| Factual
Information Regarding
the SCWA Application to the NYS DEC
to Permit Use of the Lloyd Aquifer for Blending
- Why does SCWA need to apply to NYSDEC for
this?
- Why does SCWA need the Lloyd water?
- But isn’t that just making “dirty”
water a bit less dirty?
- Why doesn’t SCWA just clean up the
nitrates to begin with so they don’t have to remove
them at all?
- Why doesn’t SCWA filter the water
in the area to remove nitrates?
- OK, then why not pipe nitrate-free water
in from outside the Northport area?
- What happens now to the Lloyd water that
SCWA wants to use?
- How much water does the SCWA plan to pump
from the Lloyd Aquifer?
- What will the impact be on the aquifer?
- Some people, principally in Nassau County,
have expressed opposition to the SCWA application. Why?
- Will this well have any impact on Nassau
County’s water supply?
- Well, if there is no real impact, what
is the NYS DEC’s position on SCWA’s application?
- Doesn’t the SCWA just want to find
the cheapest way out of the problem? They have lots of money,
why don’t they just spend what’s required to
avoid using the Lloyd Aquifer?
- So let’s see if I have this straight
Q. Why does SCWA need to apply to
NYSDEC for this?
There has been a State moratorium since 1987 on the use of
this aquifer and it requires a specific application to waive
the moratorium. The SCWA and the VA Hospital in Northport
currently have a total of five wells drawing from the Lloyd
Aquifer. By contrast, water suppliers in Nassau County have
over 40 Lloyd Aquifer wells.
Q. Why does SCWA need the Lloyd
water?
The Lloyd water is needed in very small amounts to blend
with other water to reduce the nitrates in the drinking water
in the Northport / East Northport area to a level below the
10 parts per million (ppm) drinking water standard.
Q. But isn’t that
just making “dirty” water a bit less dirty?
Nitrates in drinking water are only potentially harmful
to infants before they have fully developed digestive tracts,
below six months of age. 10 ppm is a VERY conservative level
already (50 ppm is where potential harm can occur to infants).
Getting down below the standard by blending is a recommended,
reasonable and commonly accepted practice permitted by Health
regulators and employed by SCWA and many other water purveyors
on Long Island.
Q. Why doesn’t SCWA just clean
up the nitrates to begin with so they don’t have to
remove them at all?
The nitrates come from resident’s cesspools because
there are no sewers in the area. And, prior to that, nitrates
came from farm fertilizers. SCWA, as a public-benefit corporation,
does not control land use, has no regulatory powers, and cannot
plan and or construct sewers. These are tasks for government
to consider. We have proactively promoted environmentally
friendly lawn care to reduce fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide
use through award winning radio, television, print ads, and
on our website.
Q. Why doesn’t SCWA filter
the water in the area to remove nitrates?
This a very expensive process which SCWA has attempted at
a pump station off Larkfield Road in East Northport. It requires
a large area for additional buildings, a large capital investment
and large ongoing operational costs. For local neighboring
residents, it also will mean 7,000-gallon diesel powered tractor-trailer
tanker trucks (and the resultant air pollution) coming and
going from the area to dispose of the concentrated nitrates
that have been removed from the water. The concentrated nitrates
will have to be trucked to the Bergen Point Sewer Plant, treated,
and then pumped into the ocean.
Q. OK, then why not pipe nitrate-free
water in from outside the Northport area?
Technically, this is possible, but additional large diameter
pipes would have to be laid at a cost exceeding a half-million
dollars per mile. Additional costs for right-of-way, booster
pumps to keep the pressure up in the hilly areas, more well
capacity outside the area, and unforeseen construction impediments
will drive that number up. There will also be the ongoing
costs of electricity (and the resultant air pollution created
to generate that electricity) to pump the water through the
pipeline. In addition, major roads and neighborhood streets
would have to opened while construction takes place creating
disruptions on major roads and in local neighborhoods.
Q. What happens now to the
Lloyd water that SCWA wants to use?
It just flows out into the Long Island Sound and mixes with
the salt water there.
Q. How much water does the SCWA
plan to pump from the Lloyd Aquifer?
Our application with the DEC is for a 300 gallon per minute
well. On average, we will pump about 100 gallons per minute.
Our typical Magothy well comparatively, draws about 1,500
gallons per minute.
Q. What will the impact be on the
aquifer?
There will be minimal impact at the well head (draw down)
but no impact on the Lloyd Aquifer overall. Over 8,000,000
gallons of water enter the Lloyd Aquifer in the Huntington
area each day through normal recharge, far more than the 500,000
gallons we plan to withdraw each day. By contrast, Nassau
County Lloyd aquifer wells withdraw approximately 12,000,000
gallons of water each day of the 14,000,000-gallon daily recharge.
Q. Some people, principally in
Nassau County, have expressed opposition to the SCWA application.
Why?
There is a belief that if this application is approved that
it will “open the door” to other applications
to drill into the Lloyd Aquifer. This is of particular concern
for those Nassau County communities that rely solely upon
the Lloyd Aquifer for their water because their Magothy Aquifer
(the aquifer above the Lloyd) is polluted from over pumping
which has resulted in saltwater intrusion. The truth is that
each application to drill any well must be reviewed and approved
by the DEC on its individual merits. Approval of our permit
will not “open the door” as some individuals have
suggested.
Q. Will this well have any impact
on Nassau County’s water supply?
Absolutely not. Scientific studies done by the United States
Geological Survey (USGS) show that there will be no impact
on Nassau County’s water supply in any way.
Q. Well, if there is no real impact,
what is the NYS DEC’s position on SCWA’s application?
A. They support it! The hearings that are about to take
place are required by law, so public comments can be made,
not because the DEC thinks our application is a bad idea.
Q. Doesn’t the SCWA just
want to find the cheapest way out of the problem? They have
lots of money, why don’t they just spend what’s
required to avoid using the Lloyd Aquifer?
A. Sometimes drinking water solutions ARE expensive and
the SCWA does what is necessary and ALL ratepayers must share
the burden. When unnecessary restraints are imposed on the
SCWA operations, expensive alternative solutions must be found.
However, in accordance with current policy, the SCWA will
not require all ratepayers to pay the price. The burdens will
have to be shouldered by the customers in the effected Northport
area only, because the SCWA exists only through the sale of
water, and water treated in such an extraordinary and unnecessary
manner will be substantially more expensive.
Q. So let’s see if I have
this straight:
1) The NYS DEC supports the SCWA’s application to withdraw
up to 300 gallon of water per minute from the Lloyd Aquifer
at its Middleville Road well field in East Northport.
2) The SCWA needs this small amount of water to blend with
water from its Magothy wells at this site to reduce the level
of nitrates entering the public water supply.
3) Blending of water to reduce nitrate levels is a common
practice and is the recommended way to reduce nitrates in
the water supply.
4) The SCWA has explored other alternatives including the
construction of nitrate removal plants and aqueducts and has
determined that these are not cost-effective alternatives
and present environmental and safety issues themselves.
5) The USGS and SCWA scientific studies have determined that
there will be no impact to the Lloyd Aquifer other than normal
draw down seen at any well site.
6) If this well is not put into use, the water that would
be withdrawn is just going to flow out into the Long Island
Sound anyway.
7) Withdrawing this water will not pollute the aquifer with
saltwater.
8) The proposed Middleville well into the Lloyd Aquifer will
have no impact on Nassau County and is over nine miles from
the Nassau County border.
9) If the SCWA is denied this application, we will have no
alternative but to either construct water mains and/or nitrate
removal plants and pass these extraordinary costs along to
the customers in the immediate area through increased water
rates in the form of a surcharge.
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