Suffolk: Water warning after sewage discharge into Long Island Sound

Greenport's wastewater treatment plant discharged 100,000 gallons of partially treated sewage into the Long Island Sound late Monday night into early Tuesday, the second time this month the plant had failed during heavy precipitation events, officials said.

Suffolk County warned residents to avoid contact with the water or fish in the area. The county had issued another health advisory on Nov. 16 for sewage discharge at Greenport's treatment plant after a snowstorm.

Greenport's village administrator, Paul Pallas, said by Tuesday afternoon the wastewater treatment plant was operating normally.

He noted the discharge, which began at 11:30 p.m. on Monday according to a state alert, came during a period of heavy rain and high tide conditions. He said the treatment plant and personnel functioned properly, but there was too much material coming in.

"It was the sheer volume," he said. "The amount of material coming through the plant was more than could be fully processed."

The village is working with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Suffolk County Department of Health to fix the problems, Pallas said. The village retained the firm J.R. Holzmacher, of Ronkonkoma, on Tuesday to investigate what went wrong, he said. There's no cost estimate for the contract at this time, village officials said.

"The first time was looked at as an anomaly, more than anything else. When it happened the second time, clearly we needed to do an investigation," Pallas said in an interview Wednesday.

The county health advisory followed a New York alert of the discharge "laden with activated sludge particles.... Activated sludge could potentially contain pathogenic organisms." 

The Suffolk County Health Department said residents and fishermen should avoid contact with waters from this portion of the Long Island Sound until conditions at the treatment facility improve.

 The DEC said in a statement that it is "working with the village to investigate these incidents and will take appropriate enforcement action if violations are found."

The area around the Greenport wastewater treatment facility,off Inlet Pond County Park in Greenport, is closed to shellfishing at all times by the DEC.

By David M. Schwartz

dschwar1@newsday.comschwartznewsNY

David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.