Sanitary Abandonment Program

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

The Suffolk County Department of Health Services requires the proper abandonment of sanitary systems that will no longer be in use. In the past, sanitary systems were abandoned with clean fill material and closed. The Office of Pollution Control, noting the presence of contaminants in groundwater and soil during the review of environmental site assessments, determined that improperly abandoned sanitary systems were a potential contributing factor to the contamination that was being found. As a proactive response to this trend, the Bureau of Environmental Investigation and Remediation within the Office of Pollution Control, requested that the Office of Wastewater Management include an evaluation of the sanitary systems for potential contaminants prior to the final abandonment.