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Suffolk County directs $10 million grant to Patchogue sewer expansion

Jane Montalto
/
WSHU

Suffolk County and Village of Patchogue officials announce Monday a $10 million grant that will be used towards sewer expansion for local homes.

It’s an expansion of the current $22 million Patchogue River Watershed Sewer Project, which is getting rid of outdated cesspools and septic systems for about 240 homes. The $10 million grant is being funded by Suffolk County’s Wastewater Infrastructure Fund, and will be used to connect an additional 100 homes to the downtown sewer system.

“What you see happening in Patchogue is about partnerships. Partnerships with the county, county legislators and the town,” Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri said.

Pontieri said the nitrogen waste that comes from these outdated wastewater systems plays a huge role in the pollution of the Great South Bay.

“When we are polluting our waterways, we are literally choking off our future,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said during the announcement outside in a residential Patchogue neighborhood. Officials stood beside workers from Pioneer Asphalt Paving who were actively digging into the ground for the project.

Jane Montalto
/
WSHU

By updating these systems, the project will reduce nitrogen discharge that feeds into local waters by 2,500 every year.

“We know that for decades we have been negatively impacting water quality, and all of us here understand how important water quality is to the future of our region,” Bellone added. “It is everything, it is our quality of life. It's our heritage, our economy.”

Legislators emphasized that sewer infrastructure is not a partisan issue. They said they felt the importance of water quality superseded politics.

“We have to leave this world in a better place in which we found it,” said Legislator Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue). “We have to protect our waters. We are an island of fishermen, an island of beachgoers. We have to make sure that the water that comes from our faucets are clean. We have to make sure that our children are protected.”

“This is a great day for Suffolk County. This is a great day for the village of Patchogue. This is a great day for all of us here who care about the future of this region,” added Bellone.

Jane Montalto is a former news intern at WSHU.