Suffolk County Water Authority says to cut water use in Hamptons, as toxic plume cuts supply

A toxic plume near an East End battery-energy storage plant is exacerbating a water shortage in the Hamptons amid near-record use, prompting the Suffolk County Water Authority to issue an "urgent request" for water-use curtailment in the area.

The water authority said in a statement Thursday morning that two vital wells that had been on partial usage after the discovery of "forever" chemicals in the area are now on "emergency protocol only," indicating that they will be turned on only if demand hits critical levels, including for firefighting, spokesman Dan Dubois said.

"The goal is to avoid using them as much as possible," Dubois said, noting the wells are part of the "first-off, last-on" protocol in the water authority’s capacity. Asked why, and if the SCWA had discovered higher levels of toxic chemicals in those partial-use wells, Dubois said it was "out of an abundance of caution."

Those wells and two others located near Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton are about 2,500 feet south of the site of a National Grid and NextEra-owned battery-energy storage plant that experienced a thermal-runaway fire in 2023 that released 2.2 million gallons of soot-laden water into the ground. The two wells taken fully out of service had supplied around 8% of that region’s water but have been offline since the spring, due to detections of a forever chemical.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which led the site investigation, did not require testing of the groundwater after the fire, despite internal emails showing large pools of soot-laden water. Gov. Kathy Hochul later that year declared "no harmful levels of toxins detected" in state tests of soil at the site and two others as she advanced her plan for 6,000 megawatts of battery storage by 2030.

Last week, the DEC said it would "investigate all potential sources of PFAS in the area." A final report by the agency is due out by fall.

The water authority first disclosed the detection of short-chain PFAS forever chemicals in the drinking water wells in a lawsuit in late May, first reported in Newsday. The suit said the SCWA was considering options such as filtering or drilling new wells farther away, but both would cost millions of dollars.

NextEra has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, but said, "as ever, we stand ready to work with county and state agencies on any further actions that require our assistance."

Newsday reported last week that Suffolk County’s preliminary tests of some of the approximately 30 private wells around the plume showed short-chain PFAS compounds at more than 1,000 parts per billion, well above safe drinking water standards. It’s unclear if more recent tests by the water authority have found higher levels in the wells that are in restricted use.

Dubois said restrictions on those two wells, which supply an area covering most of East Hampton and a "substantial" portion of Southampton east of the Shinnecock Canal, have only exacerbated a problem that is largely the result of high demand during a heat wave and "severe drought conditions."

"Demand is very high right now, so we’re doing everything we can to get customers to cut their use," he said.

In addition to requesting that customers restrict lawn and garden irrigation to an odd/even-day protocol based on their home address, Dubois said customers also should turn off faucets during teeth brushing and not run dishwashers unless the machines are full.

SCWA has no additional sources of supply for the East End, he said, so conservation is the only method to help keep water tanks fuller and pressure levels high. "If demand continues to be high, customers are going to see pressure drops, specifically in early morning hours," Dubois said.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, who last week said the county has concerns that the plume could impact the larger aquifer, urged customers in a statement Thursday to conserve water: "Simple steps taken today will help protect our water supply and ensure this vital resource remains available for our communities throughout the summer."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.