Suffolk County voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 2 to establish a $3-to-$4-billion Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Fund to expand wastewater treatment systems and replace antiquated septic systems with high-tech nitrogen removal systems.
The measure passed with 71% of the vote in favor — more than double the 28% who voted against it — according to unofficial early returns tallied by the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Environmentalists cheered the news.
“This victory is the culmination of decades of work and shows the power of dedication and collaboration,” The Nature Conservancy’s Long Island Policy Advisor Kevin McDonald said. “The universal need for clean water transcends all politics.”
The New York State Legislature and the Suffolk County Legislature both have approved legislation that would create the fund, but voters had to approve it to become law. The 1/8th of a percent sales tax increase would advance the implementation of the previously approved Suffolk County Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan that maps out a comprehensive wastewater treatment infrastructure roadmap over the next half-century. It would also create a county-wide wastewater management district.
“In an election filled with controversy, clean water has united Suffolk County,” Citizens Campaign for the Environment Executive Director Adrienne Esposito said. “This is the culmination of over a decade of research and effort to craft a plan to restore our drinking and coastal waters. Today we made history and tomorrow will get to work to implement the clean water restoration plan.”
Voters across New York State also approved Proposition 1, the New York Equal Protection of Law Amendment to the state constitution. According to its supporters, the amendment would greatly expand on protections codified in the state’s 1938 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, creed or religion — but not sex or gender. The new amendment was much broader, noting that it includes protections against discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, reproductive healthcare and autonomy.
Two local propositions on the East End also passed. These include a proposition in East Hampton to use part of a nature preserve to reconfigure a problematic intersection, and a proposition in Southampton to request funds dedicated to cleaning up Lake Agawam in the village of Southampton. Both propositions had bipartisan support.
-With additional reporting by Michael Malaszczyk
