Septic Repairs and Neighborhood Systems Proposed
A draft comprehensive wastewater management plan for East Hampton Town, developed by a consultant who has analyzed the waste treatment and water quality issues throughout the town from an environmental and economic standpoint, will be the subject of upcoming discussions by the town board and of several hearings at which the public may comment.
Pio Lombardo of Lombardo Associates, a Massachusetts environmental engineering and consulting firm, delivered an executive summary of the draft plan earlier this week. The full plan was expected to be posted last night at ehwaterrestore.com, a town website devoted to the consultant’s work.
The plan addresses existing wastewater management, including individual septic systems and their effect on surface and ground water as well as various water bodies’ watersheds.
It includes recommendations to address inadequate septic treatment and to improve water quality, as well as plans for ongoing water quality monitoring.
Mr. Lombardo found that nitrogen and phosphorous from waste and stormwater has adversely affected surface water quality throughout the town.
All of Three Mile Harbor, the consultant found, is “demonstrating signs of excessive nitrogen loadings,” including a recent concentration of harmful algae that could be toxic.
Because of that, the consultant said in the report, “it is recommended that remediation efforts begin in that area.”
The report recommends that the town enforce a regulation that requires inspections of private septic systems every three years and before a property transfer, and that neighborhood wastewater systems be installed in sensitive areas with malfunctioning or problematic septic systems, such as at Camp Hero, the dock area, Ditch Plain, and the downtown area in Montauk, around Three Mile Harbor, and in East Hampton Village within the Hook Pond watershed.
That watershed, along with those around Georgica and Fort Ponds, needs further study, according to the report’s executive summary, though treatment of groundwater in those areas to reduce nitrogen or phosphorous is recommended.
The plan also addresses individual properties throughout the town where septic system repairs or the installation of small neighborhood systems serving a handful of houses is recommended.
It includes recommendations for particular sites in various parts of the town where neighborhood wastewater treatment systems could be located.
Mr. Lombardo has also completed an analysis of the town’s aging scavenger waste treatment plant, which resulted in the town board taking steps for its permanent closure.
All of the reports and information compiled throughout the consultant’s process can be found at ehwaterrestore.com.
Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said Tuesday that the board will schedule four or five sessions at which the wastewater management plan will be discussed with the public. The first will be held at 10 a.m. on Sept. 23 at the East Hampton Village Emergency Services Building on Cedar Street in East Hampton. Another will take place on Oct. 7 at the Montauk Firehouse, also at 10 a.m.
On Tuesday, the town board voted on several budget amendments related to Mr. Lombardo’s work. In addition to his initial, $197,989 contract, the consultant will be paid an additional $29,000 for engineering work related to the scavenger waste plant closure, an additional $48,596 to engineer a plan to upgrade the Camp Hero wastewater system in Montauk, and an additional $16,415 for presentations and public meetings in connection with the comprehensive wastewater management plan.