Wyandanch business district moves closer to county sewer hookup

The Wyandanch business district is one step closer to having sewers after a Suffolk County inspection of the new system last week.

Babylon Town has been working for more than a decade to install a sewer line down Straight Path. Sewer access is a component of the town's Wyandanch Rising redevelopment, a public and private effort to bring businesses and renters to the area near the Long Island Rail Road station. The town began construction on the sewer line in 2011.

At nearly 2 miles long, the line is expected to cost about $15 million, with the town using $13 million in federal low-interest financing for the project. The town made the first payment -- $68,565 -- on the 30-year loan in November. The next payment, due in May, is $619,749.

Rich Groh, Babylon Town's chief environmental analyst, said the inspection -- one of the final steps before the sewer system goes online -- went "very well." Groh said the county made some requests for additional work on the pump station located at Irving Avenue, such as installing a thermostat, along with some changes in cables and other parts.

"It was basic stuff, nothing earth shattering," he said. "In terms of the big picture, everything is operational, but there's still a few last items the county asked us to do and we've agreed to do them."

Groh estimated it will take another month to finish the work. He said an extension of the sewer line that runs to the town's ash-fill on Edison Avenue in West Babylon has been operational for months.

That smaller part of the line, which has its own pump station, takes on average 36,000 gallons of leachate per day from the ash-fill.