LI water suppliers seek more funding for DEC programs

Every water supplier on Long Island and more than 60 industry groups are asking elected officials in Albany to increase funding for state water quality and protection programs in the region.

In a letter to the Island’s delegation, the Long Island Water Conference pushed Senate and Assembly members to restore funding to higher levels associated with a decade ago for the Department of Environmental Conservation’s water division.

The group of water industry professionals said Long Island “needs the additional funding to maintain the staff and technology essential to protect our sole source aquifer and help us continue to provide safe, high-quality water to our residents.”

The plea comes as the state’s roughly $155 billion budget is due April 1. Senate and Assembly members have been working for weeks to hammer out spending plans.

The water conference did not cite specific staffing numbers or an amount, but it is expected to be less than $1 million.

“It’s their mission to manage the aquifer, but if they don’t have the proper staff to do it, how could they do it?” said conference vice chairman Stan Carey, Massapequa Water District’s superintendent. “We’d just like to see the staffing levels increase so they can do a more efficient, thorough job.”

Assemb. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket), who chairs the chamber’s Environmental Conservation Committee, said he would push for more funding during budget negotiations.

“I think it’s important enough that it should be considered,” he said. “I think it’s a matter of public health at the highest levels.”

Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, an East Northport Republican, did not respond to requests for comment.

The proposed DEC spending for fiscal year 2017 is $998 million, up 8.2 percent from $922 million this year.

The DEC said while many issues are handled by Albany staff, the Long Island water division has 11 employees — a number the agency said has stayed the same for several years. Statewide, staffing levels peaked at 278 full-time water division employees in 2008 and were at 226 as of this week, the agency said.

“The state is deeply committed to addressing water pollution and has maintained staffing levels . . . since the beginning of this administration, continuing to provide critical resources to address water issues statewide,” DEC spokesman Sean Mahar said in a statement.

The agency pointed to a new $6 million study to model groundwater, formation of a rapid-response water quality team, and regulation of mulching facilities as ways Long Island is getting attention.

Water industry officials want local DEC officials minding the water, not Albany.

“As far as I am concerned, they have a skeleton staff out there,” said Dennis Kelleher, president of Melville-based H2M Water and a member of the Long Island Water Conference.

The handling of Superfund sites, from the large plume coming from a Northrop Grumman and Navy site in Bethpage, to smaller spills, is a concern. Most of New York gets its drinking water from rivers, streams and reservoirs, not underground aquifers like on Long Island.