Swimming, boating and fishing on Long Island may see stricter limits by DEC

Stricter rules that may limit when Long Islanders can swim, boat and fish were proposed by state environmental officials “to further protect public health” before summer when Nassau and Suffolk often shut dozens of beaches because too much bacteria might sicken people.

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos in a statement Wednesday said: the plan would "set more stringent limitations on certain bacteria to further help protect public health."

New York City’s antiquated wastewater plants overflow in rainstorms, releasing billions of gallons of raw sewage a year from about 400 coastal sites.

Runoff from suburban lawns and streets also sends pollutants, including nitrogen-rich fertilizers into Long Island Sound and Great South Bay, powering algae blooms.

The bacteria can cause gastrointestinal illness and other ailments, and infect eyes, ears, noses and throats. 

Officials with the DEC and several green groups did not offer analyses or say whether more beaches will be closed and shellfishing barred for any longer periods. Save the Sound, the nonprofit, said it needed time for review. The Suffolk County Department of Health in a statement explained it enforced state laws, adding it “is in discussions with NYSDOH and NYSDEC about the newly proposed amendments.” Nassau County did not respond.

“As with other states, it is expected that New York's rules will be consistent with the Clean Water Act," the U.S. EPA told Newsday. The EPA awaits New York's next phase. “We do not yet know the outcome for each water body yet.”

The new rules only cover saltwater “in and around New York City, Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley,” the DEC said, some parts of which are already under this regime.

The updates, the DEC said, “include new enterococci bacteria criteria,” to protect waters classified as SA and SB with lower standards for the SC class. 

Different bodies of water are classified by their use: A and B, for example, are fit for recreation, fishing and shellfishing. The letter S is saline.

The Class SC is “suitable for primary and secondary contact recreation, although other factors may limit the use for these purposes,” the DEC website says.

Primary contact is swimming; secondary contact is boating or fishing, which also can lead to illnesses if one capsizes and swallows water.

The new rules reflect what New Yorkers told the DEC about their swimming, sailing, and fishing. That inquiry, the program's first phase, began last July.

The proposed rules, which the public can comment on until June 20, are the second phase.

Phase three will reclassify how water bodies can best be used based on people's responses to last year's inquiry.

Public hearings are scheduled for June 13 and June 15 Details are at https://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/127310.html.