LI Water Quality “Depends On Us”
Andrea Sears, Producer
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
NEW YORK - Clean water "Depends On Us." That's the message of an ongoing campaign to raise public awareness about the impact of nitrogen from septic systems on Long Island waters.
Home septic systems are the primary source of nitrogen pollution on Long Island, both in ground water and in the bays and harbors. According to Carl LoBue, New York oceans program director for The Nature Conservancy, that pollution is fouling the water again - and just in time for Father's Day outings.
"Sadly, we're experiencing harmful algal blooms like brown tide in a lot of the South Shore bays," he said, "making it unfortunate for the folks who plan to get out and do some fishing and recreation this weekend."
The Nature Conservancy is conducting its "Depends On Us" campaign to draw attention to the importance of clean water for health, recreation and the environment.
LoBue said septic systems that remove 75 percent of the nitrogen from home wastewater have been developed and are available, but new houses still are being built using the old technology.
"We have yet to require new development to use these new systems," he said, "but that's being discussed and, perhaps by next year, that will be in place."
For existing homes, LoBue pointed out that Suffolk County recently took action to help homeowners clean up residential waste.
"We have a county rebate program that just passed that's going to help subsidize people for phasing out and replacing old cesspools and septic systems with newer models that remove nitrogen," he said.
LoBue said this year's state budget also includes $75 million to help defray some of the cost of installing the new septic systems.
More information is online at nature.org.
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