Help CCE build on our success, and support our campaigns to protect public health and the environment in NY and CT.
Make a contribution today.
Highlights
Calling on Governor Hochul to Protect Horseshoe Crabs
Horseshoe crabs have existed for over 350 million years, having shared this planet with the dinosaurs. Sadly, the species is now vulnerable to local extinction unless action is taken soon. Horseshoe crab populations are being depleted and one contributing factor is the commercial fishermen who catch them and chop them up for use as bait. Horseshoe crabs are an essential species in the food web. In order to save the horseshoe crab, and the species that depend upon them, the New York State Legislature passed a bill to ban harvesting of horseshoe crabs. We can’t afford to wait any longer—Governor Hochul must act now. Email Governor Hochul today and urge her to sign the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act into law!
Suffolk County Residents to Vote on Clean Water (Prop 2) this November!
We have launched a public outreach campaign to ensure Suffolk County residents know to vote on a Clean Water ballot referendum this November. The initiative would allow sales tax to be increased by 1/8 of one penny to create a reliable funding stream dedicated to protecting water resources by expanding and upgrading sewers and installing upgraded nitrogen-removing septic systems. This is a victory 10 years in the making. Now we need Suffolk residents to turn out to vote on clean water this year—if you live in Suffolk remember to flip your ballot and vote on Prop 2!
Victory! Clean Water for Calverton on Long Island
There were 128 homes in Calverton drinking from private wells, some with confirmed toxic levels of PFAS and others with a high probability of being contaminated with toxic chemicals—possibly from a local Navy Grumman toxic plume. In 2019, we joined community members to seek support for hooking up these homes to public water. We brought together town, county, state, and federal officials to craft a plan to extend water mains to these homes and to seek funding for the project. The funding came through and the first 64 homes were connected last year. Now construction begins for the final 64 homes to be connected to public water. Congrats to all the community members on this hard-won victory for clean water!
Happenings
Pushing to Continue Successful Efforts to Restore the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), which started back in 2010, has been a resounding success. Congress has provided billions of dollars to support thousands of restoration projects through the GLRI—including efforts to clean up toxic hot spots in the Buffalo River, Rochester Embayment, and the Niagara River in NYS. While progress has been made, we have much more work to do to protect and restore our lakes. Congress is considering legislation to extend this successful GLRI program through 2031—please take a moment to urge your federal representatives to pass this critical legislation well before the GLRI program expires.
New York’s Transition to Offshore Wind
Here’s a look at the biggest developments with offshore wind from August:
NYSERDA Offshore Wind Solicitation – New York is currently in its fifth solicitation for offshore wind projects, with companies submitting their projects for consideration this month. This will allow New York to pick the next round of offshore wind farms, which will then go through robust environmental review. Continuing to move forward with project selections is crucial to achieving our climate mandates and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy.
Community Education on Offshore Wind – This summer we had five fantastic interns who went to parks, beaches, events and festivals and spoke to thousands of Long Islanders on the importance of offshore wind. They got thousands of petition signatures and answered countless questions about offshore wind and the emerging “wind-ustry”. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign our petition to grow offshore wind today! One great event in August was the Offshore Wind Industry Open House and Union Apprenticeship Awareness Day at Stony Brook, which offered a unique opportunity to learn about career prospects in this growing field. It was great to talk to high school and college students about our renewable energy future.
Fighting for Battery Energy Storage - As part of NY’s transition to renewable energy, especially offshore wind, we will need to use battery energy storage systems (BESS). These systems provide capacity that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuel based generated power, thereby providing significant environmental and public health benefits. In August, we went to Town of North Hempstead to urge the Town Board not to approve a 12-month moratorium on battery storage systems. We pushed the town to update zoning codes to properly site projects without a moratorium. Fortunately, the moratorium did not pass at the August meeting, but the fight may not be over. Several other Long Island towns have moratoriums or extensions to existing moratoriums up for vote in the coming months, so stayed tuned for more info on how you can help support BESS.
The Problems with Artificial Turf
Across New York, Connecticut, and the nation artificial turf fields are replacing natural grass at parks, schools, sports fields, and in landscaping. There is growing concern and research connecting artificial turf to a variety of adverse health, safety, and environmental impacts. Exposure to toxic chemicals, water contamination, increase in injuries, PFAS pollution, and plastic pollution are all problems associated with artificial turf. We will be launching a series of educational materials and will be hosting virtual lunch and learn about the various problems associated with artificial turf—stay tuned to learn more about the growing threats from artificial turf. Check out our first educational factsheet here!
Restoring the Western Bays on Long Island
We have been working with our partners at The Nature Conservancy & Operation SPLASH for the last decade to restore water quality in the Western Bays of the South Shore Estuary Reserve. Environmentalists fought long and hard for significant upgrades to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant to reduce excessive, polluting nitrogen in the Western Bays and it’s working. We took a tour of the Bay Park plant in August and are very excited to see all this great progress. Upgrades to the Bay Park Treatment plant resulted in a yearly average reduction of 63% in nitrogen discharge (and 75% in the summer months). The Bay Park Conveyance Project is also underway, which will redirect treated effluent to the Cedar Creek Sewage Treatment Plant’s Ocean outfall pipe, moving the effluent out of the Western Bays.
Upcoming: Our Annual Equinox Gala
On September 26th we will be celebrating 39 years of grassroots accomplishments with our partners, supporters, and friends at our annual Equinox Gala. This year we will be honoring Ørsted to celebrate New York’s first offshore wind farm and Assemblyman Fred Thiele for a lifetime achievement award. It will be an incredible night, so make sure to secure your tickets and/or sponsorships if you haven’t yet.