Public Water and a Facility Funded by Public Dollars: The Public has a Right to Know

In light of the Department of Environmental Conservation and Suffolk County notices to the East Hampton Town Board regarding violations at the East Hampton Scavenger Waste facility, and the town board’s reluctance to discuss this matter in public, the following message (for public consumption) is directed to the town board. PLEASE DO NOT make any long-term decisions regarding the above-mentioned facility until the new year- and the new board arrives. I’ve learned that you have been granted an extension of time to present your answer to the DEC of how you plan to come into compliance at the facility with current rules and regulations. Good thing you now have until December to submit your plans.

Funny though- when I requested this information from East Hampton Town under the Freedom of Information Law, I received NO response. Obviously this information is available elsewhere....but why do I have to go outside my town board to get it? The plan of action you must formulize consists of complex engineering, in order to bring the facility up to date and into compliance, which you should be well aware of. Whom are you looking to for help in this matter? I hope you plan to seek assistance from engineers skilled in wastewater treatment facilities.

Although you have until December to come up with a plan, you do not have until December to continue exceeding allowable discharges of pollutants. Even though you were granted an extension of time to submit a plan, you do know that fines could be levied (daily) if you continue to run under non-compliance, right?

You should avoid making long-term decisions based on politics, power, or pressure, and utilize the precautionary principal. Please exercise patience as you contemplate an issue that will affect current and future generations. You must commence environmental testing at the facility. For starters, you could utilize the test wells on site to start an investigation.

Why is the board resistant to environmental testing? Are you afraid you might uncover some damage to the ecosystem- to the soil and the water? Well then, even more reason to commence testing, one would think. If there are problems at the site- let’s not ignore them- but rather do all we can to find a solution. The past may have excuses for their misguided decisions- if they did not know the harm that was inflicted by their actions- who can blame them? Now that we know the consequences of our actions- to this blue planet and the inhabitants- there is no excuse to not act. Not anymore.

This matter is not the same old (election) issues of budgets, development, the leaf program, and promises. This is a decision that will affect the tax-base as well as one of our most precious natural resources- the public water supply. This finite resource is irreplaceable, our sole source, and may be in jeopardy due to the Scavenger Waste Facility. Water is a necessity for life. Need I say more? Ok-I will.

The water we have is millions of years old and the Earth repeatedly cycles this antique resource. Only about 3 percent of all the water on Earth is fresh, and of that, almost 70 percent is locked up in glaciers. Less than 1 percent of usable freshwater is readily accessible to humanity. This means that about 0.007 percent of all water on earth is available for human consumption. Water -water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Millions of people are facing water shortages, and millions more will suffer the same fate in the coming years.

The water resource we have below the Scavenger Waste Facility deserves decisions to be made by people who care about its health and future existence. You might decide to contract with the current managers of the facility on a month-to-month basis. Doing so may allow the incoming board time to research possibilities for the future of the facility. This is not a simple subject - and your fiduciary duties should not be taken lightly. You should call in experts- engineers skilled in wastewater treatment facilities- to assist the Board in the decision making process-in a format open to the public. Repeat- OPEN to the PUBLIC.

This concerns public water and a facility funded by public dollars: The million or so dollars you spend on this facility each year is OUR dollars-and affects OUR water. The public has a right to know. This concerns us all. I am sure we all understand the magnitude of this issue- and that any decisions made will influence the future of the groundwater and the surrounding area.

Another idea is decommissioning the antiquated plant. May very well  be cost effective and environmentally correct. Just a thought. The consequences of your decisions must be positive, if you plan to lead East Hampton on a path to a sustainable future. Please step outside the box.