The Suffolk County Legislature has approved a $10 million grant program to help homeowners pay for new septic systems as part of an effort to combat nitrogen levels in the water.
The new program will give about 400 homeowners a year grants to convert their old cesspools into new septic systems.
Presiding officer of the county legislature, Duwayne Gregory, says the program will give priority to homes with issues of nitrogen overload.
“It shows government trying to do all it can to protect our environment and provide a very much needed opportunity for those families that live in these critical areas.”
Suffolk has hundreds of thousands of cesspools, which have led to high levels of nitrogen contamination in the county’s water.
Homeowners who earn less than $300,000 a year can apply for grants up to $11,000.