Illustration above, Fire Island communities invovled in the sewer study (Credit – Cameron Engineering & Citizens Campaign for the Environment)
Efforts to remediate Suffolk County’s wastewater problems have been as numerous as they are complex. Protection of the sole-source aquifer, mitigating groundwater contamination, preventing the loss of valuable tourism dollars, and revitalizing downtowns are just a few of the major objectives of multiple levels of local government.
However, one project fits squarely in the center of the wastewater Venn Diagram, and its inclusion has long eluded comprehensive county-wide plans.
At a Monday meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature’s Environment, Parks, and Agricultural Committee in Riverhead, the first sewage and wastewater study plan for Fire Island was presented and discussed.
Fire Island’s geography and culture is vastly different from that of the mainland. Small, rural communities dot the landscape between Brookhaven and Islip towns, while shallow, sandy terrain makes it difficult for comprehensive infrastructure. A low year-round population balloons to over two million throughout the summer season.
Fire Island is also nestled precariously between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay, presenting unique environmental risks if the current wastewater status continues unexplored.
The committee, chaired by Legislator Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville), heard the six-year long study presented by Cameron Engineering and the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. The plan has also had a vocal advocate and colleague in Legislator Steve Flotteron (R-Brightwaters), whose Islip-Babylon district encompasses more than half of the Fire Island communities included in the study.
The study’s objectives were stated as improving wastewater management on Fire Island, identifying wastewater treatment and disposal alternatives, improving water quality and public health, and developing a road map for planning and implementation.
“We had numerous Zoom meetings and in-person meetings to make sure that the Fire Island community was on board and that their voices were incorporated into this plan,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, adding that the firm found each community to be “unique” with “different issues, logistics, access, commercial avenues, and density lots.”
The communities involved in the study include the Villages of Saltaire and Ocean Beach, as well as the Islip communities of Kismet, Fair Harbor, Lonelyville, Dunewood, Atlantique, Robbins Rest, Corneille Estates, and the Brookhaven communities of Seaview, Ocean Bay Park, Point O’Woods, Cherry Grove, Fire Island Pines, Water Island, and Davis Park. The seventeen communities make up thirty-two miles of barrier beach, totalling about ten square miles altogether.
Currently, there is one wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), the plant in Ocean Beach. It treats 575 parcels and about 300 year-round residents.
“A lot of the on-site treatment systems consist of septic tanks and test pools,” said Stephen Hadjiyane, Associate Principal at Cameron Engineering. “We found that the uniform approach across all the communities just didn’t work. So, we looked at it from an island-wide approach and a community approach.”
Hadjiyane said that there are only about two dozen Innovative Alternative Wastewater (I/A) Systems on Fire Island. He added that existing septic systems overflow and that they have poor capabilities because of the high groundwater, which contributes to public health issues.
Parcel land use maps show that the Fire Island communities are incredibly dense, making for difficult installations of comprehensive wastewater systems.
Wastewater flows also show a large disparity between the winter and summer seasons, with 30,000 gallons of wastewater generated daily during the winter, and over one million gallons in the summer. Ocean Beach accounts for the lion’s share of off-peak season flow projections, sitting at about 71% of wastewater generated among the seventeen communities. Winter flow is calculated at 10% of the summer flow.
Summer flow balloons among nearly all communities, with Fire Island Pines generating the most wastewater at 22%.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this project are the varying logistical challenges, starting with access to Fire Island itself. Ferry access, although extensive, is seasonal. Bay Shore ferries service Kismet to Ocean Bay Park, Sayville ferries service Sailors Haven to Water Island, and Patchogue ferries service Davis Park to Watch Hill.
Apart from ferries, access to the mainland remains limited, with the only road connection being the Robert Moses Causeway at Captree Island and West Islip. William Floyd Parkway does connect parts of eastern Fire Island at Smith Point to the mainland, but that portion of the barrier island is separated from the western Fire Island communities by the Old Inlet in Bellport Bay.
Hadjiyane says that some communities have freight ferry docks, but access varies depending on the time of year and other construction projects. Size and weight limits are also in place by the Fire Island National Service (FINS). Additionally, freight and passenger dock capacities and access vary by community. Construction periods limited to the off-season leave a small window for work to be done.
Perhaps the most challenging point of access is the access to the communities themselves within Fire Island. Narrow roadways and boardwalks that connect the areas are often not suitable for heavy construction vehicles and equipment. Smaller vehicles are already required for transport in the communities, and all-terrain vehicles are often necessary for access to the more remote areas.
Specialized pump vehicles would have to be utilized, which would require multiple trips to the mainland to transport workers, equipment, and materials.
These challenges are what has led the involved parties to determine potential alternatives.
The first would be to expand the Ocean Beach WWTP, which Hadjiyane says is already operating well below its capacity. The plan already serves 575 parcels and has a permitted flow of 500,000 gallons per day. The plant has an excess capacity of 240,000 gallons, which could alleviate septic concerns for 1,130 parcels adjacent to the plant. The plan could take in eighty-five parcels in Atlantique, fifty-one in Robbins Rest, sixty-five in Summer Club, 442 in Seaview, and 393 in Ocean Bay Park.
The second alternative would be to use a central pump station and force main under the Great South Bay to the mainland. One connection could run from the western thirteen communities to the Suffolk County Sewer District (SCSD) 3 Interceptor, and another could run from Cherry Grove, Fire Island Pines, Davis Park, and Water Island to Patchogue to be tied to out-of-district connections.
Short-term solutions include I/A system installations where possible and other innovative technologies, such as compost toilets, incinerator toilets, and alternative leaching systems. The State Department of Health has approved gravelless leaching and absorption systems, as well as pressurized shallow drainfields (PSD).
Compost toilets are dry toilets that can reduce waste volume by 10% to 30%, resulting in nutrient-rich soil.
Incinerator toilets are self-contained units that burn waste at high temperatures. These can be used with electricity, fuel, oil, or liquid petroleum gas to incinerate waste into ash.
Gravelless leaching systems tend to be lighter and easier to handle than its counterparts, minimizing the need for heavy machinery which is already a logistical issue for Fire Island due to lack of access. The leaching systems allow effluent to come in contact with the materials, which then retain them until the soil absorbs the effluent.
PSDs use pressure instead of gravity to distribute wastewater after it has been treated by an I/A system. PSDs prevent clogging of biomat and evenly distributes and treats wastewater before it reaches the groundwater.
Hadjiyane says that since the National Park Service owns a significant amount of land on Fire Island, it gives the project added flexibility in exploring alternatives.
Esposito says that the county-led study shows that Fire Island contributes about 6% of the nitrogen emitted into the Great South Bay in off-peak season. Esposito posits that the number is higher during peak seasons, likely up to 20% to 30% of the nitrogen load.
“It’s when the water is the warmest, which means it fuels harmful algal blooms, that’s when people are in the bay, and that’s also when we’re trying to grow clams,” said Esposito. She also showed optimism for the feasibility studies, which would allow access to the $4.2 billion in the New York State Environmental Bond Act.
Majority Leader Nick Caracappa (C-Selden), Vice Chair of the Environment, Parks, and Agriculture Committee, and Chair of the Public Works Committee, said that he would like to see a dedicated pumping service on Fire Island and said that the options need to be “explored,” especially as they relate to potential roadway and boardwalk demolition to implement the systems.
Hadjiyane says that the full report includes studies of other barrier island communities, such as those in New England, to examine how they have handled similar wastewater concerns.
Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), shared concerns of Caracappa, citing that Fire Island’s status as a barrier island and as a sand wave is unique to the east coast.
“It’s a wave formed in motion, maintained by oceanic overwash. Without the overwash, the barrier will, over time, become non-viable,” said Englebright. “I compliment you for taking a hard look at a really, really difficult problem.”
Englebright added that he still has to read the full report, but that “building fixed infrastructure on a sand wave” does not “make a lot of sense.”
Legislator Piccirillo says that he is “concerned” about “disastrous decisions being made on the mainland” regarding development, further saying that the part of the south shore in his district – namely Bayport, Oakdale, Sayville, and West Sayville – feeling the overdevelopment on the mainland, as well as environmental problems in the bay from Fire Island.
Piccirillo questioned why the cap on the septic system is not enforced.
“Some of those homes [on Fire Island] on the [summer] weekends have twenty-seven people in them, and the toilets are overflowing. The water has to go somewhere,” said Hadjiyane.
“Every time we have any kind of weather event, the south shore beaches are closed for an indefinite amount of time, especially in Bayport and Sayville,” said Piccirillo. “And while I appreciate that tourists can go to Fire Island, have a great time, spend money, and help the economy on the mainland, we also have the people who pay a large amount of property taxes in Bayport and Sayville, sometimes higher than $30,000 a parcel, who can’t walk down to the beach when it rains because of bacteria levels.”
Piccirillo added that “we need to find the balance” of solving immediate concerns on Fire Island and long-term solutions to benefit all of Long Island.
