Guest speaker Mr. Paul J. Ponturo, P.E., Senior Water Resources Engineer at H2M Architects & Engineers (Melville, NY) addressed the commissioners with scientific information and data regarding the water contamination crisis in Flint Michigan.
“When Flint changed its water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River, officials failed to apply corrosion control treatment to the new water source,” Mr. Ponturo observed. “This culminated in lead contamination, creating a serious public health danger. The corrosive Flint River water caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply, causing extremely elevated levels of lead.”
Mr. Ponturo added that while many Long Island water providers utilize “infrastructures that are almost 100 years old New York State has strict water management compliance regulations. Each District continually maintains their respective infrastructure to avoid potential contamination including lead leaching intrusion.”
Local Long Island water districts get their water from “a sole source subterranean aquifer as opposed to lake or river water,” Ray Averna, President of the NSWCA and Massapequa Water Commissioner observed. “While our raw water contains virtually no lead even before treatment, the public can see complete information on what’s in the water of our 21 commissioner-run NSWCA member Districts in each respective District’s annual Drinking Water Quality Report.”