New York’s Suffolk County to Pay $7.2 Million to Close Cesspools

Suffolk County, N.Y., will pay $7.2 million to close large-capacity cesspools and motor vehicle waste disposal wells, according to a consent decree with the US.

Suffolk County must close all of the cesspools and disposal wells at an estimated cost of $7 million and pay a $200,000 civil penalty, according to the deal filed on Wednesday.

The US Environmental Protection Agency ordered the closure of large-capacity cesspools—shallow underground systems for disposing sanitary waste—in 2005 and motor vehicle waste disposal wells in 2008. Both systems pose a serious risk to the public because they can contaminate underground sources of drinking ...