FACT SHEET FOR THE DEVELOPMENT
"GOLF AT THE BRIDGE" - 9/12/98
(currently operated as the Bridgehampton Race Circuit)


  1. The racetrack and its property comprise a 516 acre parcel that sits at the pinnacle of a hilly area--a geological formation known as the Ronkonkoma [glacial] moraine--which overlies the South Fork's Magothy Aquifer.

  2. As a water resource, this area is unique--there is nothing comparable to it on the South Fork--providing the purest, largest, deepest recharge area available. This parcel alone contains 80 billion gallons of fresh water.

  3. It is a State Designated Special Groundwater Protection Area that lies within the "core corridor."

  4. It is a deep-water recharge aquifer that serves the residents of Noyac and the South Fork. It is the most significant watershed area on the South Fork.

  5. It is the sole source of Noyac's drinking water.

  6. Noyac has no access to public drinking in cases of pollution. (Nor will it in the foreseeable future as the SCWA has declared piping water to this area too prohibitive.)

  7. Pollution has been found at another golf course only ˝ mile away from this property. Homes surrounding that golf course, the Noyac Golf and Country Club, have been contaminated (45 wells and mounting), some to the point of being condemned from all use (11 and mounting ). There is no relief for these residents monetarily, or, in the way of public water.

  8. Immediately down-gradient from the racing circuit lie:
    1. People's homes
    2. Trout Pond--a pristine pond fed by streams originating from this deep recharge aquifer. It is a recreation area where children and adults swim and people fish.
    3. Noyac Bay.


  9. A golf course would make the above areas receive:
    1. Contaminated surface runoff and subsurface pollutants.
    2. Groundwater contamination
    3. Airborne contamination.


  10. This aquifer sits atop the groundwater divide sending its waters south to the ocean, north to the bay and northeast to Sag Harbor.

  11. Re. Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS):
    1. The Town let the developer do his own Final Environmental Impact Statement when they could have authorized an independent study at the developer's own expense.
    2. The FEIS should, at least, have been prepared by Southampton's Department of Land Management as this was the largest proposed project before Southampton Town and will have the most critical environmental impact of any project ever proposed.
    3. The FEIS was found to be not only biased, but not substantive by professional ecologists, naturalists and hydrologists, amongst others. And, not site-specific.
    4. The FEIS violates SEQRA and the Sole Source Aquifer Protection Act-Articles 8 and 55 of the Environmental Conservation Law.


  12. The only reason this property is now slated to become a golf course (with 20 mansion-sized homes plus an additional 20 carriage houses ) is because on January 14, 1997 the Town Board discretionarily voted in favor of a change in zone from Aquifer Overlay District to Quasi Public Use District (QPSUD). The Town Board advised that the QPSUD would be repealed after the determination on this property be made.
    1. The QPSUD allowed the Town Board to make lax, the stringent laws protecting this area.
    2. The QPSUD will allow 65% of the property to be developed. (Under its previous zoning, only 35% would have been developed thereby allowing for more recharge of the aquifer.)


  13. This property lies within the Southampton Aquifer Protection Overlay District (Town Code Section 330 Article XIII). A golf course violates this code.

  14. "The 'Final 1995-1996 Open Space And Greenbelt Acquisition Program Report' place the Bridgehampton Race Track within a critical target area for conservation. A target area is defined as a: '…natural area that needs to be eventually safeguarded by acquisition or other means to ensure the viability of the town's most important ecosystems…' (pg. 4)"

  15. Having a golf course flies in the face of the Town's own Master Plan; Town Code; it's Eastern Generic Environmental Impact Statement.

  16. It violates Article 55 of the Environmental Conservation Law.

  17. It violates Article 8 of the Environmental Protection Law.

  18. The Planning Board has recently received its review and report from outside consultants, A. Martin Petrovic and Thomas Cambareri, (August 1998) who are highly critical of the developer's Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements and the simulations and methodologies used by the developer for their predictions. And, critical of the developer's "Integrated Golf Course Management Plan, the Water Quality Risk Assessment Plan, the Golf Course Managment Plan, and the Golf Course Protocol For Golf at the Bridge." As devised, they criticize that it will contribute to the degradation of the [now pristine] groundwater.




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South Fork Groundwater Task Force
PO BOX 2360    Sag Harbor, NY 11963
Phone/Fax: 631 - 725 - 6200

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