The Nitrogen Threat

“Restore Our Waters” was the title of the invitation. Its subtitle: “Learn How To Switch Out Your Septic To Remove The No. 1 Threat to Groundwater, Nitrogen, From Our Septic Systems With Tax-Free Grant Funds.”

Some 100 people packed into the auditorium of the Southampton Cultural Center two weeks ago for a “public education event” to learn about an issue that has deeply impacted Suffolk County: the migration of nitrogen from cesspools into groundwater, the sole source of potable water in Suffolk. The nitrogen also goes into surface waters, including lakes, ponds and bays.

Spotlighted at the event was the development of systems, called Innovative Alternative (I/A) septic systems, that use biological methods and filtering to significantly reduce nitrogen discharges.

Emphasized, too, was how there are government grants available so that homeowners can replace their existing cesspool systems with these I/A systems — grants large enough to cover their cost and installation, and disruption to landscaping.

Folks at the conference were encouraged to apply for the grants.

I was quite familiar with the impacts of nitrogen on surface waters in Suffolk County, including the blue-green algae blooms (extremely pronounced in Lake Agawam, next to where the conference took place), rust tide and the brown tide that first struck in the mid-1980s and decimated the population of the nationally famous Peconic Bay scallop.

But until the event I was not familiar with the extent of human health impacts from nitrogen hitting the water supply, as explained by a major speaker at the gathering, Dr. Christopher Gobler, co-director of the Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University and a professor in its School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

For 20 years, he and his team have conducted research on the impacts of nitrogen on groundwater and surface water here. The levels of nitrogen have been found to be high in Suffolk County.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he said, has set a limit of 10 milligrams of nitrogen per liter as the “maximum contaminant level” in water. Above that, Gobler explained, a medical malady called “blue baby syndrome,” an interference of “the delivery of oxygen to babies,” can result.

Levels of nitrogen in groundwater in Suffolk have been found to be 3 to 5 milligrams per liter, according to a map that Gobler screened. On top of the map was the line: “Suffolk County public water is in the top 5 percent of nitrate levels in the U.S.”

In several locations in Southampton Village, reflected on the map, groundwater levels were greater than 10 milligrams. (Most village residents avoid this by relying on water from the Suffolk County Water Authority.)

Another area of the United States with high levels of nitrogen in its drinking water is the state of Iowa, said Gobler. And Iowa has the “second-highest rate of cancer in the U.S.,” he said. There have been investigations “focused on human health outcomes” in Iowa from nitrogen in its water.

The source of the nitrogen in Iowa, said Gobler, is agriculture. Fertilizers are loaded with nitrates and seep into groundwater and surface water as runoff.

In Suffolk County, he said, a small percentage of nitrogen in groundwater and surface water has been traced to farming. Here, cesspools are “the biggest source” of nitrogen.

“Cancer growing among the corn” was the headline of an article in The Washington Post in October. It noted “a report last year [by] the University of Iowa’s Environmental Health Sciences Research Center” that found that, nationally, Iowa’s “groundwater carries the highest average nitrate pollution largely due to decades of fertilizer use.” The report “considered” how “multiple studies have linked nitrate in drinking water to cancer.”

The extensive piece said this year Iowa’s governor “announced a $1 million investment to establish a research team dedicated to investigating the underlying causes of the state’s growing cancer rate.”

In February, The Daily Iowan published an article saying: “Nitrate runoff in Iowa drinking water could potentially be a reason for increasing cancer rates in Iowa, according to experts.”

It began: “Iowa is the largest producer of corn in the U.S. and, according to a recent report published by the Iowa Cancer Registry, has the second-highest incidence of cancer in the U.S. Some are questioning whether nitrate in the agricultural industry plays a role.”

Gobler said he is scheduled to go to Iowa in 2026.

Tom Varley, watershed manager at the Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University, detailed at the Southampton event the grants available for people to replace their cesspools with I/A systems. These include $15,000 from Suffolk County and up to $25,000 from New York State, and, from the Town of Southampton, grants of $20,000. He went through the process of obtaining a grant and offered the assistance of his center.

In the hall outside the auditorium, representatives of Hydro-Action and FujiClean, two companies that manufacture I/A systems, were at literature-packed tables and explained to attendees how their systems work. There also was an actual FujiClean I/A system, which could be examined on a trailer parked in front of the event site.

A panel discussion was held that included Gobler; Varley; David Rhoades, a professional engineer and president of TF Engineering, which installs I/A systems; Peconic Baykeeper Peter Topping; and Janice Scherer, director of the Southampton Town Department of Land Management. It was moderated by Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker. Audience members asked many questions of the panelists.

Also speaking at the event were Southampton Village Deputy Mayor Len Zinnanti and Trustee Rob Coburn, and State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni.

The event was hosted by Southampton Village and organized by the Lake Agawam Conservancy.

Lynn Arthur, a consultant working for the conservancy, commented that “one of the most valuable things” coming out of the event “was the health impacts that Dr. Gobler very clearly laid out.” She said the event marked “a method of communications” that should be replicated widely in Suffolk and praised the “assistance from a trusted source, the Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University.”