Longtime Babylon residents insist blackened canal, foul smell is not normal
Despite assurances from officials, residents who have lived in Babylon for upwards of 50 years say they have never seen anything like the current discoloration of a local canal.
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The canal is not polluted with oil, gas or raw sewage, according to the Coast Guard and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Longtime Babylon residents are concerned about the current discoloration of a local canal.
MORE: 'We just don't know what it is.' Babylon village residents concerned over canal turning murky
Patricia Hults, who has been living in the area for around 50 years, says she is wondering what the discolored water is doing to the wildlife.
Feathers on swans who swim in the water have turned black, and Hults says she found a dead horseshoe crab near the canal.
"The water is totally dark, and the poor fish are trying to come up and breathe," Hults says.
The canal is located between South Bay Drive and Little East Neck Road. It empties into the Great South Bay.
The canal is not polluted with oil, gas or raw sewage, according to the Coast Guard and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The state DEC said, "Some organic material was observed, which potentially could be the source of the odor issue."
The DEC also requested the village and Town of Babylon, which have oversight over the stormwater system in the area, to investigate any potential cause beyond the organic material observed.
The Suffolk County Health Department has also tested the water and hope to have results this week.
Suffolk County also says they have ruled out black and brown tides as the cause for the discoloration.
