A Push for Septic Upgrades
East Hampton Town will move to require advanced treatment of septic waste in its harbor areas in order to stem the release of nitrogen into surface waters where pollution from wastewater has been climbing.
The proposed legislation would require sanitary systems of a certain size and sewage treatment systems in harbor protection overlay districts to use technology that can remove higher levels of pollutants than the systems currently accepted by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. The requirement would apply to both new and existing systems.
A hearing will be held on the proposed law at Town Hall on April 7 at 6:30 p.m.
The law would require the installation of advanced septic treatment systems — those that remove more nitrogen than standard systems — for all new development that would result in an “intermediate” level of sewage flow, measured in gallons per day.
The standard would set the bar for environmental protection higher than that now set by the county.
“The stricter standard is necessary because the standard in use by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services is generally intended to protect human health, but is not sufficient to protect ecological health and to avoid ecological impacts to the harbor protection overlay district,” according to the draft law.
It would apply to all properties that generate between 1,000 and 30,000 gallons of wastewater per day and would set limits on the amount of nitrogen that could be released after waste treatment. The law would allow the town zoning board of appeals to grant an extension of time, up to five years, for compliance and sets fines for noncompliance.
The legislation is similar to that enacted in the Town of Brookhaven. That legislation was presented to the board last winter by Kevin McAllister of Defend H20, who asked that East Hampton consider adopting similar requirements.
Also this week, after a hearing last Thursday, the board agreed to completely decommission East Hampton’s scavenger waste treatment plant, which has been out of operation for some time. Suspending use of the outdated plant, which would have required extensive and costly updates to meet current environmental standards, was among the recommendations in a recently prepared townwide comprehensive wastewater management plan.
The town board voted unanimously to have all of the buildings and equipment removed from the plant, which is next to the town recycling center on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton, at a cost of $400,000 and approved the issuance of a bond to pay for the work.
Supervisor Larry Cantwell said that the board had decided to fully decommission the approximately three-acre site, meeting New York State Department of Environmental Conservation standards, so that the property could be put to a new use by the town or sold.
It is in a commercial zone, and Mr. Cantwell estimated its value at $3 million. With several projects currently in play — the construction of a new town hall building and sale of nearby condos now holding town offices, as well as a discussion of replacing the town senior citizens center — the scavenger waste plant site is part of the mix, he said, though no decisions have been made. It will be two to three months before the decommissioning is done, the supervisor said.