Governor Kathy Hochul and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone have announced the groundbreaking of the $223.9 million Forge River Watershed Sewer District project designed to reduce nitrogen loading and improve water quality for homeowners and businesses located in the Mastic-Shirley area. The Forge River Watershed Sewer District boundaries extend from just west of the William Floyd Parkway, east to the Forge River and just south of Sunrise Highway; on the north to Poospatuck Creek and to the south not including the Poospatuck Indian Reservation. Once completed in 2025, a new wastewater treatment plant in Mastic, Town of Brookhaven, will serve nearly 1,900 parcels in the nearby Shirley-Mastic area. This project is part of the $408.8 million Suffolk County Coastal Resiliency Initiative announced last fall.

 

"Superstorm Sandy exposed the need to further protect our coastline communities on Long Island from the impact of climate change," Governor Hochul said. "Today's groundbreaking marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to build resiliency. Everyone deserves easy access to safe water, and this project will help improve water quality for Suffolk County residents, reduce harmful pollutants, and further protect Long Island's delicate coastal ecosystem so that it can better withstand more intense storms in the future."

 

In October, Governor Hochul announced the start of construction on the $408.8 million storm resiliency sewer expansion in Suffolk County. The Suffolk County Coastal Resiliency Initiative includes wastewater conveyance and treatment upgrades along with sewer system connections for more than 4,000 parcels in the Town of Babylon, with connections for an additional 1,900 parcels in Mastic-Shirley. This innovative project leverages federal and state resources with local funding to prevent nitrogen and other contaminants from polluting Long Island's coastal waters. Other environmental benefits to this critical project include improving water quality, restoring ecosystems, and bolstering natural coastal barriers to protect communities from future flooding and severe storms.

 

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, "Today we break ground on a historic sewer project that will both improve water quality in the Forge River and attract new investment to the Mastic community. The Forge River project  will inject hundreds of millions of dollars into our economy, create hundreds of new jobs, and eliminate 1,889 cesspools and septic systems that are leaking excess nitrogen into the groundwater aquifer, and ultimately, into the Forge River. I want to thank those who have made this project possible, including Senate Majority Leader Schumer who worked to ensure the project would not fall victim to funding increases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Hochul, who has provided strong support for the project on the state level, and Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine, for making sure that the project site would be available. This successful effort is the result of a true working partnership between the federal, state and local governments, and we look forward to building on these efforts by expanding the new sewer system to include more of the Mastic-Shirley community."

 

Thousands of homes in the Carlls River and Forge River Watersheds are unsewered and manage wastewater via on-site systems like septic tanks and cesspools. The outdated septic tanks and cesspools are prone to capacity failure as residents frequently need to limit household tasks such as dishwashing and laundry. The wastewater systems also cause ecological harm to the waterways as untreated sewage can inundate the watersheds with nitrogen and other harmful pollutants, and result in coastal ecosystem degradation. A 2014 report issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) detailed the adverse impacts of nitrogen pollution on the region's natural coastal defenses and served as a catalyst for advancing funding for this project.

 

Superstorm Sandy, which inundated approximately half of the areas' existing wastewater systems with flood water, serves as a reminder on the importance of completing this project. To improve coastal resilience in the face of sea level rise and more intense storms fueled by climate change, the reduction in nitrogen and pollutants in the watersheds will help build back natural coastal wetlands that serve as barriers to storm surge and flooding along the South Shore. 

 

The Carlls River project is anticipated to be completed in 2024, with Forge River to follow in 2026.

 

Through the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSES) and Governor's Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR), these projects leverage $243.5 million of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and $66.4 million of Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding from US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). DHSES will manage the entire project to ensure FEMA eligibility until all components, including Forge River are complete.

 

The announcement complements New York State's investments to reduce nitrogen pollution in the region's waters through initiatives including the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan, the Bay Park Conveyance Project, the replacement of aging septic and cesspool systems in Patchogue, and partnering with Suffolk County to provide grants for homeowners to help repair or replace their existing systems with advanced nitrogen treatment, among other actions.