During the next few weeks leading up to Election Day, I will be outlining issues within the Town of Smithtown, my take on those issues and the ways I intend to help with those issues.

When people talk about the installation of sewer systems, the conversation most often goes to cost, then the inconvenience of the construction and ultimately to the horrors of the mismanaged Southwest Sewer District during the 1970’s. Thus ends the conversation because no one wants to hear anything further. Add to this the fact that cesspools and drinking water and aquifers and groundwater are below the surface where we can’t readily see them and the book is closed on the subject.

Now for a very brief hydro-geological lesson: Our drinking water is pumped from aquifers deep within the ground. The waters that ultimately trickle to these aquifers travel through many layers of sand that act as a filter. The sand also adds minerals to the drinking water making Long Island water soft for bathing but also filled with nutrients for good health. This should be an ideal system for all of us.

Our sanitary wastewater and assorted “stuff” is processed for the most part within Smithtown and much of Suffolk County through cesspools. Cesspools are essentially big holes in the ground where everything is dumped. Ideally these systems should allow the solids to dissolve and allow water to trickle though that same sand filtration system that cleans our drinking water. In an area with a sparse population, this system is fine. However, in a densely populated region such as Suffolk County, the amount of wastewater released cannot possibly be purified by the time it reaches the drinking water. Hence bacteria and ultimately the chlorine that is added to the drinking water in an effort to mitigate the bacteria.

We have one added feature to our sub surface that not all of Suffolk County has. Smithtown contains a very thick clay layer deposited by glacial action from the Ice Age that begins in the Lake Ronkonkoma region and travels northwest through Nesconset, parts of Hauppauge, Smithtown and the Village of the Branch. This clay layer is responsible for the water table that floods many homes and gives those same homes fits with the cesspool systems. If you think it is all negative, it is not. This clay layer is also responsible for keeping the soil very arable and is in part responsible for the reason Smithtown is so green. This area is known as the headwaters of the Nissequogue River because the clay layer forces much of the groundwater to travel horizontally. In this manner groundwater is making its way toward our wetlands, shoreline and beaches.

The final issue surrounding the clay layer is that not only does the groundwater travel horizontally, but much of our sanitary wastewater does as well. This wastewater travels to those same wetlands, beaches and shoreline. When beaches are closed for excess bacteria, this is the reason why. When there are fish die offs from lack of oxygen in the water because of excess nitrogen, this is the reason why. When wetlands die off and no longer protect us from storm surges and are no longer the natural incubators for sea life, this is the reason why.

Now we arrive at a dilemma. A public sewage system that is installed properly and operated properly will go a very long way to resolving our drinking water issues, our groundwater issues and our shoreline issues. Can Smithtown go it alone and fund and construct such a system? The answer is no. It can be done regionally, though, with the cooperation of state, federal, county and multiple town moneys.

Such an opportunity may have presented itself. Suffolk County has received a nearly 400 million dollar grant for drinking water improvements and has named a “sewer czar” to determine what is to be done with this grant. Smithtown has had a history of ignoring partnering with Suffolk County and has turned away in the past from opportunities that could have vastly improved our town. We cannot let this slip through our fingers because of petty political feuding. Maybe it is time to realize that this is not a political issue but rather one of health and safety. If the right people are elected, we can avoid the problems that occurred in the 1970’s. If we sincerely want to see our town prosper and future generations live within and enjoy this area, it is past the time that we begin in earnest to ensure that happens.

This November Election Day presents our renewed opportunity to put Smithtown on the right track to meet the future. Don’t let this chance slip through your fingers by letting others vote and choose for you. Make an educated choice and get to the polls. 

Larry Vetter

Democratic candidate for Smithtown Town Council