On November 8, Patrick Halpin, Chairman, Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA), spoke at the LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) meeting to discuss what the authority has been doing to protect and improve Suffolk’s water quality. The meeting was held at the Courtyard by Marriott in Ronkonkoma.

As Chairman, Mr. Halpin said, he is responsible for hiring the most qualified people for the job and making sure they have the resources to get the job done while, at the same time, holding them accountable. Prior to serving in his current role, he was a New York State Assemblyman and Suffolk County Executive.

SCWA led the legal fight against gasoline companies that deposited MTBE into the water supply. As a result, the agency received $130 million from the decision which was used for remediation purposes. New York State Senator James Gaughran, who previously served as SCWA Chairman, told attendees that he introduced a bill that was signed into law allowing local water authorities to hold corporate polluters who contaminate the drinking water accountable and ensure the cleanup costs fall on the polluters, not the ratepayers.

“When you sue the company [for polluting the water], they change their way of operating,” Mr. Halpin said, adding that other water districts and authorities are starting to go after manufacturers of firefighting foams, which contain chemicals that can impact drinking water, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

Mr. Halpin said the authority’s laboratory, which is federally certified and employs 40 people, constantly tests the county’s drinking water for contaminants. Last year, the lab ran 167,000 tests; its employees were able to determine the level of contamination down to parts per trillion. In addition, the lab tests for 400 compounds (250 more than required by federal law) and uses a patented methodology to test for PFOS and PFOA which is faster and more accurate.

The SCWA maintains 6,000 miles of water main, according to Mr. Halpin. The pipes, which are made of ductile material, were installed in the 1950s and have a lifetime of 200 years. The only times when the pipes need to be replaced are when a line is hit during construction, or when the ground shifts, whether from development or minor earthquakes. The authority has also put in place an advanced oxidation system which uses hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light to remove 1,4 dioxane from the drinking water — the first-ever 1,4 dioxane removal system in the state.

Mr. Halpin said the agency has installed 45,000 feet of water main into Wainscott, but those challenges include bringing water into the Pine Barrens and trying to eliminate 1,4 dioxane from the water supply within seven years. Mr. Halpin also pointed out the long-term threats to Suffolk’s aquifers, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and the emergence of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants in the water.

The SCWA was founded in 1951 as a public benefit corporation. It serves 1.2 million people and is the largest supplier of groundwater in the nation. In addition, it has the lowest water rates in the U.S. and is rated AAA by two bond rating agencies, ranking SCWA as the top 1% out of 20,000 water suppliers nationwide. Its testing standards are more rigorous than what both New York State and the federal government require, making its potable tap water the best in the United States.

The authority monitors 586 active wells at 237 well fields, 64 storage tanks that collectively hold 68 million gallons of water and more than 38,000 hydrants. The average amount of water pumped each day is 210 million gallons; that number changes during the summer, with a peak pump rate of 470 million gallons a day, and during the winter, when it falls to 110 million gallons a day.

For more information, or for a list of upcoming events, call (631) 757-1698 or visit www.limba.net.

On September 27, George Gorman, Long Island Regional Director, New York Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, updated attendees of the LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) meeting on what is going on at Long Island’s State Parks. The meeting was held at Courtyard by Marriott in Ronkonkoma.

There are 180 state parks throughout New York and 35 state historic sites, cottages, beaches and marinas, with 74 million visitors annually, according to Mr. Gorman. The first state-designated park was Niagara Falls, which has 10 million visitors a year; on Long Island, Jones Beach has the most visitors each year, with 8 million.

The Long Island State Park Region last year saw over 25 million park visitors. To service those visitors, there are 2,300 State Park employees. Approximately 700 are year-round employees, and an additional 1,600 are summer employees, including 500 lifeguards.

To bring Long Islanders to these attractions, Mr. Gorman pointed out that there is the annual Empire Pass, which can be purchased for $80 and allows the holder to enter state parks throughout the state free of charge, and the Senior Citizens Pass for visitors 62 years or older who can enter the parks for free during the week.

He pointed out some of the parks with strong attendance, such as Captree State Park, which attracts recreational fishing enthusiasts, and Hallock State Park Preserve in Jamesport, which has trails, beaches and a visitor center on Sound Avenue. Wildwood State Park is famous for its cottages on the property; reservations fill up very quickly, according to Mr. Gorman. Bethpage State Park was a big draw, thanks to the PGA Championship at Bethpage.

Some other beaches, meanwhile, are undergoing renovations in an effort to bring in more visitors, said Mr. Gorman. Hempstead Lake State Park is getting some of its tennis courts renovated as part of a three-year program. Other projects Mr. Gorman announced at the meeting included refurbishing the golf course at Montauk Downs State Park over the last few years, repaving the Field #2 parking lot and adding a new picnic area at Sunken Meadow State Park, as well as the construction of the Jones Beach Central Mall Boardwalk Café and the Gatsby Restaurant (formerly Marine Dining Hall), which is located at the West Bathhouse. The Gatsby Restaurant is an indoor, sit-down dining room which can be rented out as a meeting room or used as weddings for up to 350 people. Also open at the Central Mall is WildPlay, featuring outdoor activity ziplines and an adventure course next to the already established Splash Pad, both of which will be geared towards younger visitors.

For more information, or for a list of upcoming events, call (631) 757-1698 or visit www.limba.net.

On October 11, Rich Schaffer, Supervisor, Town of Babylon, was the guest speaker at the LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) meeting to discuss the latest developments in the town. The meeting was held at Courtyard by Marriott in Ronkonkoma.

Mr. Schaffer said that, seven years after Superstorm Sandy hit Long Island, the town is still working on infrastructural improvements. This includes fixing the bridges in the American Venice community and implementing drainage improvement and road elevation projects to avoid future flooding.

The town is in a resurgence, according to Mr. Schaffer, with new development projects taking off, thanks to help with other entities and municipalities. For example, he worked with the town’s Industrial Development Agency and the Village of Lindenhurst to bring in a 260-unit apartment building on the corner of Wellwood and Hoffman Avenues. In addition, another project is in the works on Wellwood Avenue to convert shuttered buildings into restaurants, breweries and stores along the corridor.

In addition, the town’s Planning Department is overseeing a proposed hotel near the Babylon train station, and Mr. Schaffer is working with the Planning Department and a working group on the five-phase Greybarn development project, which is halfway complete. The IDA purchased a piece of property next to Greybarn which will be converted into a business workspace, which will give local residents the opportunity to work remotely. There is also a plan to build underground parking near the MLK Health Center at Straight Path

These projects are a victory against the NIMBYism that runs through the town, Mr. Schaffer said. “We ask them, ‘What do you want us to do? You complain about the empty buildings and storefronts. You have to give me some ideas.’”

The three villages in Babylon — Amityville, Babylon and Lindenhurst — are in a shared services agreement with the town, according to Mr. Shaffer. The town makes its services available to these villages, which, in turn, pay for these services.

On the topic of energy, Mr. Schaffer said the town has switch from incandescent to LED-based lighting at its facilities. As a result, the town’s electricity bills have dropped dramatically. When discussing the Williams pipeline, he said he supports it and that he has sent letters to the Long Island state senators urging them to fight the governor’s plan to shut down the pipeline. While he understands the concerns posed by the environmentalists, Mr. Schaffer said, “You can’t stop progress.”

Mr. Schaffer also announced that the town received a bond rating of AAA — the highest possible bond rating a municipality can receive. This was accomplished, he said, by holding the line on property taxes and setting up a surplus in the budget.

Prior to becoming Town Supervisor, Mr. Schaffer was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature in 1988, 1989 and 1991. In 2011, the position for supervisor became vacant when Steve Bellone was elected Suffolk County Executive. Mr. Schaffer was appointed to the post by the Town Board. He is currently Babylon’s longest-serving supervisor.

For more information, or for a list of upcoming events, call (631) 757-1698 or visit www.limba.net.