Suffolk County homeowners will soon be able to upgrade to enhanced septic systems that reduce dangerous nitrogen pollution at a higher discounted rate, thanks to a surge of state funding announced Wednesday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill Wednesday morning at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood that increases the reimbursement rate for installation of an enhanced septic system to 75%, or up to $25,000. The governor also announced Suffolk County will receive $20 million in new grant funding it can use toward its Septic Improvement Program that provides homeowners $10,000 grants for the upgrade.

New York State is increasing funding for grants that Suffolk County residents can use to replace outdated septic and cesspool systems with newer, advanced systems that reduce the contaminants wastewater releases into the environment.

The goal is to make new and improved septic systems affordable to the public.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new septic bill that would provide a $25,000 grant to people with old and polluting cesspools.

Legislation S8241-A/A8807 Makes It Easier and More Cost-Effective for New Yorkers to Upgrade to Advanced Septic Systems That Significantly Reduce Water Pollution

State Septic System Replacement Program Targets Priority Geographic Areas Like Long Island Which Rely on Sole-Source Aquifers

Funding Incentivizes Replacement of Old Septic and Cesspool Systems to Prevent Water Pollution

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was on Long Island Monday to harshly criticize the proposed $8 million in funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget for the National Estuary Program, which supports clean water initiatives, including those on the Island.

U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand paid a visit to Riverhead on Monday morning to warn about President Donald Trump’s proposed $8 million federal funding cut from the National Estuary Program, which could threaten ongoing efforts to maintain and restore the Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound.

The Village of Port Jefferson is one of several Long Island municipalities and organizations sharing more than $600,000 in grants aimed at creating new pollinator gardens. 

Pollinator gardens are floral areas stocked with specific nectar- and pollen-producing plants meant to attract bees, moths, beetles and other pollinating insects responsible for pollinating about three-quarters of the world’s plant life.

Contaminated water can lead to a plethora of health risks; cutting funding to maintain estuary water quality will endanger Americans’ well-being

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sounded the alarm on the proposed $8 million funding cut from the National Estuary Program (NEP) in the president’s FY26 budget. The NEP works to maintain and restore water quality of 28 estuaries across the United States, including the Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound. Without sufficient funding, the NEP will not be able to monitor New York’s estuaries and keep them safe from threats such as excess nitrogen pollution, pathogens, and harmful algal blooms, which have been shown to be harmful to public health and the environment. Funding to restore and protect our estuaries also boosts coastal resilience from storms, improves tourism and recreation, and supports local jobs.

United States Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand came to Riverhead today to warn that the president’s proposed $8 million funding cut from the National Estuary Program could jeopardize ongoing efforts to protect and restore the Peconic Estuary.

Xilin Zhang was tired of the pressures of maintaining the “perfect lawn,” she said.

So Zhang, a homeowner in the village of New Hyde Park, yanked out her grass and turned her front lawn into a native plant garden: She planted milkweed, false sunflower, New York Ironweed and other plants native to the area. She began the work in 2021 and, over the past few years, her yard started to look like a “little national park,” she said, and was better for the environment, too.

The electric power cable leak that spilled oil into Mill River in East Rockaway has been stopped and repairs have begun, a spokeswoman for PSEG Long Island said Thursday.

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — New York’s Public Service Commission decided on Thursday to stop the project that would bring offshore wind power to New York City. They said that their decision would protect New Yorkers from paying for expensive power lines that might not be needed soon.

Crews have been using absorbent materials to soak up the oil and bagging the contaminated debris for disposal. Trucks have been hauling away the waste as quickly as it’s collected.

An oil spill continues to spread through Mill River in East Rockaway. Since Monday night, hundreds of gallons of oil have leaked into the waterway. Although cleanup efforts are underway, the exact source of the spill has not yet been located.

News 12 is providing an exclusive look inside the labs at Yale University as researchers search for answers about how 1,4 dioxane impacts the human body.

News 12’s What’s In The Water series offers an exclusive look at a Yale University study into 1,4 dioxane and what the study will reveal about the dangers lurking in your drinking water.

A first-in-the-nation study hopes to answer questions about an emerging contaminant in Long Island water - and whether it can cause cancer.

On July 2, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation gathered with local officials at Port Jefferson’s former Lawrence Aviation site to announce the proposed delisting of 96% of the land from the New York State Superfund Registry.

The atomic age is perpetually on the verge of dawning.

Nuclear power is a political winner — but not a money saver. Just ask Tim Echols.

Echols’ term on the Georgia Public Service Commission is up this year, and unlike most states, his position is an elected one.

He says the Vogtle nuclear plant has been a campaign issue — it’s hiked customers’ bills by about 12 percent since coming fully online last year, $21 billion over budget and seven years behind schedule — but that his opponents haven’t been able to weaponize it. He won his Republican primary resoundingly last month.

Two decades ago, the sprawling grounds of the shuttered Lawrence Aviation Industries in Port Jefferson Station were littered with thousands of barrels leaking industrial solvents that created a mile-long toxic plume between the Sheep Pasture Road property and Port Jefferson Harbor.

WASHINGTON — Halfway through his first year back in office, President Donald Trump has the green light from the Republican-majority Congress to move ahead on major parts of his domestic agenda.

The sprawling budget bill Congress passed this week, which Trump signed into law at a July Fourth White House ceremony, will touch Long Island in a variety of ways — from the economy to the environment, from health care access to immigration enforcement — and will be at the center of next year’s midterm elections, said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies.

A rare pine barrens forest in Brentwood is now permanently protected, following a major conservation agreement between New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the Sisters of St. Joseph.

A former aviation facility in Long Island that had contaminated groundwater and nearby drinking wells is ready for redevelopment following a decades-long cleanup, state environmental officials said Wednesday.

A $50 million superfund cleanup successfully restored nearly all of the 125-acre tract of land where Lawrence Aviation Industries once manufactured titanium sheet metal in Suffolk County.

Portion of Site Recommended for Removal from State’s Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton today announced that the cleanup of the former Lawrence Aviation Industries site has reached a significant milestone in the removal of contamination from the site of the former industrial manufacturing facility in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County. The announcement was made during a visit by the Commissioner and local officials to the long-vacant industrial site on Long Island. Following cleanup and restoration efforts, environmental monitoring shows the site has achieved removal criteria to delist portion of the site from the Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites list (State Superfund Registry). DEC is seeking public review and comment on its determination that most of the site no longer requires further cleanup under the State Superfund (SSF) program.

Easement Permanently Protects Globally Rare Pine Barrens Ecosystem

Advances New York’s ‘30 x 30’ Open Space Protection Goals and Helps Connect New Yorkers in Environmental Justice Communities to the Outdoors

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton today announced the permanent protection of more than 43 acres of globally rare pine barrens owned by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, town of Islip. DEC acquired a conservation easement from the Sisters and will jointly manage the property with them for groundwater an

Environmentalists, labor leaders, government officials and solar energy companies all welcomed the appointment of Carrie Meek Gallagher to lead the Long Island Power Authority.

It would probably be difficult to imagine someone with a background better suited to leading  LIPA than Gallagher, who takes the helm on July 7. She has more than 25 years of experience in public service, energy regulation and environmental policy — including time monitoring LIPA.

The June 24 Port Jefferson Station-Terryville Civic Association meeting at Comsewogue Library saw Adrienne Esposito, the executive director for the Suffolk based CCE (Citizens Campaign for the Environment), featured as a special guest. Esposito touched on a number of topics related to health, the environment and local infrastructure and in particular advocated for three bills in the state senate and assembly.

Environmentalists increasingly blame Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie — who’s firing back.

Tensions are still simmering among state lawmakers and advocates after the Assembly closed its 2025 session last week without passing any of this year’s flagship climate and environmental bills.

Legislators shelved measures to cut packaging waste, transition homes off fossil fuels, and ban toxic “forever chemicals” from everyday products. Each measure had passed the Senate, and an Assembly vote was the final hurdle. But most of them never came to a vote.

The MTA has requested and received another extension to complete its $10 purchase of a 40-acre Port Jefferson Station property for a future LIRR train station, Suffolk County officials said Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had faced a June 30 deadline to close on the deal after two previous deadlines had passed in June and December last year.

Some environmental groups are slamming New York’s full-throated embrace of new nuclear.

ALBANY, New York — Labor unions and big manufacturers support Gov. Kathy Hochul’s full-speed-ahead push for new nuclear energy, but environmental advocates are wary.

Legislation Expands Access to Modern Septic Systems, Protecting Groundwater and Waterways Across New York 

In a major environmental and affordability win, Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay announced the unanimous passage of her legislation (A8807/S8241-A) in both the New York State Assembly and Senate. The bill updates the reimbursement structure of the New York State Septic System Replacement Fund, making it easier and more affordable for New Yorkers to upgrade to advanced septic systems that significantly reduce water pollution, according to a press release.