The Suffolk County Health Department this week released a much anticipated comprehensive action plan for addressing the epidemic of harmful algae blooms. The plan calls for an extensive overhaul of residential and commercial septic systems, new scrutiny and regulation of the use of agricultural and residential fertilizers, and the advancement of projects to filter nitrogen-laden groundwater, boost natural nutrient filtration by shellfish, and increase public understanding of the negative impacts of failing septics and the over-use of fertilizers.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced the release of the Suffolk County Harmful Algal Bloom Action Plan on Monday, calling the guidebook a critical strategic component to reining in the epidemic of algae blooms that have plagued Long Island’s tidal waters and freshwater bodies with increasing frequency, variety and severity since the mid 1980s.
“More frequent harmful algal blooms, fish kills and beach closures are all stark reminders of the water quality crisis Long island is facing, and the importance of having government on all levels, scientists and academia working as a team to develop science-based solutions,” Mr. Bellone said in a statement released in conjunction with the public announcement on Monday. “Now, thanks to our work with New York Sea Grant and the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Suffolk County has the very first comprehensive strategy ever developed to begin addressing the challenges of harmful algal blooms at a time when the federal government is poised to provide funding for that purpose.”
The U.S. Senate is currently considering a budget proposal for $110 million in federal funding to combat harmful algae blooms. The proposal, which would earmark $22 million in funding per year for five years, was introduced by a senator from Florida, but New York Senator Chuck Schumer has pledged to make sure that some of the funding is directed to Long Island as well.
At the top of the county action plan’s recommendations is the already ongoing effort to overhaul septics county-wide. The county and all five East End towns have already begun implementing septic replacement programs for private single-family homes, which scientists have identified as being the largest source of nitrogen leaching into tidal waters and freshwater ponds.
The plan also calls for the county to explore changes to its current regulations on the use of fertilizers at residential properties to reduce the amount of nitrogen that is carried into water bodies in storm runoff and groundwater leaching. Better stewardship of agricultural lands, mainly through the implementation of an agricultural management plan developed by the county in 2016, is also recommended.
Additionally, the plan calls for expanding public outreach and education about the harms of nitrogen, exploring the nitrogen filtering potential of large-scale shellfish farming in local bays, better real-time monitoring and tracking of algae blooms around the Island and the support of localized strategies to address “sub-watershed” pollution around specific water bodies—like one now under way at Georgica Pond in East Hampton, which the county plan highlighted as a model for other areas.
on Sep 26, 2017