Environmentalists: E. Quogue golf resort will pollute water

<p>Environmentalists say they are outraged at a list of possible pesticides that could be used to maintain a proposed luxury golf resort on the East End.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Apr 21, 2017, 7:38 PM

Updated 2,730 days ago

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Environmentalists: E. Quogue golf resort will pollute water
Environmentalists say they are outraged at a list of possible pesticides that could be used to maintain a proposed luxury golf resort on the East End.
Current plans call for The Hills project include a private golf course, a clubhouse and 118 homes in East Quogue. Bill Kearns, who lives on the edge of the Pine Barrens, says the land is environmentally sensitive.
"This is our sole-source aquifer. We can't get water from any place else," Kearns says. "Why put a housing development? Why put a pesticide- and nitrogen-laden golf course over this aquifer?"
Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, says there about 100 private wells in East Quogue that could be contaminated with pesticides. She also says the chemicals run a risk of polluting the Shinnecock Bay.
"It's a danger to the environment. It's a danger to the drinking water for the public," says Esposito.
The Hills project spokesperson Jessica Insalaco says the developer is working with an environmental expert from Cornell University who provided the list of possible pesticides that would be OK to use on the land.
She says the idea is to use as little as possible when treating an area.
"On the golf course, if they find something that needs to be treated, they go and treat it only where it is and just the exact amount that is needed," Insalaco says.