FEMA aid for Stony Brook dam repairs unlikely, local officials say, as they consider what's next

A Stony Brook nonprofit and elected officials in Brookhaven Town and Head of the Harbor are weighing their next steps after state officials signaled financial aid to replace a dam destroyed in an August 2024 storm would not be approved by federal authorities.

Plans to reconstruct the dam, and rebuild a section of Harbor Road that runs over it, likely do not fit criteria used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine eligibility for disaster aid, officials of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services said during a December meeting to discuss the matter, according to officials who attended.

“We were all shocked to hear that,” Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico, who attended the Dec. 10 meeting, said Monday in a telephone interview. He added he is seeking additional meetings with state and federal officials to discuss FEMA disaster aid for the dam project.

Rebuilding efforts have largely stalled since the dam and a 100- to 200-foot section of Harbor Road collapsed in a torrential Aug. 18-19, 2024, rainstorm that caused millions of dollars in damage across the North Shore from Huntington to Shoreham.

The dam collapse caused a pond to drain out, killing hundreds of fish and destroying a major tourism draw in the heart of Stony Brook.

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization, the Stony Brook nonprofit that owns the park where the dam, road and pond are located, and officials in Brookhaven Town and Head of the Harbor village are asking FEMA to reimburse 75% of the reconstruction cost. Estimates have ranged from $4.5 million to $10 million.

State homeland security officials at the December meeting said the dam repairs likely do not qualify for FEMA aid because the dam serves no public purpose, such as by generating electricity or collecting water that can be used to fight fires, Panico and Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky said in separate interviews this week. The state agency helps determine eligibility for FEMA disaster relief funds.

State officials said they would instead recommend a culvert, which would allow water to pass under Harbor Road, but would not block the flow of water to restore the pond, Panico and Utevsky said.

Utevsky, who also attended the meeting, said he was puzzled by state officials' insistence on building a culvert. 

“We could build a road over a culvert, but not a road over a dam,” Utevsky said Tuesday in a phone interview. “These requirements sound extremely byzantine.”

In a statement Wednesday, state homeland security officials did not address the December meeting and said the agency "has not received an application for a project centered on dam repairs, but remains committed to assisting WMHO in moving the process forward."

FEMA did not respond to requests for comment.

A squabble between Brookhaven, Head of the Harbor and Ward Melville Heritage Organization over who owns the dam and road has been resolved, and the nonprofit agreed to lead reconstruction and seek FEMA funds, Panico said.

The state's determination that FEMA reimbursement appeared unlikely was "very frustrating for everybody," Ward Melville Heritage Organization president Gloria Rocchio said Tuesday in a phone interview. The nonprofit has asked the state agency to reconsider, she added.

In a Dec. 23 letter to state homeland security officials, Linda U. Margolin, an attorney for the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, said the dam is inextricably linked to Stony Brook's historic grist mill, which has been closed to visitors because of minor damage caused by the storm.

Margolin wrote that the grist mill appears to be eligible for federal funds but cannot operate properly if the dam is not rebuilt.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.