Enterprise Park at Calverton (EPCAL) is a ~2900 acre mostly undeveloped parcel of land in western Riverhead. And current development proposals, including the largest development proposal ever on the East End, threaten 800 acres of rare grassland habitat as well as portions of the LI Pine Barrens, SC Special Groundwater Protection Area, the Peconic Estuary watershed and the LI Sound watershed.
In 1998, the Navy turned over EPCAL to the Town of Riverhead, when the Grumman operations located on the site shut down. Today this property is facing a number of extremely large development proposals, including a group of eight major themed resorts, a 90-acre fake lake, a 350 foot indoor ski slope, ATV parks, and industrial development outside the industrial core. The resorts alone could bring at least 1.5 million people to the site each year. The environmental and community impacts caused by development of this magnitude would surely affect the entire region, from air quality to daily commutes!
Some of the many probable environmental impacts include: water pollution from increased sewage and proximity to the sole source aquifer, intense development in the protected Pine Barrens, decreases in air quality due to excessive energy use and increased traffic, increased demand on LI’s limited energy supplies and water supply, destruction of rare grassland habitat relied on by endangered/threatened species, threats to freshwater wetlands, as well as negative impacts on the Peconic estuary and LI Sound watersheds.
Concerning quality of life impacts include: greatly increased noise, destruction of rural character, greatly increased traffic on currently congested roads, disruption of services at Calverton National Cemetery, possible widening of small community roads or creation of new roads, increased demand on community services (i.e. ambulance, police, fire) and resultant costs for residents.
