Residents of Suffolk County are promoting projects to ensure access to safe, clean drinking water.
Homeowners say local officials must act to secure the necessary grants for the project.
Manorville residents spoke with the Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday to secure a grant to help pay more than $9.5 million to connect their well-fed homes to the public water system.
“They desperately need a connection to the public water supply to get safe, clean drinking water,” says Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Concerned Citizens for the Environment.
Esposito says 64 homes in Manorville use private wells that are contaminated or at risk of being contaminated with a highly toxic chemical linked to cancer called PFA. .
“Most of the residents don’t actually drink water. They rely on bottled water for drinking and cooking, but they wash dishes, wash clothes and bathe,” Manner said. Bill’s Kelly McClinchy says.
Residents say the town of Riverhead should file a grant application with New York state next month.
They say they have to prove they have the ability to provide water to residents. They say the way to do this is by forging an agreement with the Suffolk County Water Authority, which is currently not in force.
Esposito says it recently received a grant to connect 64 well-fed homes in Brookhaven to the public water system.
“You worry about money, but they worry about cancer,” says Esposito.
The town supervisor of Riverhead said it was aware of the deadline and was working closely with the water department and other officials to try to optimize the grant allocation.
An executive session is scheduled for Thursday to discuss further.