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Environmental group gifts town with $4,000

COURTESY PHOTO | Kristina Lange from Group for the East End delivering check to Supervisor Jim Dougherty to pay for an intern mapping septic systems this summer.
COURTESY PHOTO | Kristina Lange from the Group for the East End delivering a check to Supervisor Jim Dougherty at Town Hall Tuesday morning to pay for an intern mapping septic systems this summer.

The town has received a check for $4,000 to defray costs for an intern to  collect records on existing septic systems and cesspools.

In early April Town Engineer John Cronin told the Town Board that dangerous pollutants, including nitrogen, are not being controlled due to antiquated or faulty septic systems. Neither septic systems or cesspools, which Mr. Cronin described as “just a hole in the ground,” does much of anything to stop the flow of nitrogen compounds that poisons drinking water and surrounding surface waters such as ponds, creeks and bays.

Hiring an intern to create a data base on the systems is a necessary first step, according to Mr. Cronin,  in getting a handle on the situation.

The engineer  had originally suggested that the town could budget for the intern or take the necessary  funds from his own salary.

Enter the Group for the East End.

In a presentation to the board last month, Robert DeLuca, CEO of the environmental nonprofit, said that he had read about Mr. Cronin’s proposal in the Reporter and his organization would gladly offer a grant for the $4,000.

In a letter to Supervisor Jim Dougherty, Mr. DeLuca said creating a database is “crucially important to developing informed recommendations and ultimately solutions for what is increasingly important water quality issues facing our entire region.”