Environmental Advocates Sue State Parks, SUNY

An East End-based advocate for cleaner waterways is suing the state parks and university system, claiming four waterfront state parks and a SUNY campus are discharging polluted wastewater from cesspools and septic systems into area waterways.

“New York State should be the flagship for responsible stewardship of Long Island’s waters – especially at our state parks, beaches and Stony Brook’s Southampton campus – not just another polluter,” said Quogue-based Kevin McAllister, the Peconic Baykeeper.

McAllister filed his suit along with another advocate, Soundkeeper of Norwalk, CT

The joint lawsuit , which was filed on Wednesday, claims that the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Stony Brook University are polluting estuaries and rivers by discharging excess nitrogen and other pollutants from their septic systems without proper permits.

The Baykeeper and Soundkeeper also claim that the state is in violation of three federal environmental laws – the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.”

Specifically the lawsuit mentions four state parks that are in “violation”, including Robert Moses in Babylon, Heckscher in East Islip, Belmont Lake in North Babylon, Sunken Meadow in Kings Park, Wildwood in Wading River, as well as Stony Brook University’s Southampton Campus.

Lauren Sheprow, spokeswoman for Stony Brook University, said the school does not comment on pending litigation. Officials from the state parks department did not respond to requests for comment.

The parks and campus, the Baykeeper said, are home to six of the largest septic/cesspool systems in Suffolk County.

“Together, they have the capacity to discharge more than 279,000 gallons of septic waste daily,” said McAllister.

This is not the first time that the state and they Baykeeper and Soundkeeper have met in court.

According to the Baykeeper, in October the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and State Parks entered into an administrative order on consent in which the state parks department must pay a fine and close several cesspools within three years.

But the Baykeeper and Soundkeeper said, “the consent order does next to nothing to address the discharges of nitrogen that are impairing the quality of our coastal waters.”