Can Long Island Be Saved?

Part VIII -- IBM Unveils a Road

to Long Island's Future at the Same Time That It's Business
as Usual in Albany
Here's a useful graphic from The Nature Conservancy showing the sources of nitrogen pollution in
various parts of the East End of Long Island, from a report entitled Nitrogen Load Modeling -- The
Peconic Estuary, New York.
The good news -- Long Island's scientists are really homing in on the problem of water pollution on
Long Island, location by location:

We have gotten to where we understand why our bays are dying, we have the data and the maps, the
consensus among the scientists, the policy makers, the politicians, and, increasingly, the general
public. What we have yet to determine is how our understanding of our water pollution issues and
their solutions can translate into real world action.
When it comes to our addressing water quality conditions on Long Island, these are the best of
times, and the worst of times. The best, because we have now a broad scientific consensus as to why
our rivers, bays and ponds are dying, and with that consensus the beginning of a solution to that
problem. 500,000 septic tanks on Long Island, along with lawn and agricultural fertilizers, the aging
and polluting Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, along with about 200 small scale local treatment
plants, have polluted our ground water, marine water and increasingly our drinking water with
nitrogen. Unbridled growth and no provisions for waste water treatment in much of Long Island
other than septic tanks / cesspools has led to the collapse of all our bays and their habitats. The
excess nitrogen triggers harmful algal blooms. The blooms block the sun from the bottom. All the
plant life dies. The decay depletes the oxygen. Fish die off or leave.

Peconic Bay, Moriches Bay, Shinnecock Bay, The Western Bays, The Great South Bay, and so forth.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation Lists almost all of Long Island's waters as
impaired. The marsh grass in Jamaica Bay and everywhere, a crucial habitat for fish and birds and a
key buffer against waves, is vanishing before our eyes, overgrowing and collapsing due to the excess
nitrogen in the water.
The best of times -- we finally all know what the causes of all these problems are. Governor Cuomo
understands it. He called for four public discussions on water quality and coastal resilience,
assembling the best minds in marine science and waste water management in government,
academia, and the non-profit world to do it. Over the past month, over a hundred people have
spoken publicly to how we save Long Island from it's enormous ground water pollution issue.
Senator Gillibrand understands the problem, supporting Suffolk County in its winning application to
IBM Smarter Cities competition. $500,000 in IBM consulting services were offered up to help
Suffolk County lay the groundwork for tackling the enormous problem of replacing hundreds of
thousands of antiquated septic tanks and cesspools with modern sewering and home based
denitrification systems. The County Administrations understand too, with Suffolk County Executive
Bellone calling the nitrogen pollution the largest threat the county has seen in decades. Nassau
County Executive Ed Mangano is seeking funding to upgrade aging Nassau aging sewage treat
plants. Similarly, Senator Schumer and Congressman Bishop, know that the time to address Long
Island's future is now, that we need modern waste water treatment.
The best of times -- a hundred+ organizations now in The Long Island Clean Water Partnership, from
zero a year ago. We are all looking at the science, and coming to the same conclusion -- the situation
on Long Island is grave. Long Island can be saved, but we must act now and in concert. Everyone it
seems is coming together around this reality -- Politicians embracing science, the media seeking to
educate the public, with Newsday, News 12, and editors of local weekly papers all stepping up to
champion clean water for Long Island, and committed to the mission of informing the public on this
issue.
But it is also the worst of times -- the worst, because despite the fact that Long Islanders are coming
together, up in Albany it's been business as usual.
At issue was a piece of legislation that when first drafted seemed Quixotic -- State Assemblyman
Robert Sweeney (D- Lindenhurst) and State Senator Ken LaValle (R-C-I of Port Jefferson) got
together and drafted and sponsored a bill that would set new nitrogen requirements for septic
systems and for agricultural use. If a house was sold, it required that an antiquated system would be
replaced with a system that met the new guidelines, and it called for the establishment of
comprehensive plans for the Long Island watersheds, which would regulate total nitrogen loads into
our waters. Basically, the bill called for doing things differently so that we would get different
results.

Unfortunately the idea of doing things differently can be threatening to those who prefer to do
things the way they always have. This might explain why we are still employing septic systems that
look like they belong on The Flintstones. But is there really a sustainable future on Long island for
unchecked suburban sprawl? Doesn't the future of Long Island's construction industry hinge on the
revitalization of our downtowns and underserved neighborhoods? Is there really a farming future
that necessitates over-fertilizing crops to the point that it contaminates our water supply, and fuels
algal blooms, or does it hinge on transitioning to more sustainable practices and capitalizing on our
proximity local high end markets?
The late-session bill passed the Assembly but never came to a vote in the Senate. Long Islanders
have the right to be upset with their Senators for failing to pass this bill. But more important is
recognition that this problem has not gone away just because the NY legislature is out of session.
Each day, as more and more Long Islanders learn that we finally know what's been impacting our
waters, and that solutions are actually at hand - the more citizens will look to leaders capable of
producing results.
The great irony was at the very same time that IBM Smarter Cities was on Long Island presenting
their findings as to how Long Island needed to address its water issues, The Long Island Water
Quality Control Act was being squelched in Albany. The first key dependency IBM identified for Long
Island's success was 'leadership.' The second key point was that our watershed needed to be
managed comprehensively, pointing out the whole time the inefficiencies in our current bifurcated
water management structure.

The final question posed to the panel of experts at the IBM Smarter Cities presentation was "So,
given the inertia of trying to get anything big done, would the bravest of you please stand up and
share your assessment on Long Island's chances of succeeding in addressing it's water quality
issues?" Without even a beat, the entire The IBM stood up in unison, receiving a sustained round of
applause from the audience. Then the team leader, a British scientist in her mid 50's, just choked a
bit then said "you have no choice, you have to succeed."
And with that, no more business as usual. We are all in this together. A better Long Island awaits.
As the bill in Albany died, a plan on Long Island was born. Now it is truly up to Governor Cuomo's
'task force' on Water Quality and Coastal Resiliency to hold the last of its four public meetings and
offer its recommendations. Will Governor Cuomo have the vision and drive to move past the Albany
nonsense to protect and restore the water sole source supply of drinking water for 3 million Long
islanders, and the $5 billion dollar per year cash cow coastal economy of New York State? Will
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone step up and make the sweeping agency reforms
recommended by the expert panel from IBM Smarter Cities Program? If so - then best of times
indeed. Between IBM and the many dozens of experts in consultation now on water quality issues,
we have the very best science in the world at hand to address our problems. We need to leverage
this fact. "We have to."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marshall-brown/can-long-island-be-saved-_5_b_5543518.html