Wainscott Water Main Project Wraps Up
The Suffolk County Water Authority and the Town of East Hampton announced on Friday the imminent completion of the installation of approximately 45,000 feet of water main in Wainscott, an effort to provide public water to the hamlet after numerous private wells were discovered to be contaminated with perfluorinated chemicals.
The announcement closely followed word from the town board of its intention to commence litigation against more than a dozen manufacturers of firefighting foam and other products, suspected culprits in the chemical contamination, as well as East Hampton Village and the Bridgehampton Fire District, “to help offset the costs that we’ve incurred to remediate these chemical contaminations,” Councilman Jeff Bragman said at the town board’s meeting last Thursday.
The final 1,000 feet of water main are to be installed during the first week of January, four months after installation began on Windsor Lane in the hamlet, in the largest water main project undertaken by the water authority in almost 20 years.
Private service lines are being installed to connect the plumbing of participating residences and businesses to the new water main. To date, 124 properties have been hooked up to public water out of the approximately 520 in the project area, which encompasses much of the hamlet south of East Hampton Airport.
Ductile iron water main, known for its durability, between 6 and 16 inches in diameter was installed. Copper and high-density polyethylene service lines connecting the water main to each impacted residence will continue to be installed in the coming weeks, along with meters and meter vaults, among other project elements. Existing private wells will be disconnected from the internal plumbing of houses within the project area to prevent the possibility of cross-contamination with the public water system.
Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said earlier this month that the contamination represented a major challenge to the town board this year. “We responded very quickly to those concerns,” he said on Dec. 17. “In order to ensure public confidence in drinking water, we worked very closely with the Suffolk County Water Authority and the State and County Health Departments, put together a task force to work on this issue, and committed to bringing safe drinking water to Wainscott, first and foremost. That’s been a success.”
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services confirmed the presence of perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, in more than 150 private wells in the impacted area, with some showing amounts over the health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion, in October 2017. The chemicals have been linked to cancers, thyroid problems, and serious complications of pregnancy.
Following the detection of the chemicals in Wainscott, the town board declared a state of emergency, and then established a water supply district, paving the way for the water main installation project. As interim measures, the town provided bottled water free of charge to property owners and offered rebates for the installation of point-of-entry water treatment systems to those whose wells were found to be contaminated.
Seeking to recoup the costs of treating tainted water in its wells, one year ago the water authority filed suit against companies that manufactured and sold products containing the contaminants. Separately, a Southampton lawyer took the town and several chemical manufacturers to court over the contamination.
Last Thursday, Mr. Bragman, the town board’s liaison to the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee, announced new litigation against companies including the 3M Company, Tyco Fire Products, Chemguard, and more than a dozen others, in addition to East Hampton Village and the Bridgehampton Fire District.
Mr. Bragman could not be reached yesterday. East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said that he was aware of the town’s action. “We use that firefighting foam in question during various drills,” he said. “We have yet to see the paperwork vis-à-vis a lawsuit, but are aware that it had been initiated. Once we receive it, we’ll digest it and act accordingly.”