There is little to no doubt that the most pressing question ahead of next month’s elections is that of water quality, namely how it relates to Suffolk County’s handling of the issue.
Since Suffolk County is built on sand and groundwater, which is our sole-source aquifer, the county’s approach must be mindful of different stakeholders and methodical when it comes to funding, planning, execution, and long-term effects.
This summer, the Republican caucus of the Suffolk County Legislature came under intense fire for their dissatisfaction with a “sewer bill” that was presented to them after a long crafting period in Albany. As advertised, the bill would have instituted an eighth-cent sales tax increase to fund future sewer projects as well as create a county-wide sewer district. Republicans expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of earmarks for sewer installation, as well as protection for said earmarks, and further scrutinized the lopsided figures – no less than 75% of funds – earmarked for Innovative and Alternative Wastewater Management (I/A) Systems.
The Democratic Party has been relentless in their campaign attacks against Republicans, branding them as “anti-clean water” and “anti-environment.”
But a further look at the bills, and a true deep-dive necessary to fully understand the generational problem of water quality in Suffolk County, shows that the aforementioned explanation is demagoguery at worst and oversimplification at best.
The Messenger sat down with County Legislator Nick Caracappa (C-Selden) for said deep-dive to truly understand the logistics surrounding this issue.
Flawed Legislation
“This entire piece of legislation is fundamentally flawed,” says Caracappa. “And once that came to light, I could no longer support it and neither could my colleagues, nor should anybody who truly has an understanding of what this legislation is about. There are multiple issues with this bill. The bill holds no water.”
Caracappa’s main objection with the bill is the eighth-cent sales tax that is said to create the funds necessary for the wastewater overhaul. The problem, however, according to Caracappa and the Republicans in the Legislature, is that the math is “creative” and misleading.
“The bill allocates amounts from the revenue collected from this eighth-of-a-cent sales tax, the creation of a new sales tax, with no less than 75% of the funds to be allocated for Innovative Alternative Wastewater (I/A) systems – which rounds out to about 67% when administrative costs are accounted for,” says Caracappa. “The rest of the money after planning, development, fees, and other costs, would go to sewers. That number got knocked down to around $12 million for sewers once all was said and done. I understand how important it is to protect our sole source aquifer. I worked for the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) for thirty-four years.”
Caracappa says that the numbers are “completely false.”
“They incorporated the creation of an eighth-cent sales tax in addition to the existing quarter-cent sales tax that’s going to water quality,” says Caracappa. “They added funds from the Assessment Stabilization Reserve Fund (ASRF), but said the total funds for sewers were coming only from the eighth-cent sales tax increase. It was completely dishonest. I would say, put the eighth-cent sales tax by itself on the ballot. Put the quarter-cent that’s already working on a separate measure. Why would you want a sales tax that’s already working to go down with the creation of a new sales that most people are going to be against? The creation of the eighth-cent sales tax for this resolution would generate next to nothing in sewer infrastructure.”
Caracappa also says that while I/A Systems are not unnecessary, they’re not the immediate answer and the portions of funding in the bill do not accurately reflect current demand.
“We could have adjusted the percentages for I/A systems from 75% to at least 50-50,” says Caracappa. “In 2021, we had $1.5 million in grant funding to go to anyone in Suffolk County who wanted to install an I/A system in their home. I was opposed to it because it’s not the immediate solution to our wastewater problems. I said to put the $1.5 million into sewer infrastructure where it’s needed. It passed 12-6 in the Legislature. Will I/A Systems be needed in the future? Absolutely. I was all in for I/A money in the current bill until I read the earmarks.”
Of the 2021 grant funding for I/A systems, Caracappa says that of the $1.5 million allocated, only $90,000 only ended up being used.
“The $1.4 million was left on the table and the money expired because of lack of demand,” says Caracappa.
The Agitators
Caracappa says that in addition to the intentionally dishonest language, supporters of the bill don’t help the conversation. Caracappa says that ego and politics are running ahead of public service.
“We have had people, such as environmentalists like Adrienne Esposito of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, and scientists like Dr. Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook, acting like hired guns to come into the Legislature to tell us ‘we must give this [bill] to the public,’” says Caracappa. “On the surface, it sounds like something you want to do, but I’m not about bringing flawed, disingenuous, nontransparent legislation to the public.”
“We have a Democratic-controlled Senate,” says Caracappa. “This could have been fixed and on the ballot this November, but politics and ego got in the way. The people who want to protect their egos insteading of serving the people need to be removed from office. If you don’t serve the people, you serve no purpose.”
Caracappa says that those who support the bill as currently written either “didn’t read the bill, they don’t understand the bill, or they are all for being disingenuous and misleading the people with falsified numbers and creative math.” Caracappa also reminds the public of the previously earmarked sewer money being raided by County Executive Steve Bellone (D-West Babylon) to debt services.
“Where was Adrienne Esposito when the water quality money was going to debt services?” says Caracappa. “She was nowhere to be found. I have no use for Adrienne Esposito and her Citizens Campaign for the Environment. She has lost all her integrity, as far as I’m concerned.”
Caracappa also takes aim at Dr. Gobler, who in several publications, including a March 2023 Newsday, has said that nitrates in coastal waterways is the most serious problem and that nitrates can cause certain cancers.
“I asked Gobler on the record where he gets his information,” says Caracappa. “What he’s saying is fear mongering. Nitrogen in our waterways is not going to cause cancer.. We have only two wells out of our 216 wells that have nitrogen issues, but they’re being treated. 1,4 Dioxane is a huge issue, and there are lawsuits that the SCWA is involved with and they’re successfully suing against polluters.”
“What’s ironic,” says Caracappa “is that the people who came to the Legislature said that they wished 75% of the money could go towards sewers instead of I/A systems. Of course they want, it means more work and protecting the environment.”
The Big Picture
“Sewers are the immediate answer, not I/A systems,” says Caracappa. “Nitrogen is not on the top twenty concerns of the SCWA. Nitrates are on the list but are commonly detected at non impactful levels. Nitrogen is not found in the top-twenty compounds of most concern. Nitrogen in our waterways cuts off oxygen, which kills our eelgrass – which is our natural barrier to tide levels – it kills our fish and shellfish, and creates brown tides and algae blooms. Whenever there’s a storm surge, it closes our beaches, which affects our tourism and commercial fishing. Higher tides which add to the problem of coastal waterway communities who have cesspools. When the water table overflows, it takes in human waste, and when the tides recede, it all gets washed out back into our waterways, creating all of this havoc.”
“According to Discover Long Island, we had over nine million overnight tourists,” says Caracappa. “That generated $6.3 billion in revenue. That doesn’t include the millions of people who come over on the ferry from Port Jefferson or Greenport.”
Caracappa says that while the bill was developed in Albany over ten years, defined “stakeholders,” such as environmentalists, labor unions, and scientists were invited to the table.
“Who are the true stakeholders of Suffolk County?” asks Caracappa. “The residents. Who represents them? The Suffolk County Legislature. Not one of us, of either party, were keyed in on the development of this bill with its author, Assemblyman Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor), or with the state government. So the actual stakeholders had no real representation. They have not keyed any new Legislators as they have taken office over the years. There is no home-rule message in this legislation whatsoever. Had we been involved, we could have brought information to the table.”
Opportunities
Caracappa says that in addition to protecting the environment, sewers are necessary for downtown revitalizations that can allow Suffolk County to be a self-sustainable economy. He says that developing shovel-ready projects will not only be a large catalyst for job creation, but downtown areas can host and attract more businesses and residents.
“Go to Patchogue, Smithtown, Islip, Westhampton, Babylon,” says Caracappa. “All of these towns that put sewers in are now thriving downtown communities. That means jobs. These are opportunities to also live and stay in Suffolk County. Why would you not concentrate on the areas where sewers are needed? This creates opportunities for our young workers, we can accommodate waste capacity for restaurants, housing projects, and health facilities, the latter two of which will benefit our senior residents. We also remove blighted areas and bring in businesses that collect tax revenue and pay salaries. When people are able to stay here, they spend their salaries here. Their taxes go to services and infrastructure in the county. It’s called sustainability, it’s common sense.”
“We need matching dollars,” says Caracappa. “Preferably 80%-20% with Suffolk County kicking in the lower number, and the state or federal kicking in the higher number. NYS has $4.2 billion set aside for environmental projects.”
Legislator Caracappa highlights that a forty-page bill does not even remotely explain the ongoing wastewater conversations. It oversimplifies a much larger, impactful issue that no one is truly standing against. The problems with the bill, according to Caracappa and company, are being used as political leverage ahead of this November’s elections. The mountains of paperwork, research, and articles pictured with Legislator Caracappa is the realistic amount of materials needed to truly understand the entire problem. The forty-page bill he is pictured holding only highlights what calls a “fraudulent and misleading” proposal that truly holds no water.
The Messenger thanks Legislator Caracappa for sitting down with us to take a much-needed deep-dive into this highly important issue.
