Glen Cove to spend nearly $800G for water treatment plant upgrades
A water treatment station on Seaman Road in Glen Cove, as seen here on Tuesday. The facility is set for nearly $800,000 in upgrades to help the city comply with state and federal treatment standards. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Glen Cove will spend nearly $800,000 to repair a water treatment system that can remove "forever chemicals," city officials said.
The Glen Cove City Council recently approved a $776,000 payment for repairs to filters at a facility on Seaman Road.
The granulated activated carbon filter system is designed to capture and treat polyfluoroalkyl substances — known as PFAS or “forever chemicals” — that affect water sources. The updates will bring the systems into compliance with state and federal treatment standards.
New York's limit for PFAS in drinking water is 10-parts-per-trillion. The state also has a 1-part-per-billion requirement for 1,4-dioxane, a chemical considered to be a likely human carcinogen.
In April 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set a 4-parts-per-trillion drinking water standard for PFAS, which was set to go into effect in 2029. Last year, the Trump Administration postponed the deadline until 2031.
Granulated activated carbon filters can eliminate PFAS — making them effective for meeting regulatory standards, said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
“Right now, the greatest challenge is PFAS and 1,4 Dioxane,” Esposito said in an interview. “And the filtration systems are all costly.”
The city will need to spend millions in the coming years to comply with the regulations. Upgrades to additional water treatment facilities are likely to exceed $40 million by 2029, said Mike Yeosock, the city’s public works director.
Glen Cove is close to finishing a $2.6 million project to rehabilitate a well on Nancy Court, said city spokeswoman Roni Jenkins. The city is in the design phase of an $11 million project to treat forever chemicals at that property.
The city also expects to start an $11.5 million project to bolster PFAS treatment at a well on Kelly Street later this year. Glen Cove recently started a $16.8 million project at its Duck Pond well station, she said.
The Seaman Road station was taken offline around 2010. Glen Cove spent about $6.3 million to restore service there, Jenkins said. The station is currently complying with regulations “but was getting up close to the federal guidelines,” Yeosock said in an interview.
The city serves about 10,000 customers, Yeosock said. Glen Cove has received several grants to finance the upgrades. A $3 million grant will fund a new packed tower aeration system — designed to remove Freon 22 — at its facility off Duck Pond Road, Newsday has reported.
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