WHAT DOES IT TAKE to shut down a mine?
Court decisions, a restraining order, legal violation notices, and a stop work order apparently aren’t enough. Sand Land, a sand mine in the Hamptons, has faced each of these this year — and ignored them all.
The latest notice came earlier this month, when the Department of Environmental Conservation (dec) sent Sand Land a letter citing its repeated legal violations and threatening thousands of dollars in fines. Still, the mining has continued.
LONG BEACH, N.Y. -- A major renewable energy project off Long Island suffered a big blow on Friday when Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a controversial bill that would've expedited a planned wind farm off Long Beach.
RENEWABLES TEST — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: Gov. Kathy Hochul faces a difficult balancing act as her administration weighs a request for increased subsidies from renewable developers who warn that they may otherwise have to scrap projects that are critical for New York’s climate goals.
New York State’s Public Service Commission (PSC) voted today to deny price adjustments critical to the feasibility of renewable energy construction projects. By denying the adjustment, New Yorkers bear the brunt of the decision as disruption, delays, and uncertainty will leave New Yorkers with no choice but to continue to rely on unpredictable fossil fuels.
A coalition of environmental groups rallied Wednesday in support of Equinor’s offshore wind project, Empire Wind 2 — off the coast of Long Beach, N.Y. The pro-wind rally emphasized the importance of state support in offshore wind projects to meet New York’s climate goals and grow new green industries.
“Let's face it — here on Long Island, we are at the front lines of climate change,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “You don’t have to tell us about the perils before us, because we live it.”
BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. -- Residents who live near the controversial Brookhaven town landfill are demanding an investigation after they say they've gotten sick by hazardous waste.
Brookhaven, NY (October 9, 2023) – Leaders from the Brookhaven chapter of the NAACP NYS Conference, Citizens Campaign for the Environment (DDE) and the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group (BLARG) today called for an independent investigation into the dumping of potentially hazardous waste for years at the town of Brookhaven landfill, exposing neighboring communities of color, teachers and students at the nearby Frank P. Long School and workers at the landfill to serious health risks.
Liberty Water customers in the Merrick Service District received a notice from the company last month stating that the chemical 1,4-dioxane had been detected in the drinking water at a concentration that exceeded New York state’s maximum contaminant level of 1 part per billion.
The League of Women Voters of East Nassau recently partnered with the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a nonprofit and nonpartisan environmental organization, to host a vastly informative presentation on the drastic consequences that climate change could have not only globally, but particularly on Long Island.
IN THE HILLS of the Hamptons, next to one of the most expensive golf clubs in the country, sits a big pit. It spans an area of just over 30 acres — about six city blocks — and drops more than 100 feet deep in some parts, with heaps of sand scattered throughout. Heavy machinery scoops that sand out of the ground, sifts it, and loads it onto trucks for sale. It’s a mine called Sand Land, and it operates much as it has for more than half a century.
It isn’t supposed to. New York’s highest court ruled more than six months ago that Sand Land’s permits were invalid, and regulators told the company to stop mining. The town slapped a stop work order at the entrance. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (dec) sent inspectors and issued violation notices. Sand Land kept digging.
In a secluded residential block on Northport’s McKinney Avenue lies an advanced water treatment center masquerading as a barn.
At this site, representatives from the Suffolk County Water Authority joined state and local public officials for a press event on Thursday, Aug. 24, announcing eight new high-tech water filtration systems for local drinking water.
Rachel Carson, a pioneer of the modern environmental movement, fought against pesticides and their damaging impact for much of her career. Her landmark 1962 book, “Silent Spring,” relied in part on evidence from two organic farmers on Long Island, who fought against the aerial spraying of the toxic pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT, on crops.
