EDITORIAL: Suffolk cesspool mess deserves serious attention

It's not news that cesspools aren't the ideal way to dispose of human waste. No one really wants all that nasty stuff percolating downward into our drinking water and fouling our bays. So a new report on cesspool-related pollution is a valuable reminder that we must start doing something about it soon.

The report from Peconic Baykeeper, a nonprofit whose role is to protect our South Shore and Peconic Bay, details the levels of nitrogen pollution moving from cesspools through the groundwater and into the bays. That leads to such environmental problems as algae blooms and fish kills.

In Suffolk, the cesspool problem is worse than in Nassau, because much of Nassau is served by sewers, which do a much better job of cleaning up waste. In contrast, about 80 percent of Suffolk residences depend on cesspools. Suffolk could require the use of more efficient cesspool systems, either for new homes only or for all homes, but that would be hugely expensive. But because of the federal decision to stop funding the bulk of sewer construction, major sewer expansion in Suffolk is a nonstarter - and that's before you get to memories of the widespread Southwest Sewer District corruption scandal.

Still, Suffolk, which is updating its comprehensive water plan, must address this issue aggressively. The health of the bays is vital not only to our tourism and fishing industries, but to our very identity. We cannot let our waste kill them. hN