Long Island bays have experienced record levels of water quality problems this summer, report says

Fish kills, algae blooms and oxygen-deprived “dead zones” have affected nearly every bay and estuary on Long Island this summer, according to scientists who monitor water quality at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Blue-green algae blooms, which can be toxic to people and animals, have been observed in more than 24 lakes and ponds.

“This (number) will almost certainly be double or greater than any other county in New York State,” Stony Brook researcher Dr. Chris Gobler said at a news conference Wednesday. “What happens most often here on Long Island is dogs go into these bodies of water, drink this water and get sick.”

The terrible water quality is due to nitrogen from wastewater, which causes harmful algae blooms that suck oxygen from surface waters.

Gobler said a record 36 “dead zones” were reported in Long Island’s surface waters this summer – areas where dissolved oxygen levels are too low to support marine life.

“This problem is not going to go away on its own,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “And we don’t have a Plan B. We only have a plan to expand sewer lines where needed and replace outdated septic tanks and cesspools wherever we can. As grim as this news is, there is hope that we have plans to make a difference.”

She urged Suffolk County voters to approve voting referendum increase the sales tax by 0.125% this election season to fund sewer expansion and high-tech septic tank construction.

Kevin McCaffrey, chairman of the Suffolk County Legislature, said the new tax amounts to about 12 pennies for every $100 spent and will help the county reverse the effects of nitrogen pollution.

“Over $50 million a year will go into a special fund that we can use to match state and federal funds to exponentially increase that fund,” McCaffery said in support of the tax increase, adding that it would allow the county to “do what we need to do to solve the problems we see here today.”