NEW YORK (AP) — The state of New York has agreed to close all its remaining illegal cesspools in its state parks by 2019, 14 years after the passing of a federal deadline for the state to do so.

Newsday reports (http://nwsdy.li/2ieovLh ) the state has incurred a $150,000 civil penalty from the federal Environmental Protection Agency for its delay in closing the cesspools, which violate the Safe Drinking Water Act.

EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck says public parks and water pollution don't go together.

The shutdowns will cost just under $9 million dollars. More than $1 million will be used to mitigate the effects of toxic algae blooms that have sprouted in Long Island's waterways as a result of the cesspools, which leak nitrogen into groundwater.

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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com

[STORY BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]

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