems that reduce nitrogen leaching. Many existing septic systems there are failing and must be pumped out regularly.

Wastewater flow and property-size constraints limit on-site treatment options in other densely populated areas of the hamlet as well, including Ditch Plain, the docks, and the area around the Long Island Rail Road Station and Industrial Road. Town officials are considering a site larger than initially envisioned in order to plan for the potential ability to treat effluent from those areas, too. The downtown area is envisioned as the first in a multiphase project, with future expansion to the other areas.

Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc referred on June 14 to a site east of the hamlet’s former landfill as “promising” to accommodate a sewage treatment plant.

The coalition’s preservation efforts in the 1980s were successful, Rick Whalen, an attorney and one of its founders, said this week. He described it as an umbrella group that included Concerned Citizens of Montauk, the Group for the South Fork (now known as Group for the East End), and the Nature Conservancy.

Ultimately, the town, Suffolk County, and New York State agreed to buy 580 acres that were proposed to be developed as “Benson Point.” The county agreed to buy the 777 acres that now make up the Lee Koppelman Nature Preserve in 1998, although the initial buyer was the Nature Conservancy, which sold it to the county early in 1999, Mr. Whalen said. “For six or so years, the coalition fought to preserve that land, and ultimately we were completely successful.”

The deeds for both conveyances, Mr. Whalen said, include a stipulation that any lease or conveyance of any part to the town shall be void. “The subject premises, or any part thereof, shall never be transferred to or owned by the Town of East Hampton, whether in fee, leasehold, or license,” reads a passage in the February 1989 deed conveying the Koppelman Preserve from the Nature Conservancy to the county. “Any sale, transfer, lease, or license to it shall be void.”

Town officials have not chosen a site for the proposed sewage treatment plant. Several properties previously identified were eliminated from consideration, including county-owned parcels adjacent to the former landfill that were determined to have deed restrictions.

“How much we have to do depends on the town,” Mr. Whalen said of the coalition’s efforts. He said he had communicated to Mr. Van Scoyoc and Councilman David Lys “that the Coalition for Hither Woods would oppose any use of parkland in Hither Woods for the sewage treatment plant.”

The coalition’s purpose was the same 40 years ago as it is today, Mr. Whalen said. “The strongest argument we had was that Hither Woods was the future source of Montauk’s drinking water. At the time, nobody contemplated that the Suffolk County Water Authority would put a water line across Napeague. But Montauk still relies, in part, upon wells. . . . Also, the deepest, thickest part of Montauk’s freshwater aquifer lies in that area. The town is considering a sewage treatment plant over the very groundwater aquifer the preserve was acquired to protect.”

Villages

A ‘Good Trouble’ Protest Up Next

Weeks after the “No Kings” rally brought an estimated 1,200 people to East Hampton Town Hall, another demonstration to protest the Trump administration will happen next Thursday, with a nod to the late civil rights icon John Lewis.

Jul 10, 2025

Item of the Week: On the F.H. Warner Bakery

This photo from The Star archive shows the F.H. Warner Bakery, built in 1893 and sometimes known as the Montauk Bakery, when it stood next to the Methodist Church, near Hook Mill.

Jul 10, 2025

Bluebirds Thriving in East Hampton

“I think this is the most concentrated spot for bluebirds in all of New York State,” said Joe Giunta on a drizzly Saturday morning as he walked along a segment of a bluebird trail on Daniel’s Hole Road, adjacent to 600 acres of relatively open space.

Jul 3, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.