Hempstead's planned water treatment plant gets $1 million federal boost

The planned water treatment plant for Hempstead Village will be getting a $1 million federal funding infusion, Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) announced Tuesday.

The federal money will pay a small piece of the roughly $55 million project, which village officials expect will begin construction in the spring.

“Hempstead families have relied on this plant where we're standing right here, which is one of the oldest plants in the entire region, for more than 100 years,” Gillen said at a news conference with Hempstead Village Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. at the treatment plant. “After local officials found alarming levels of cancer-causing PFAS in the drinking water, the need for federal help was not just necessary, it was urgent.”

Gillen said the village has long suffered from “legacy water contamination,  crumbling infrastructure and unacceptable water quality that has long been ignored by the federal government.”

Newsday previously reported the village has been out of compliance with state 1,4 dioxane standards since at least 2021.

In 2024, the state awarded the project $37.2 million in funding and Nassau County approved $1.75 million in pandemic funds as well. Gillen said her office is seeking additional grants for the project to lessen the burden on the village to make up for the funding shortfall.

The state in 2020 set new drinking water standards for emerging contaminants, including PFAS and 1,4 dioxane, which are linked to potential health risks. Those standards have spurred projects across Long Island to upgrade water facilities. The new plant will meet those metrics and also remove high levels of iron in the water, according to village officials.

“We're rehabbing this whole facility to not just address one issue when it comes to delivering quality water for the residents of Hempstead, it's addressing all issues,” Hobbs said.

Water plant superintendent Steve Giardino told Newsday construction will take three to four years.

One of the reasons construction will take a long time is "because we have to keep the system running while they do the construction,” Giardino said. “So it's going to be in phases. We're going to take certain things out of operation while keeping other things in operation as they come online.”

The village is also waiting for approvals from the county, state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before construction can begin, Giardino said. A new filtration building will be built on what is now the facility’s parking lot, and a new underground storage tank will also be built, he said.