Governor expands wastewater grants 

Free? Not quite, but homeowners who want to upgrade to the Innovative Alternative (I/A) septic systems could soon be paying far less out of pocket than they have since the introduction of the nitrogen-reducing systems to the area.

Governor Kathy Hochul (D) was at the Suffolk County Community College campus in Brentwood last week to announce an increase in State money to encourage Suffolk County residents to upgrade their aged systems. She announced increased grants the State will make available to homeowners to augment the grants it has provided toward installation of the systems.

The governor said the state grants would increase the reimbursement rate to 75%, or up to $25,000. Add to that a State award of $20 million in support of its Septic Improvement Program, which provides grants of $10,000 to homeowners who qualify. The increased funding would enable homeowners to upgrade “for virtually nothing,” County Executive Ed Romaine said.

“I think this is great,” said Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, who noted the Town’s Water Quality Improvement Program can award up to $12,000 along with an additional $4,000 if a homeowner needs to relocate a well to accommodate the distance needed between an existing well and location of the septic system. The Town provides another $5,000 for a pressurized shallow drain field; the total would be $56,000 in grant money. “I hope to see the pace of conversions pick up,” the supervisor said.

At Tuesday’s Town Board work session, there was a clarification pertaining to the status of wastewater grants. The Town had applied for two grants — one from the federal government and the other from Suffolk County — during the Siller administration. The federal grant was for $1.2 million but carried the need for some matching funds from the Town amounting to $250,000. Both pertained to a plan to fund a central system that would treat wastewater from Center public buildings.

The federal government has confirmed the money is still available, and current plans are that it likely will be used for installation of I/A systems instead of the single treatment system to deal with Center public buildings. 

But the County grant was issued only for the Central wastewater treatment system and when that didn’t move forward, the $250,000 grant money was withdrawn.

Councilman Gordon Gooding, who is running on the Democratic ticket for supervisor seeking to unseat Ms. Brach-Williams, called the increased I/A grants for homeowners “extremely good news for all Shelter Island residents.” Mr. Gooding, an advocate of I/A system installation at Center public buildings, has been pushing for action to put the $1.2 million to work addressing wastewater treatment needs.

Potable drinking water quality has been identified as top Town priority, Mr. Gooding said. Block Island, Nantucket and other Islands have demonstrated the effectiveness of I/A systems.

Applauding the State and County grant increases, along with Town money from the Water Quality Improvement Advisory Board (WQI), it’s time to take serious action to install I/A systems, Mr. Gooding said. He advocated using some WQI money to hire a qualified person to provide public education about the value of I/A systems and the availability of increased grants to pay for them, as well as followup after installation to ensure the system is working correctly.

Existing systems should be checked to ensure they are working properly and if not, I/A systems should replace them.

“In order to have good water, you need to clean up our antiquated septic systems [because] what goes into the ground impacts what comes out of the ground,” Mr.  Gooding said.