Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Apparently, Steve Bellone and the Suffolk County government are looking for people to enter a lottery to win a new advanced cesspool system for their homes. The catch: this is a demonstration program for a future county-wide requirement for homeowners to upgrade their current systems at an installation cost of about $15,000 with expected annual maintenance costs of $200-$400 and an additional electricity cost of $5 to $20 per month.
They are claiming that this update will help save Long Island's drinking water. However, their map indicates they want people near the coast (both North Shore and South Shore as well as the Forks) for this demonstration. The last time I checked, we didn't get our drinking water from the Sound or ocean, but from wells deep underground, so Steve is apparently full of "Belloney". This is more about helping the local fishing industry (what there's still left of it). And it does nothing about the old and faulty Nassau County sewage treatment plants that constantly dump raw sewage into the coastal waters everytime it rains.
Just when you thought the high cost of living on Long Island couldn't get any higher.
This seems like the costs listed tied to the trial program are for those actually in the trial program, not for homeowners. Who knows if the cost will be the same if it becomes county wide.
It's naive to think this is not coming and coming soon. I gotta figure the costs for the systems in the lottery are pretty much what homeowners can expect to pay when this becomes a requirement. Maybe they'll do us a "favor" and let us apply for low cost loans to finance these, but in the end the homeowner will still have to foot the whole bill.
I've lived on LI long enough to know that our pols are good at one thing, and one thing only: sticking out their hands and expecting the residents to cough up more money for the privilege of their leadership.
Here are a few simple things you can do to help
restore and protect Long Island Sound.
Learn how to practice environmentally-sound
gardening and lawn care. Reduce your use of
fertilizers and consider using reduced nitrogen and
organic nitrogen varieties of fertilizer – Cornell
Cooperative recommends limiting application to one
pound of Nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn, twice
a year. Never apply fertilizer to bare ground or before
a rain event.
Maintain your septic system by having it pumped out
regularly. The LISS recommends pumping every three
to five years (or more frequently if your home is
located near a wetland or in a high groundwater area).
Scoop up pet waste and dispose of it in the trash or
toilet.
Do not dump yard debris into or near wetlands or
waterways and do not use leaf blowers to direct leaves
into stormwater drains or toward surface waters.
Install a rain garden in your yard to capture and utilize
runoff from your roof, driveway and other paved areas
on your property.
Boaters – Utilize your holding tank and take advantage
of pump-out boats or other marina facilities. Visit Soundkeeper or contact your local marina for
pump-out locations.
Use public transportation to reduce vehicle emissions
(which add nitrogen oxides to the air and ultimately
end up in our water).
It's naive to think this is not coming and coming soon. I gotta figure the costs for the systems in the lottery are pretty much what homeowners can expect to pay when this becomes a requirement. Maybe they'll do us a "favor" and let us apply for low cost loans to finance these, but in the end the homeowner will still have to foot the whole bill.
I've lived on LI long enough to know that our pols are good at one thing, and one thing only: sticking out their hands and expecting the residents to cough up more money for the privilege of their leadership.
Agreed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here's the press release and link
