By Conner Keough
East Williston and Williston Park residents started paying $74 to $176 more on their yearly water bills as of March 1 because of recently implemented federal standards requiring additional filtration of potentially harmful chemicals in the water supply.
In April 2024, the Biden administration finalized the first-ever national standard for PFAS, a “forever” chemical, in drinking water. PFAS is used in any number of products, from firefighting foam to non-stick cookware and plastic packaging. PFAS exposure is known to increase the risk of many cancers, from kidney and testicular to breast, ovarian and prostate cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The Williston Park Water District has three wells that must be upgraded with additional filtration systems, at a cost of $29.5 million. They include wells one, two and four.
The district received $5 million in federal infrastructure improvement grant funds through the 2021-22 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed under the Biden Administration, to enhance its water filtration. New York State also provided $5 million from the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, according to Bill Merklin, executive vice president of the Woodbury-based D&B Engineers and Architects, who presented at the meeting.
Despite being granted $10 million in state and federal aid, the rest of the $19.5 million will be debt funded by residents, according to the district’s water rate study conducted in January.
“It’s a significant cost to capital improvements,” Merklin said. “There will be a debt service that comes along with that, and that’s what will be accounted for.”
Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar discussed he location of the new filtration systems. Wells one and two are in northern Williston Park near Kelleher Field. Well four is near the parking lot of Angelina’s pizzeria and restaurant on Hillside Avenue. “The plan is to put the new facility near the treatment facility by Kelleher Field, possibly on the Albertson side.” Ebhrbar said. “We will have to wait until the engineer’s designs come in.”
Ehrbar said these plans are tentative and subject to change. Merklin said although the location is subject to change, the size will roughly be 60 by 75 feet for a single filtration system.
“It’s a significant cost to capital improvements. There will be a debt service that comes along with that, and that’s what will be accounted for.”
Bill Merklin, Executive Vice President, D&B Engineers and Architects
Most residents at a recent Wilson Park village meeting expressed frustration with the water-rate increase, but village officials said they had to follow federal requirements.
“If by some chance President [Donald] Trump decides he wants us to go back to 10 parts per trillion, which could happen, there’s a low chance Governor [Kathy] Hochul won’t honor the [the Environmental Protection Agency’s] ruling,” Williston Park Deputy Mayor Kevin Rynne said.
A number of East Williston residents said they are especially upset with the ruling because they must now pay an additional 10% on top of the increase in the agreement because of a 2016 deal between the two villages for which Williston Park provides service to East Williston.
East Williston Mayor Bonnie Parente wrote several letters to her constituents since a Feb. 24 meeting. On Feb. 25, Parente followed up on a claim by East Williston resident Eswar Sivaraman that showed PFAS in Williston Park was under the required 4 ppt every year until 2023. Sivarman suggested the village might not need to invest in a new filtration system and could perform maintenance on the existing facilities because they are close to the mark.
Parente suggested the new filtration system may be unnecessary to lower the ppt by .9 to meet the new federal regulation. In her letter, Parente urged Ehrbar to take more time to review the data and explore other options before committing to the current financial plan.
“I join in the frustration of your consultant Bill Merklin from D&B Engineers and Architects when he pointed out that four parts per trillion is the equivalent of four seconds in 31,700 years,” Parente stated in her letter.
Ehrbar did not respond to the letter before the rate change took effect March 1. The water district has until 2029 to build its filtration system.
