The Suffolk County Water Authority for a second consecutive year has partnered with Citizens Campaign for the Environment, King Kullen and SUEZ Water on a campaign to encourage the proper disposal of unused medications. In the program’s first year, more than one ton of unused medications were collected at King Kullen pharmacies throughout Long Island. Representatives of each organization involved with the campaign held a press conference at the King Kullen supermarket on Sunrise Highway in Patchogue this week to celebrate the achievement. “We have great drinking water and we want to keep it that way,” said Patrick G. Halpin, Secretary of the Suffolk County Water Authority Board. “We constantly test our water to make sure it’s safe. But we recognize that the indiscriminate disposal of pharmaceuticals has the potential to become a very serious threat to our water supply. And that is why we are proud to support this proactive program to dispose of pharmaceuticals properly.”
The Suffolk County Water Authority is an independent public-benefit corporation operating under the authority of the Public Authorities Law of the State of New York. Serving approximately 1.2 million Suffolk County residents, the Authority operates without taxing power on a not-for-profit basis.