For more than 5 years I have expressed my concerns to government regulators at all levels about the environmental threat presented by the various industrial operations being undertaken by Sand Land at its Noyac location. I have not been alone in my concerns. Environmental groups, civic organizations, and neighboring property owners have joined together to alert the public and the involved regulatory agencies about the potential danger. I have sought party status in administrative proceedings in order to oppose the expansion of this sand mine and have alerted the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) from the Regional Office in Stony Brook to the Commissioner in Albany about the public threat posed by the current operations at Sand Land.

Time and again, the State DEC has turned a blind eye to these community concerns. The DEC has short-circuited the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), failed to enforce the provisions of the State Mined Land Reclamation Law, and ignored the voice of the public, by repeatedly rubber stamping permits for Sand Land.

The chickens have now come home to roost. Years of regulatory neglect have yielded a stew of contamination that would more likely be associated with an open dump than a legitimate business. The State DEC has utterly failed to protect the public. This location is home to the most sensitive water charge lands in the Town of Southampton, east of the Shinnecock Canal. It is a state designated Special Groundwater Protection Area. Now the groundwater is compromised by excessive nitrogen and manganese as well as a variety of metals and other contaminants.

All levels of government must act and must act now.

1. We cannot wait until April for the Suffolk County Department of Health Services to release its report on the contamination. The testing was done months ago and the SCDHS has had the raw data for weeks. Their report must be made public in the next two weeks.
2. The SCDHS must also begin to survey for contamination by testing all drinking wells which are down gradient of the contamination.
3. The State DEC must launch a full environmental investigation to determine the full extent of contamination at this location.
4. The State DEC must take action to stop the processing of vegetative waste and other industrial activities until the extent of the contamination is known.
5. The State DEC must reject any expansion of the sand mine at this location.
6. The Southampton Town Supervisor must exercise his authority under State Law and inform the State DEC that mining is a prohibited activity under the Southampton Zoning Code.