New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) today announced that New York State has awarded $39.5 million in grants that provide funding for 134 local and regional projects across New York State. The projects are aimed to improve water quality, reduce polluted runoff and restore water bodies and aquatic habitats in each region of the state.

Awarded projects on the East End include:

$476,000-Town of Riverhead: Relocation of EPCAL sewer outfall from the Peconic Estuary

$304,117- Town of Brookhaven: Fish passage at Forge Road Dam on the Peconic River

$100,000- Suffolk County: Carmans River fish ladder at Lower Yaphank Lake

$1,170,342- Town of Brookhaven: Carmans River water quality monitoring and Upper Yaphank Lake restoration

New York State has also provided $383 million in funding for proposed sewer projects in Suffolk County, including an estimated $196 million for the Forge River watershed in Mastic.

Also established is a new $2 million initiative, the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University. This center, the brainchild of Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, will be tasked with developing and commercializing the next generation of nitrogen removal technology for on-site septic systems. This effort will be particularly important for the East End, where sewering is not an option.