SFWD receives first installment check to cover costs associated with construction and maintenance of new water treatment facility at Plant No. 3.

Thanks in part to U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer’s unwavering support during final settlement negotiations with the U.S. Navy, South Farmingdale Water District (SFWD) was presented with a check for $3.3 million as the first installment for covering all costs associated with the construction, ongoing maintenance and operation of the water treatment facility at Plant No. 3 (Hicksville Road).

Earlier this spring SFWD Board of Water Commissioners Ralph Atoria, John Hirt and Gary Brosnan along with Senator Schumer addressed the media at a local press conference announcing the news that District consumers will be relieved from any tax burden. “Today I have some good news for South Farmingdale Water District and many thousands of ratepayers,” commented Senator Schumer. “The U.S. Navy finally paid for what affected 100,000 people.”

This first installment is a huge first step as SFWD had borrowed almost $5 million from the Town of Oyster Bay to construct a new water treatment facility at Plant No. 3 to filter and purify the groundwater from the impending plume. Since repaying the bond would have cost consumers approximately $1.5 million each year over the course of the loan, Schumer called upon the U.S. Navy and Department of Justice (D.O.J.) to prevent significant water bill increases for all District taxpayers.

This announcement and settlement means that local ratepayers will not be financially responsible for the new water treatment facility at Plant No. 3. The second installment of funds will be made shortly. SFWD has submitted the appropriate paperwork, which needs to be reviewed and approved by the U.S. Navy.

“South Farmingdale Water District ratepayers didn’t cause this toxic mess, and this $3.3 million in reimbursement from the U.S. Navy means they won’t have to pay to clean it up,” said Schumer.

SFWD Commissioners commented that this is a major relief for District consumers. The Commissioners also emphasized that all water pumped from all wells meets or exceeds all local, state and federal standards. SFWD had no choice but to design, construct and build the water treatment facility at Plant No. 3 in advance of the plume’s impact.

In an effort to continually monitor our drinking water, the U.S. Navy has chosen selective sites within the local community to report on the potential flow of the Grumman plume.

Consumers shouldn’t be alarmed as this is standard protocol and procedure. As part of the process of monitoring the plume, these massive drilling rigs are supervised and operated by professional engineers, and a reporting structure has been created to monitor the groundwater within the aquifer.

The South Farmingdale Water District wants to remind all consumers that these monitoring rigs are issued by the U.S. Navy, not by the Water District. While they may create an inconvenience for some residents, this is a normal part of the monitoring process.

While the District has not yet been impacted, a proactive plan was put in place to construct two treatment facilities within the District in anticipation of the plume. The District has successfully negotiated a settlement for Plant No. 1 and Plant No. 3 with the U.S. Navy for reimbursement, which has covered all costs toward construction, operation and maintenance. Both plants are online and fully operational while the District continually monitors the movement of the plume.

To further protect consumer drinking water, South Farmingdale Water District tests our water far more often than is required by law.

South Farmingdale Water District Has Borrowed Almost $5 Million From the Town of Oyster Bay to Construct Water Treatment Facility to Purify Ground Water Impacted by Bethpage Plume Contamination, Which the Navy Caused

The Navy & The Dept. of Justice Have Taken Several Years to Meet Obligations & Pay South Farmingdale Millions Owed and Agreed Upon- Repaying Bonds Will Cost Consumers $1.5 Million Each Year Over the Course of the Loan

Schumer Urges U.S. Navy & Department of Justice to Reimburse South Farmingdale Water District Immediately—Says Residents Should Not Be On the Hook

South Farmingdale, NY, U.S.A., September 2, 2014 – Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and the South Farmingdale Water District (SFWD) called on the United States Navy and Department of Justice (D.O.J.) to prevent significant water bill increases for Farmingdale’s thousands of residents and immediately follow through on the Navy’s years-old obligation to reimburse the SFWD for the capital costs, operating and maintenance of the water treatment facility, which was constructed at Plant No. 3 4090 Hicksville Road, Seaford, NY.

SFWD has borrowed almost $5 million from the Town of Oyster Bay to construct the water treatment facility to filter and purify the ground water impacted by the Bethpage plume.  Repaying the bond will cost consumers $1.5 million each year over the course of the loan, and Schumer says consumers should not be on the hook for something they didn’t create. Each month that passes will increase the unfair burden on SFWD and its thousands of customers, and Schumer will say that the federal government must step up quickly in order to prevent these costs from being passed on to ratepayers, as is expected to occur in the near future.

“South Farmingdale Water District consumers didn’t cause this mess and they shouldn’t have to pay to clean it up,” said Schumer. “The Navy and Department of Justice should stop stringing the Water District along and provide the resources needed to pay down the bonds and prevent water rates from sky-rocketing.  It is bad enough that consumers have to deal with the Grumman plume – they shouldn’t have to pay extra to do so.”
Schumer stood at SFWD Plant No. 3 alongside SFWD Commissioners Ralph Atoria and John Hirt, along with James Rigano, legal counsel to SFWD and Gary Loesch, SFWD’s lead engineer from H2M.

The U.S. Navy operated the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage, New York for several decades, which resulted in soil and significant groundwater contamination containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs).  The SFWD, as well as other neighboring Water Districts, were approached in November 2000 by the U.S. Navy relative to a widespread groundwater contamination plume* flowing in a southerly direction toward 20 or more public drinking wells that serve over 250,000 Nassau County residents across South Farmingdale, Bethpage, Massapequa and Wantagh Water Districts.

The Navy developed a water contingency plan in connection with N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that resulted in the Navy constructing outpost monitoring wells upgradient of Plant No. 1 and Plant No. 3 in SFWD.

The Navy agreed that if contamination from their site was identified in the outpost monitoring wells, they would pay for all future costs that the water suppliers would incur for the required treatment facilities or abandonment and replacement of the respective wells. In 2004, the outpost monitoring wells upgradient of Plant No. 1 and Plant No. 3 indicated that they were impacted by contamination from the naval plant site at levels above the trigger values agreed to by the Navy, DEC and SFWD.

In 2010, SFWD determined that it could no longer wait to receive the settlement from the Navy and was approved by the Town of Oyster Bay to bond up to $18 million to design and construct the necessary treatment facilities at both Plant No. 1 and Plant No. 3, with Plant No. 1 starting in late March 2010, and Plant No. 3 starting in 2012. If the treatment facilities were not constructed in time, it was possible that SFWD would be forced to close down or restrict wells at Plant No. 1 and Plant No. 3.

The SFWD pursued a reimbursement settlement with the Navy for Plant No. 1, and in 2010 with the assistance of Senator Schumer received $14.5 million to cover all construction, maintenance and operation costs.  Now, Schumer is demanding that a settlement be reached with the U.S. Navy and the D.O.J. on Plant No. 3. To date, SFWD has not received any reimbursement payments and the delay has caused SFWD to make its final payment for construction.  If reimbursement is not made immediately, water rates for all consumers will go up.

“We are here to protect the taxpayer. It’s that simple. They shouldn’t have to pay for these treatment plants,” Schumer continued. “The Navy knows they need to pay, and they’ve said so.  Now they need to stop dragging their feet and pay up.”

The SFWD Board of Commissioners have continually expressed that all water pumped from all wells meet or exceed all local, state and federal standards. The Commissioners had no choice but to design, construct and build both treatment facilities in order to ensure that the water delivered within the District is safe to drink.

If the treatment facilities were not constructed in time, there was the potential that the District would have had to close down or restrict wells at both Plants No. 1 and 3.  The four wells at these two sites provide nearly 40% of the District’s well capacity, which are needed to meet existing water supply and fire flow demands.  The loss of any of these wells could adversely impact SFWD’s ability to meet peak and emergency pumping requirements, thereby impacting the ability to deliver an adequate water supply to its 45,000 consumers.

While the District would have preferred to have the money in hand from the Navy prior to building the treatment facilities, it could no longer tolerate any further delays and had to proceed with both treatment projects.

Senator Schumer said his office has been sending letters and speaking with the Navy by phone asking them to commit to a timetable for reaching a final agreement on payment.  Since these communications, the Navy has not complied. Schumer added, “I will do what’s necessary to get the Navy to attend to this immediately. Our consumers should not be burdened with these additional costs, and the District should not have to be put in this situation.”

For more information about the South Farmingdale Water District, visit www.sfwater.com or call (516) 249-3330.   The office is located at: 40 Langdon Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735.

*The plume is approximately 12,100 feet long, 9,600 feet wide and 580 feet deep.

After complex and often grueling negotiations with the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense (D.O.D.), a settlement on the Plant 3 treatment facility should be reached soon.

This means there will be no tax implications or expenses passed along to SFWD consumers. The D.O.D. was held accountable for the initial contamination and agreed in principle to provide full compensation for the cost of cleanup, future operations, management and maintenance. Plant 3, specifically built to deal with the Grumman plume contamination threat to our aquifer, is designed architecturally to blend in with the community’s residential character. The water that reaches your home meets all quality standards.

Plant 3 at Hicksville Road, designed to deliver high quality water and to meet the challenge of the Grumman plume head on, is up and running and has been fully operational since the summer of 2013. The new Packed Tower Ion Filtration Air Stripper(s) remove any VOCs (Volatile Organic Contaminants) from the raw water and filter the treated water back into the supply system. The water meets all standards, and Plant 3 has the capacity to accommodate a second air stripper, if and when necessary.

Built from the ground up, the construction included an architectural residential design of the building including landscaping features to help the new facility aesthetically blend into the community. Today, the facility is standing tall with a new state-of-the-art security system and motion detectors throughout the property.

An Agreement In Principle

The SFWD has reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense (D.O.D.). The settlement will cover all Plant 3 construction as well as operations and maintenance going forward. Final negotiations are underway and we will communicate with our consumers on the details of the settlement as soon as they are finalized.

In an effort to maintain a seamless delivery of high quality water to our consumers, and to address the impending contamination threat of the Grumman plume, the South Farmingdale Water District has started construction of a new water treatment system at Plant 3 on Hicksville Road.

As the plume continues to migrate south, it is the responsibility of the District to shield our consumers from paying for this new treatment facility. At this moment, the District is in final negotiations with the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense (D.O.D.) to cover all construction, operating costs and maintenance of the plant.

In order for SFWD to complete this project on time and within budget, construction will continue through the summer, and we are confident that the D.O.D. will completely reimburse the District for all planning, construction and future maintenance. The District is striving to resolve this issue soon and will continue progress until the well is online.

In the meantime, we’ll continually update our consumers on progress.

After many grueling years of negotiations with the Department of Defense (D.O.D.), a settlement was reached in 2009 for the South Farmingdale Water District to begin construction of its Water Treatment Facility at Plant 1. Today, the District is proud to announce the opening of the facility on Langdon Road and that it is officially up and running.

Servicing 45,000 consumers throughout the District, the new treatment plant was constructed and put into operation to filter all groundwater containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) left behind from the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage, NY decades ago. This new treatment facility will ensure safe, clean water throughout the District, not just for today but for future generations as well.

In 2009, the South Farmingdale Water District received a $14.55 million settlement from the D.O.D. to protect the District’s water supply. Due in large part to the help of U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) communicating with the Department of Justice (D.O.J.), the District received a check to completely cover all construction and maintenance of the facility, with no additional cost to the customer.

In an effort to maintain seamless delivery of high-quality water to its residents and address the impending contamination threat, SFWD began construction of the Plant without a check in hand. A bond issue was approved by the Town of Oyster Bay to cover the costs for construction and maintenance of the treatment system as an interim measure, but the bond was retired soon after.

“This is a special day for our District,” commented the Water Commissioners at the opening of the facility. “The most important aspect of getting Plant 1 online was to be proactive, and we couldn’t afford to close down wells and limit the supply of water to our customers while constructing a new facility. So here we are, fully operational, on-time, on-budget and no consumer tax dollars were spent on this project.”

After years of negotiations, the South Farmingdale Water District has finally received the $14.55 million settlement sought from the Department of Defense (D.O.D.) to protect the District’s water supply at Plant 1 on Langdon Road in Farmingdale.

The District would like to thank U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) for his tireless efforts on our behalf, which prompted the Department of Justice (D.O.J.) to review and approve the settlement agreed upon by the United States Navy and SFWD.

As many residents are now aware, the U.S. Navy operated the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage, New York for several decades that resulted in soil and significant groundwater contamination containing volatile organic compounds.

In a prior commitment, the Navy agreed that if contamination from their site was identified in SFWD outpost monitoring wells, they would pay all future costs of the necessary treatment facilities or replacement wells. In 2004, those SFWD monitoring wells indicated potential contamination from the naval site at levels above the trigger values agreed to by the Navy, the Department of Environmental Conservation (D.E.C.) and SFWD.

In an effort to maintain a seamless delivery of high quality water to our residents and address the impending contamination threat, water treatment systems at two SFWD public water supply sites (Plant 1 and Plant 3) were proposed; including the recommendation to begin construction at Plant 1 immediately. Since official deadlines had passed to initiate construction, and SFWD had still not received funds from the D.O.D., a bond issue was approved by the Town of Oyster Bay to cover the costs of construction and maintenance of the treatment system as an interim measure.

Construction of the water treatment system began in Spring 2010 and is scheduled for completion in Spring 2011. The continuing good news is that the water treatment system will be completed in time to avert any negative effects on the District’s water supply. What’s more, SFWD is in negotiations with the D.O.D. to cover all construction, operating and maintenance costs for the water treatment system to be constructed in the near future at Plant 3.