Work On East Quogue Water Main Projects Underway

Almost half of the 117 East Quogue homes eligible to attach to new Suffolk County Water Authority mains being installed in an area affected by contaminated drinking water wells, have signed up to have the Town of Southampton pay for the connection to the mains.

Southampton Town Deputy Supervisor Frank Zapone gave the news to Town Board members during a work session on Thursday, saying to get nearly a 50 percent response out of any effort is a really good response.

Work on the water main installation began in August, and since then, more residents have come forward and asked the town how they can connect to the new service.

In July, the Town Board authorized a $4 million project to fund 10,000 feet of water main extensions along William Street, West Side Avenue, Lakewood Avenue, Dogwood Street, Damascus Road, Quogue Riverhead Road, Lewis Road and First Place.

State lawmakers enacted legislation that permitted municipalities to use Community Preservation Fund money for water improvement projects pertaining to groundwater contaminated with perfluorinated chemicals, or PFOA and PFOS — extending the water mains fit within the scope.

Reports filed by both the State Department of Environmental Conservation and Suffolk County Department of Health services point to a former landfill at the end of Damascus Road in East Quogue and a former county-owned police kennel at Francis S. Gabreski Airport as contributors to contamination, although neither have been confirmed as the source of contaminants.

But because the residential neighborhoods are within close proximity to the two sites, the contaminants have infiltrated 70 of the 130 private drinking wells in East Quogue.

In order to provide drinkable water, the town is working with the Suffolk County Water Authority to extend the water mains to those properties with contaminated wells, and are offering to pay for the connection from the home to the main.

According to Mr. Zappone, the cost to connect each home ranges anywhere from $1,200 to $9,000.

So far, the town has approved applications totaling $128,000 and $45,000 has been reimbursed to the residents to connect.

He also said as work continues to take place on the water mains, more and more residents are inquiring about how they can get connected.

“The first step is connecting with the water authority, and then the resident contacts the town,” Mr. Zappone said.

He added that residents want to know when they are going to be connected, but the town has no control over the scheduling because the SCWA is doing the work — it is up to them to notify residents when they are going from one road to the next.