Shelter Island water tests could include Silver Beach: Original focus was on Menantic Peninsula

There was no formal vote by the Water Advisory Committee (WAC) to recommend another Town advisory body, the Water Quality Improvement Advisory Board (WQI), to consider funding water testing for residents in the Menantic Peninsula and Silver Beach. Rather, it’s a “sense of the committee” to have Town Engineer Joe Finora make the request at the next WQI meeting scheduled for July 4.

It was a tricky situation for the WAC because Greg Toner, a member of the WQI, said he disagreed with bringing the request for funding to that committee, insisting it wasn’t ready. He has also been outspoken about not wanting to fund future water testing for any residents unwilling to provide full results of their tests to the Town.

As it currently stands, plans call to ask residents who want tests to provide their full data, but not to require it. Two other members of the WAC ­— Ken Pysher and Doug Sherrod — are Silver Beach residents, so they recused themselves from the vote. That left four members who favored moving forward with the request, including Mr. Finora.

When the subject arose last month, the focus was only on the Menantic Peninsula as the next target of testing. But Mr. Sherrod said he thought it unfair to have Silver Beach moved down in consideration.

A brief discussion revealed that members generally agreed with him and even Anita Brush, president of the Menantic Peninsula Homeowners Association, said she favored Silver Beach being included, noting how that neighborhood’s residents had been helpful to residents in her area in determining how to get on the radar of those in the Town for consideration.

Mr. Finora noted that the number of tests the Suffolk County Department of Health Services can handle is expected to fall between 50 and 100 houses, with collection of water samples likely in early fall, and testing of the samples to follow.

But he favored including Silver Beach in the mix, even though it could delay the process into the winter. He has been the point person speaking with Health Department officials to work out arrangements. He will also be the person to carry the request for funding to the WQI.

Silver Beach residents have been proactive and vocal about their concerns with water quality as well as salted well water. Mr. Finora made it clear the tests being discussed deal with potable water, not salted well water.

Ms. Brush said residents in the Menantic Peninsula tend not to speak about their water concerns, hesitant that it would affect their property values. A local realtor has maintained testing and dealing with any problems that might affect the safety of drinking water would likely increase the value of the property.

If the attitude among some Menantic Peninsula residents is let’s not talk about the subject, the role of the WAC needs to be, “Let’s talk about it,” WAC Chairman Peter Grand said.

At this stage, there are no plans for any public water system other than those that exist in the Heights, Dering Harbor and West Neck.

Even if the next step of public testing is funded and reveals mixed results about the quality of water, there are no plans by the town to address solutions. Residents can make their own decisions, just as those in the West Neck Water District did working out an arrangement with the Suffolk County Water Authority, or opting to use bottled water rather than consuming well water that they discover through testing is not potable. 

Testing would be of a wider scope of potential contaminants than the tests conducted last year in the Center triangle.