Continuing its commitment and dedication to maintaining and protecting Huntington Harbor and Long Island Sound, the Town of Huntington recently completed $18 million in upgrades to its sewage treatment plant, reducing the plant's nitrogen discharge by 90% and earning the town a Platinum Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies. The project included upgrading the nitrogen removal system at the plant and installation of an ultraviolet disinfection system, which allowed the existing disinfection chemical storage and handling facilities to be taken out of service and eliminated the need to construct storage and handling facilities for a chemical that would remove chlorine The new and upgraded facility will greatly improve the health of the Sound and reduce the potential for red tides and brown tides by reducing "hypoxia" - a deficiency in the amount of oxygen in the water caused by excess nitrogen. That, in turn, causes more Phytoplankton to die and sink to the bottom of the Sound, causing more oxygen to be consumed in the deeper portions of the Sound and making it an unfit habitat for marine life during the summer months. In 1998, the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) Management Conference found that hypoxia affects a substantial portion of the Sound marine habitat and merited special attention. To address hypoxia, the state imposed limits to reduce nitrogen discharged from the twelve municipal treatment plants located on the north shore of Long Island. The Huntington Sewer District was among districts that needed to upgrade their wastewater treatment facility to reduce total nitrogen discharged from the Town's treatment plant to the Long Island Sound by 80.6% by August 2014. With completion of this project, the Town is years ahead of that schedule. "These upgrades demonstrate our deep commitment to preserving the marine heritage that is a hallmark of Huntington's history and part of what makes this such a desirable town to live in," supervisor Frank Petrone said. "We are additionally pleased that in completing this project, Huntington already has met the 2014 federal and state deadline for all facilities that discharge nitrogen. And we are gratified that our efforts have been recognized by the American Council of Engineering Companies with their Platinum Award." "The Platinum Award is exceptional recognition and a crowning achievement of this very successful project," said Gary Loesch, P.E., executive vice president of Holz-macher, McLendon & Murrell, P.C., the Town's design and construction engineer on the project. ACEC calls the award the Academy Awards of the engineering consulting world. The project was partially funded by $9.2 million in state grants.