Connetquot River cleanup effort advances with plan for study, fixes

Suffolk County and the Long Island Regional Planning Council have kick-started plans to save Connetquot River from long-standing environmental issues, ranging from high bacteria levels to "harmful algal blooms," according to the council's latest project outline.

The Connetquot River covers 18 square miles in Islip Town, flowing into the Great South Bay between the hamlets of West Sayville and Great River. The LIRPC report last month describes the river as a tourism and outdoor recreation hub surrounded by swaths of protected land, including a nearly 3,500-acre preserve at its north bank that's named after the river.

Regional leaders agree the river has deteriorated.

The Connetquot has become "a disaster" over the past two decades, Suffolk County Legis. Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville) said in an interview. Among other issues, he added: wastewater seeping into the river spawned an uptick in bacteria and algae that kill other aquatic life, as well as present health risks for visitors.

The LIRPC, with county support, put out a call for companies last week to assess the river’s health and craft a blueprint for improving it. Local leaders hope the move marks the first major step toward reversing years of deterioration and saving the Connetquot from disaster.

"The health department hasn’t shut down the waterways. ... But we want to take the mitigating steps now before it gets to that point," Piccirillo said, adding that the study has been "a long time coming."

The consultant that wins the Connetquot River contract will be tasked with forming an advisory committee and conducting community outreach, analyzing the river's existing problems and creating a framework for tracking progress, as well as proposing projects aimed at reviving the body of water. 

Work on any proposed projects won’t start until well into the future, according to LIRPC chairman John Cameron, who said the current contract is just the beginning of a larger effort.

"One of my favorite lines is: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today," Cameron said in an interview. "This is our plan to start moving this forward to improve water quality and increase the opportunities here at Connetquot River."

Cameron said Suffolk County’s ongoing effort to phase out residential cesspools is primarily what jump-started the Connetquot cleanup.

Cesspools leak untreated liquid waste into the ground, which then seeps into the river and increases the water’s nitrogen content. That creates a surge in algae and bacteria — killing aquatic life by consuming the river’s oxygen, he said.

Newsday has reported that Suffolk County is pursuing a project to expand sewer access to homes in Oakdale along Connetquot River, which would eliminate the need for cesspools there. The project needs voter approval, but Piccirillo said it would be a key piece of reviving the river.

"With the sewer project and the study, I think combining those two issues is going to be a really big improvement once we’re able to locate exactly what we need to do to bring the Connetquot River back to life," he told Newsday.

Cameron said the river study will be bankrolled by state and county funds. Peter Guaraldi, a Suffolk County spokesman, said via email that $60,000 in county funds has been set aside for the study, although Cameron would not share the full expected cost because consultants have until Sept. 22 to submit their offers.

By Sam Kmack

sam.kmack@newsday.com

Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.