Federal Cesspool Law Should Not Be Ignored

A wave of commercial redevelopment in Montauk has had impacts on traffic and noise and the hamlet’s sense of neighborliness, but it also is suspected of having a huge impact underground. 

According to Kevin McAllister, the former Peconic BayKeeper and founder of Defend H2O, East Hampton Town and Suffolk officials have been complicit in allowing large-capacity cesspools to contaminate groundwater. According to an official count there are as many as 105 cesspools serving businesses in East Hampton Town.

Alternatives to cesspools that leach pollutants into groundwater exist, but property owners can be resistant, especially if officials refuse to force the issue.

In 2000 the Environmental Protection Agency banned the construction of new cesspools that are intended for more than 20 people. By 2005, the regulation was strengthened to require them all to be removed. Only they were not, at least here on the East End.

Mr. McAllister said the federal rule has been ignored by the county, which handles permits for septic systems, and the town, which has jurisdiction over individual permit applications. In Mr. McAllister’s view, work at a number of Montauk restaurants and hotels should at least have brought violations of the large-capacity cesspool ban to local attention. 

In an October letter to Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone, State Assemblyman Steve Englebright suggested what he called “grandfathering” of offending large-scale cesspools. By that he meant allowing waste systems built before the ban went into effect to remain in place. Though couched in polite language, Mr. Englebright’s message came through clearly: Knock it off.

Also in October, an E.P.A. Region 2 groundwater office warned East Hampton Town that “approving an application without the required upgrades allows facilities to continue to violate the federal law.”

In November the East Hampton Town Planning Board ignored that advice, voting that it would review an application for the expansion of Arbor restaurant in Montauk — owned by Marc Rowan, a private equity billionaire — despite not being sure if its cesspool complied with the E.P.A. ban. This came after a respected septic waste company presented information that it did not comply. The matter is suspicious; the town often refuses to issue permits or even accept applications when there is doubt about whether county, state, or federal rules are met.

As East Hampton and other East End towns take on water pollution, they should not be allowed to forget that the E.P.A. has been an ally. Whether the ban will remain in place as the Trump administration settles in is another issue. In the meantime, commercial projects should not be approved until they follow the law.