Suffolk Closeup: Success Started in the Classroom

As a professor for 47 years, I’ve had thousands of students. Among the many whom I am proud of is Jeffrey Szabo. He’s chief executive officer of the Suffolk County Water Authority and a leader in Suffolk and nationally in preserving what we can’t live without—water.

Jeff was my student at Southampton College, where I taught part-time for decades until, sadly, it was closed. Also, from the late 1970s to my retirement last year as a full professor of journalism, I taught full-time at SUNY at Old Westbury. At both schools, I taught courses titled Investigative Reporting and Environmental Journalism.

Jeff is a Suffolk native, raised in Bohemia. He became CEO of the authority in 2010. Before that, he was a deputy Suffolk County executive. He has been president of the board of directors of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, a nationwide group.

An example of his visionary and important leadership is the creation of the Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection (LICAP), a bi-county initiative.

In his introduction to a LICAP report last year, Jeff wrote: “This report is…a significant moment for me personally. Over a decade ago I had an idea for a regional organization that would take a holistic approach to managing the most precious natural resource we have—our aquifer.”

“That idea,” he continued, “became LICAP and since its inception it has produced these State of the Aquifer reports, completed the Groundwater Resources Management Plan with more than 100 actionable policy recommendations, launched WaterTraq as the first unified regional water quality reporting tool, built the Sentinel Monitoring program and developed the Our Water Our Lives campaign. These efforts have increased transparency, informed policy discussions and elevated groundwater protection across Long Island.”

He’s served as LICAP chairman.

Last week, in an interview, Jeff discussed the authority’s “record on PFAS—being out front of just about every agency in the country.” The authority has been installing granular activated carbon systems in wells to filter out PFAS, which don’t easily break down and thus are called “forever chemicals.” It is actively continuing with this program, he related.

Last year, Jeff and other leaders of the authority, along with Suffolk’s current county executive, Ed Romaine, announced it was six years ahead of a 2031 EPA target of a limit of 4 parts per trillion of PFAS in public drinking water. Long-term exposure to PFAS has been linked to health impacts, including cancer. The authority’s goal is to supply water without any detectable levels of PFAS.

“We’ve been working for years to build a treatment program that protects our customers,” said Jeff at the event.

Romaine said, “This is about protecting public health” and praised the authority “for acting early and doing what’s necessary to provide residents with some of the cleanest drinking water in the country.”

Jeff, the father of four, is also an elected trustee of Babylon Village.

He said last week: “I believe in public service. You can make a difference.”

He has.