FACT SHEET ON WATER POLLUTANTS & HEALTH STUDIES
  • South Fork has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the nation and, according to a 1998 study by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, it's 60% higher than the rest of the county.
  • South Fork has one of the highest rates of prostate cancer in the nation, and 40% above the rest of the county.
  • East Hampton has a cancer cluster of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
  • Elevated rates of MS on the East End--the often used pesticide chlorpyrifos (brand name Dursban), a neurotoxin, is implicated as one cause of multiple scleroisis.
  • Pesticides have been found in human amniotic fluid that fetuses float in for nine months (reported at the 81st meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego, CA, June 14, 1999)
  • Traces of MTBE the fast-moving, highly soluble, suspected carcinogenic, gasoline additive is found in our rainwater (source: Suffolk County Water Authority)
  • Pesticides have been found in high levels in the rain falling on Europe, according to Swiss researchers (reported in New Scientist, April 3, 1999).
  • 99 petroleum spills on the South Fork (source: South Fork Groundwater Task Force mapping project).
  • 53 wells contaminated by TCPA* (a degradent of the pesticide Dachtal) (source: South Fork Groundwater Task Force mapping project); 45 of which surround the Noyac golf course (source: Suffolk County Health Services).
  • 8 known chemical bulk storage sites on the South Fork (source: D.E.C.)
  • Private drinking wells exceeding standards for pesticides were found in Amagansett, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Wainscott and Water Mill according to a recent state and county study (source: DEC & Suffolk County Health Services).
  • In same study 30.2% of 410 samples taken on South Fork, mostly in agricultural areas, had detectable levels of pesticides.
  • There are 9 hazardous waste sites on the South Fork (source D.E.C.)
  • 47 Petroleum spills that must be cleaned up (source: D.E.C.)
  • 15 sites have detectable levels of the gasoline additive, MTBE, a suspected carcinogen (source: DEC).
  • Approximately 10-12,000 residential buried tanks with residual amounts of fuel oil left from homes that have switched--these are ticking time bombs for leakage.
  • 1,020, 336 pounds and 162,850 gallons of pesticide products applied by commercial applicators and sold to farmers in Suffolk in 1997 (Source: 1997 NYDEC Pesticide Sales and Application Database)
  • One public well in Southampton** and one public well in East Hampton contaminated by pesticides had been beyond remediation (source: Suffolk County Health Services). [**Has come on line again 4/2001.]
  • Residential well heads that have not been capped correctly when switching to public water can contaminate the groundwater.
*In Noyac, not counting Bridgehampton
compiled by Julie Penny, South Fork Groundwater Task Force, 1999



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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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