Suffolk raps East Hampton for digging sump

Suffolk County has put East Hampton Town on notice that it plans to sue the municipality for digging a drainage sump that allegedly destroyed two acres of farmland the county holds the development rights on.

The county has also gotten a stop-work order preventing the town from continuing "the unlawful excavation of topsoil," according to County Executive Steve Bellone.

No cost figures were given for the alleged damage.

The town had been digging a drainage sump to deal with a decade-old flooding problem on Sulky Court, a small street south of East Hampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike and east of Stephen Hands Path.

"Maybe the county should put out a press release on its deficit, rather than harass a town which is basically trying to give needed relief to a neighborhood in stress at times of flooding," snapped East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson. "Pools have collapsed, basements have collapsed, people can't get into their homes in times of flooding."

The town and county have discussed the problem for two years, Wilkinson added.

The drainage sump is part of a 40-acre farm on which the county owns the development rights. The property owner gave the town an easement to remove the dirt, sand and clay, Wilkinson said.

The county contends there were cheaper and more environmentally sound ways to deal with the flooding, such as terracing farmland or plowing in a different direction.

Pall TeNyenhuis, district manager of the Suffolk County Soil and Water Conservation District, said neither the town nor the county can force a farmer to take those actions.

Legis. Jay Schneiderman (I-Montauk) said that while the town could legally dig a sump, the first step is securing a permit from the county and getting clear title to the land."It's kind of complicated," he said.