Letters

Better Use of Money, Space

Dear Editor,

The Suffolk County Water Authority has decided that its property on Division Street should not be used as a vehicle impound yard because of the threat of polluting our aquifer, the very reason the proposed location in the Long Pond Greenbelt is not suitable.

Clearly in order to protect our aquifer and the fragile Long Pond Greenbelt, the impound yard project needs to be rejected. If Sag Harbor Village refuses to share an already existing impound yard in neighboring villages, their existing impound site can certainly be reorganized with a little ingenuity. After all, the village claims to only have 2-3 cars at time.

If the existing site is used, tens of thousands of dollars can be redirected for other important village projects such as updating septic systems, cleaning up Havens Beach, rehabilitating Long Wharf, or funding the John Steinbeck Park.

Sincerely,

Dai Dayton, President

Sandra Ferguson, Vice President

Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt

Consider Other Sites

Dear Kathryn,

As a fourth generation resident of Sag Harbor, I have been very disturbed by the planned impound yard near the delicate wetlands and habitat of the Long Pond Greenbelt. These ponds are critical to our drinking water, the integrity of the greenbelt ecosystems and the habitat of countless species.

My grandparents Anna and Daniel Mulvihill, my aunt Dolores Zebrowski and my father William Mulvihill protected and safeguarded their nearby properties for these very reasons for most of a century. It is unconscionable to pave the imperiled greenbelt site for the storage of impounded vehicles. The inevitable leaking fluids along with frequent vehicular activity and disruption that would occur would fundamentally change the site forever.

Our family is heartened that Mr. Jeff Szabo, Executive Director of the Suffolk County Water Authority has offered to discuss a reasonable alternative to damaging the threatened wild land of the greenbelt. Consideration of the SCWA property is the right thing to do. It is closer to the police station and may well be the most intelligent choice.

Arguments that prior pollution at any site should deem it irrevocably unsuitable for wildness are not based on evidence-based science or knowledge of ecological principles. When our very drinking water is involved, that ignorance has consequences that should trouble every single resident of Sag Harbor and Bridgehampton.

Mary Ann Mulvihill-Decker

Sag Harbor

Time to Monitor Mine

Dear Editor,

In June, 2018 the Suffolk County Health Department released a thorough and extensive report on contamination in the groundwater beneath the Sand Land Mine in Noyac. Excessive iron, manganese, radioactive chemicals, carcinogens and pesticides were found above drinking water standards in our sole-source aquifer.   The aquifer supplies water to everyone on the East End.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Kenneth LaValle introduced legislation which allows local governments to adopt and enforce laws that require “the monitoring of groundwater impacts resulting from mining or the reclamation of mines within counties with a population of one million or more which draw their primary source of drinking water for a majority of county residents from a designated sole source aquifer.” Governor Cuomo signed this into law recently.

Now it is time for the Town of Southampton to demand that continuous  monitoring wells be installed beneath the Sand Land Mine and all industrial waste processing sites under the jurisdiction of Southampton. Lycemeters should also be required. Lycemeters test water as it is filtering down through soil and could identify contamination before it gets to our water supply. The Bridge Golf Course was required by Southampton Town to have the groundwater tested biannually and to install lycemeters. This active monitoring verifies that the golf course is not contaminating our groundwater. So why shouldn’t the adjacent property, the Sand Land Mine, be held to the same standards, especially since the health department found that the processing of wastes has contamination groundwater beneath the mine?

John & Maryann Arendt

Noyac

Wrong Again, Gladly

Dear Editor:

I would guesstimate that I have been lucky enough to see 30-plus plays and musicals at the Pierson Middle School and High School. And every few years I think to myself as I sit in the audience“This is the best one they have ever done. They can never top this one.”  And then every few years they prove me wrong. The production of Willy Wonka just did it again!

The amount of talent, both on stage and behind the scenes we have at our school is incredible, especially for a district our size. The cast in Wonka is wonderful, which is great since it bodes well for the next four to seven years of productions. And behind the scenes the teachers, volunteers, administrators, etc. who work tirelessly on production after production never ceases to amaze with their creativity and sheer will power to produce the best show they can.

Thank you to all involved, and I look forward to being proved wrong again and again!

Kathleen Mulcahy

Sag Harbor

Airport is an Environmental Risk

Dear Editor:

As one who has been advocating closure of East Hampton Airport for years, and co-founder of SAY NO TO KHTO, it is encouraging to see “Airport Closure Put On The Table” on the front page of your February 7 edition. However, at this point SAY NO is far less concerned about noise pollution (as awful as that is), and far more concerned about the egregious impacts of the massive carbon pollution generated annually by airport operations. The same day as your article, there was yet another front page one in the New York Timesdetailing accelerating global warming, and noting the huge factor of man-made carbon emissions. Forget about noise — the airport should be closed because it is an inexcusable environmental nightmare.

Barry Raebeck

Wainscott