Governor Kathy Hochul Allocates $140 Million for Long Island Sound Nitrogen Reduction and Sewer Conversions

SMITHTOWN, N.Y. — Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday the distribution of $140 million in state clean water grants through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) to connect 4,500 unsewered residential homes and commercial retail storefronts to modernized municipal sewer districts across Suffolk and Nassau Counties.

The capital investment package addresses Long Island's critical groundwater nitrogen crisis, where over 360,000 legacy cesspools and outdated septic tanks leach millions of pounds of dissolved nitrogen into the sole-source drinking water aquifer and coastal bays annually, fueling harmful algal blooms, fish die-offs, and salt marsh degradation along the Long Island Sound and Great South Bay.

Protecting Sole-Source Drinking Water and Coastal Shellfisheries Nitrogen pollution has degraded coastal eelgrass beds that serve as nurseries for commercially vital bluefish, striped bass, and hard clams while elevating nitrate concentrations in municipal drinking water supply wells.

"Long Island's groundwater and beautiful coastal bays are its greatest environmental treasures, but outdated septic systems have placed our water quality under severe threat," Governor Hochul said during an announcement in Smithtown. "Through this $140 million investment, we are eliminating thousands of polluting cesspools, laying centralized sewer pipes, and upgrading treatment plants with advanced biological nitrogen removal, ensuring clean drinking water for our children and restoring our shellfishing economy."

County-Level Sewer Projects Funded Key infrastructure allocations include:

• Smithtown & Kings Park Downtown Sewer Extensions: $55 million to connect 1,800 commercial and residential parcels to the Suffolk County Sewer District.
• Carlls River & Babylon Watershed Connections: $45 million for vacuum sewer main installations in low-lying coastal neighborhoods.
• Nassau County Bay Park Conveyance Optimization: $25 million for secondary effluent denitrification filters.
• Septic Replacement Rebates for Working Families: $15 million in direct state rebates of up to $20,000 per homeowner installing innovative advanced nitrogen-reducing septic systems.

Local town supervisors, baymen's associations, and clean water advocates praised the historic grant allocation, highlighting that sewer infrastructure unlocks downtown revitalization while restoring maritime water clarity.