Letters

It’s all about the water, but not just sewers. The establishment of the Westhampton Beach sewer system is cited in support of Mayor Maria Moore’s candidacy for town supervisor, and rightly so, but it’s not the whole story on water.

The water quality achievements of Southampton’s Democrats in town government are many and impressive. A Coastal Waters and Resource Protection Plan was adopted in 2016. Numerous water quality grants have been made, including $134,000 to Southampton Village for Lake Agawam remediation and $231,000 for stormwater reduction at Old Towne Road; $547,000 for Sag Harbor’s water quality analysis and upgrades; $160,000 for a Stony Brook University study to evaluate treatment systems and cut nitrogen discharges in half; and, finally, $4,233,000 for the Westhampton Beach sewer project, which is expected to divert almost 5,000 pounds of nitrogen from Moniebogue Bay annually, thus reducing its nitrogen load by 24 percent.

These accomplishments are striking, but they’re still not the whole story. Apart from grants, all of which have met their goals, the Town Board has mandated new septic systems on all new construction projects and adopted a sewage rebate program to help residents upgrade existing systems. Conscious that water quality is a significant public health matter, Southampton Democrats have urgently delivered potable water and installed public water connections to communities with contaminated private wells.

There’s a very important economic aspect to all this as well. It’s become an accepted truth that in Southampton, the environment is the economy and the economy is the environment. It’s equally accepted that water quality is a vital component of environmental health and beauty. This being so, the Democratic town government is supporting our economy and keeping it strong by paying close attention to the state of our water.

If we care about Southampton’s water, and we should, it makes sense to support the team with a proven record on water quality: Maria Moore for supervisor, Bill Pell and Michael Iasilli for Town Council, and the five candidates for Town Trustee: Matt Parsons, Margaret Friedlander, Rainbow Chavis, Daniel Van Arsdale and Joseph McLoughlin.

Election Day is on November 7 this year. Don’t forget these folks.

George Lynch

Quiogue

Lynch is communications chair for the Southampton Democratic Committee — Ed.