Town engineer pushes commercial septic site
Town Engineer John Cronin has written to County Executive Steve Bellone to keep Shelter Island in the running for free septic upgrades.
Shelter Island Town Engineer John Cronin has a better idea.
When Suffolk County announced it would make 19 alternative wastewater treatment systems available without cost and with a five-year free maintenance contract, Island officials were skeptical it would benefit the Island.
But Mr. Cronin has written to County Executive Steve Bellone suggesting that a Shelter Island commercial site would not only benefit the town but provide an excellent test site “of a more robust nature.”
Among possible sites, Mr. Cronin is suggesting:
• The Shelter Island Country Club at Goat Hill.
• Shelter Island School where nitrates in the aquifer have historically been a problem.
• Government buildings.
“Any of these installations would, in my opinion as a New York State licensed professional engineer, offer excellent opportunities to demonstrate the viability of on-site denitrification of sanitary waste in more commercial installations,” Mr. Cronin wrote.
“Piloting such a system in a very environmentally sensitive area such as Shelter Island may help demonstrate the viability of such installations in more strenuous applications,” he said.
Mr. Cronin has been leading the effort on here to identify aging septic systems that are threatening the quality of water here. While much of Long Island is served by the Suffolk County Water Authority, the Island is dependent on well water flowing from its aquifer and threats to water quality are of “great concern to the population,” Mr. Cronin said.
When Mr. Bellone announced the countywide lottery last week, Councilman Peter Reich questioned if, given the qualifying factors, there would even be 19 sites throughout the county, much less Shelter Island.
