Suffolk mulls need for sewers vs. cost

Concerns about the damage a lack of sewers can do to Long Island's groundwater and the benefit of sewers to propel economic growth are at the crux of an effort to study how Suffolk County can add them in the face of high costs.

"It's a difficult topic, but it's something we have to address," said Suffolk Legis. Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon), who spoke about the matter Tuesday at a meeting of the Long Island Regional Planning Council at Republic Airport in Farmingdale. The meeting was held at Molloy College's satellite campus.

Horsley, the legislature's deputy presiding officer, sponsored legislation that created the "Blue Ribbon Sewer Panel" recently. He is also on the panel, which includes other legislators and sewer and water experts.

Horsley told council members that getting a handle on the sewer issue was important for environmental and economic reasons. And many council members agreed.

Yet, Horsley said, "The bottom line is we don't have the money. How do we get there?"

He said the panel was studying whether establishing a single county sewer district could create the "economy of scale that would bring down the sticker price" -- around $2 billion to expand sewers in Babylon and Islip towns alone, for example.

At about $9,000 to $12,000 on average per residence to connect to a sewer system, he said, "It's beyond the capacity of most citizens to pay for it."

"We need to deal with the high sticker price to install sewers in a locality," Horsley said.

To that point, Sean Walter, Riverhead Town supervisor, who is also a member of the regional planning council, said the $18 million cost of upgrading the town's sewer system to meet new federal standards was also too burdensome.

Despite the costs, Horsley suggested something needs to be done to establish more sewers, noting 70 percent of Suffolk, which has a population of around 1.5 million people, does not have sewers. There was concern that septic systems were polluting the region's underground aquifer.

And as for the economy, Horsley and council members said having more sewers could aid the development of housing and business projects.

Horsley said that, while the answers are not clear at this point, "there are a lot of things out there we should we looking at," adding, it was important to "our environment and economic future."