A critical state action to protect Long Island drinking water

The successful culmination of a yearslong campaign by civic groups and environmentalists to shut down a Noyack sand mine is good news for two reasons. Not only did the state Department of Environmental Conservation stop Sand Land Corp. from further polluting groundwater, the agency also put other bad actors on notice that these actions will no longer be tolerated.

With no more sand to mine under its permit and its earlier request to expand rejected by the DEC, Sand Land was using the mine for large-scale mulching and composting, which is known to cause metals in the soil underneath to leach into groundwater. Worse, Sand Land is in a state-designated Special Groundwater Protection Area. After persistent Suffolk County Department of Health officials gained access to the mine, well tests detected levels of manganese, ammonia, alpha radiation and iron exceeding drinking-water standards — especially manganese, which can cause neurological disorders.

Now Sand Land must devise a reclamation plan to return the land to its natural state, a process the state must tightly monitor. But the essential message already has been delivered: No one has the right to pollute our precious aquifer. — The editorial board