DEC: No Flooding Concerns With New Village Water Removal Project

The pumping of some two million gallons of water from the New Village construction site into local storm drains will not cause flooding in the area around Patchogue Lake, a spokesperson with the Suffolk County Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) told Patch.

Bill Fonda, a DEC spokesperson, said that two million gallons of water fills about four Olympic-sized swimming pools, which in the scope of a body of water the size of Patchogue Lake amounts to a small amount of additional volume. He said water pumped from the construction site would reach the lake through natural means at a rate of about one foot per day.

Excess water would go into the Patchogue River, and will not stay in the lake for an extended period of time, Fonda said, adding that sampling of the water has also been completed.

Some residents had expressed concern over the removal of water from the New Village site, which when completed will bring 291 apartments, 46,000 square feet of retail space and 18,000 square feet of office space at the Four Corners intersection in Patchogue Village, at which the former Swezey's Department store was recently demolished.

"Hopefully the lake will not be negatively impacted regardless of the application's outcome," said Elisabeth McGuire in a comment on Patchogue Patch. "Residents do still have concerns about flooding based on past experiences, but I suppose they will be addressing them in their letters to the DEC."

The DEC are accepting public comment in writing to a contact person listed on the application description on the DEC's website through Friday.