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Stormwater Management Program
/DocumentCenter/View/13575/VillageOfFreeportStormWaterGuideIn an effort to preserve Long Island's coastal heritage and natural resources, The Village of Freeport has taken the initiative to play its part in creating a Freeport Storm Water Management Program (VOFSWMP). This program will depend on the participation of every municipality and the county to work with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to manage our storm water and reduce the toxic runoff that affects our lakes, streams, and coastal waterways.
View the following Links
Stormwater Management Links (PDF)
Stormwater Links County and State (PDF)
Quality Standards
Roughly 40% of our nation's surface waters do not meet water quality standards, and are contaminated by pathogens, excess nutrients, and chemical pollutants. The health of these surface waters is vital to human health, wildlife, and to our regional economies. Yet every day, stormwater runs into these important water bodies after being contaminated by surface wastes, chemicals, and excess sediment.
Purposes of Stormwater Management
Stormwater discharges directly into our open waters or to our groundwater system. Unlike water, which is used in many of our homes, stormwater is not collected in a sewer system and passed through a water treatment plant before being discharged. Instead, it is collected in almost 1,000 groundwater recharge basins or directed to the south shore bays or Long Island Sound through 3,720 storm water outfalls or almost 60 miles of open stream corridors.
This means that contaminants that are picked up by storm water after it falls on our county's roads, parks, homes, and parking lots flow directly into the groundwater system that we use for our drinking water, or into the sensitive open waters surrounding our island. These pollutants include nutrients, silt / sediment, pathogens, oil / grease, metals, debris, and litter. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Nassau County are working together to reduce six pollutants of concern:
o Nitrogen
o Oxygen Demand
o Pathogens
o Phosphorus
o Polychlorinated Biphenyls
o Silt and Sediment
What Is the Village's Role?
The VoFSWMP is a comprehensive program to reduce the levels of contaminants in Freeport's storm water runoff and educate the public about their impacts on storm water. Storm water systems are the responsibility of the Village of Freeport. Freeport has taken the lead in coordinating the VoFSWMP and acting as a clearinghouse of information for concerned parties. The Village of Freeport Department of Public Works Water Engineering Unit is in charge of implementing the plan, including water testing, education, and pollution prevention measures.
Construction Disturbances
Construction site operations generally disturb large amounts of land, and generate large amounts of waste that wash into surrounding watersheds, estuarine systems, and stormwater systems. These wastes include petroleum products, construction chemicals and solid waste, fertilizers and pesticides, and larger amounts of sediment than can naturally be deposited over decades. As such, construction sites that disturb an acre or more of land are required to control sediment, erosion, and waste, and consider potential water quality impacts of their projects.
Illicit Discharge Detection & Elimination Program
The Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination Program is designed to identify and eliminate any discharge into our storm sewers that is not comprised entirely of storm water. These discharges can contain high levels of toxic materials and pollutants including heavy metals, oil and grease, solvents, nutrients, pathogens, and raw sewage; they can have a great impact on water quality and ecosystem health in our surrounding water bodies.
Illicit discharges enter the system through either direct connection via piping or indirect connections such as infiltration from failed sanitary systems or spills on roads that are collected by catch basins. People dumping waste oil, antifreeze, paint, or other chemicals into a catch basin or stream are also major sources of illicit discharges.
Household Efforts
Practicing good housekeeping can help everyone minimize their impacts on the greater environment. While the goal of this part of the Village of Freeport Stormwater Management Program (VoFSWMP) is to reduce pollutant runoff from The Village of Freeport municipal operations by introducing new pollution reduction measures, private citizens can make great improvements to our local waters by making small changes in their everyday lives.
Public Education
Public education is vital to the success of any municipal program that works to improve our shared quality of life. Stormwater involves everyone in The Village of Freeport, because it affects the quality of the water we fish and swim in and the health of the wildlife and habitat surrounding our island. Certain pollutants pose an enormous threat to the health of these waters, and yet can be eliminated through simple actions taken on the part of industry, citizens, and government agencies.
One example of these simple actions is feeding Canada Geese. Canada Geese contribute significant amounts of pathogens and nutrients to our waterways. Nassau County has recently passed a goose-feeding ordinance, making it illegal to feed Canada Geese on public property and requiring educational signs at feeding locations.
2024 Annual Report
The 2024 Annual Draft Report for the Village of Freeport Storm Water Management Program is hereby presented on this web site in order to solicit comments from the general public with regard to our program. Please submit all comment via email to The Village of Freeport DPW. When the report is available, you can find it here.
If you would like to call us to report any issues and or concerns please contact us:
Monday – Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm 516-377-2289
After Hours and Weekends 516-377- 2411
Email: DPW@freeportny.gov