Join Us: Tackling Plastic Pollution in Long Island Sound

Join us for a free “Plastic-Free July” webinar to learn about plastic pollution in Long Island Sound and how to help advance solutions!

CCE and our partners at the Coastal Watershed Network invite you to join a free Zoom webinar for Plastic-Free July to learn about newly identified microplastic “hot spots” in Long Island Sound, research related to microplastics and algal blooms, and solutions to reduce plastic pollution. Participants will hear from the experts and have the opportunity to ask questions.

Webinar details:
Date: Tuesday, July 16
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Where: Via Zoom (register here)

Speakers/Topics:

• Rachael Miller, Founder of the Rozalia Project: Microplastic “Hot Spots” in Long Island Sound

• Nicole Gullason and Natasha Mishra, Students at Smithtown High School West: Connection between Microplastics and Algal Blooms

• Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director at Citizens Campaign for the Environment: Individual, Corporate, and Policy Solutions to Reduce Plastic Pollution in the Sound

Thank you for joining us!

Sincerely,
All of us at CCE

Protect Drinking Water from Dangerous “Forever Chemicals”

Image by Henryk Niestrój from Pixabay 

In recent years, many communities across New York State discovered their drinking water sources are contaminated with harmful PFAS chemicals. PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are very persistent, meaning they build up in our bodies and don’t break down in the environment. New York State has taken some important steps to address PFAS, however, new science indicates that we must do more in order to protect public health from this growing threat!

What is PFAS?
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products for many decades, due to their non-stick, grease-resistant and waterproof properties. PFAS is used in cookware, packaging, clothing, furniture, adhesives, paint, firefighting foam, artificial turf, and other products. According to the U.S. EPA, there are 3,500 industrial sites across New York State that may be handling or using PFAS chemicals.

PFAS Pollutes our Environment and Drinking Water
Due to widespread use of PFAS chemicals in numerous products and industries, PFAS chemicals have become ubiquitous in the environment, including our soil, air, and drinking water. Testing has revealed PFAS in water sources in dozens of communities across New York State, from Western New York to Long Island.

PFAS Threatens our Health
Studies show that human exposure to PFAS is widespread and that nearly all people in the United States have some PFAS compounds in their blood. Exposure to PFAS can lead to higher rates of kidney and testicular cancer, higher cholesterol levels, thyroid problems, adverse developmental effects and decreased immune response in children, and other adverse health impacts.

EPA Indicates That There is No Safe Level of Exposure to PFAS 
In 2022, based on a growing body of new science, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency updated its drinking water health advisory for two types of PFAS chemicals, PFOS and PFOA. Drinking water health advisories indicate the amount of a chemical in drinking water that is expected to cause adverse health impacts. The EPA significantly reduced the health advisory from 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for both PFOA and PFOS down to a mere .004 ppt for PFOA and .02 ppt for PFOS. This means that there is essentially no safe level of exposure to these chemicals in our drinking water! 

EPA Proposes Strong National Drinking Water Standards
In 2024, the U.S. EPA finalized a rule to establish the first nationwide enforceable limits on the amount of six highly toxic PFAS chemicals allowed in drinking water. For PFOA and PFOS, EPA adopted individual drinking water limits (known as Maximum Contaminant Levels or MCLs) of 4 ppt per chemical. For the other four PFAS (PFNA, PFBS, PFHxS, and GenX), EPA proposed an enforceable limit designed to address those chemicals’ combined effects as a mixture. While we want to ultimately eliminate PFAS in drinking water, EPA’s proposed standards represent the strongest standards that are currently technically feasible.

In 2020, New York State set MCL’s of 10 ppt for both PFOA and PFOS. While the standards were among the strongest of any state in the nation at the time, new science is clearly demonstrating that we must do more to protect clean drinking water by adopting EPA’s proposed standards. Adopting these drinking water standards will protect drinking water in New York, Connecticut, and throughout the nation and prevent thousands of premature deaths. CCE continues to advocate that New York State adopt EPA’s new standards as soon as possible.

It’s Time to Turn Off the Tap to PFAS!
As we make important progress to remove PFAS from our drinking water, it does not make sense to continue using more PFAS and allow more contamination to occur. New York must get serious about limiting further PFAS contamination by banning unnecessary uses of PFAS in products. New York has already enacted laws to limit PFAS in firefighting foam, food packaging, carpets, and apparel; however, there are numerous other products that continue to use PFAS unnecessarily. Learn more about our campaign to ban PFAS in a range of household products in New York State.

Interactive Long Island Map: Is there PFAS in Your Water?
In 2023, CCE compiled data from every Long Island water district and created an interactive map of PFAS levels in drinking water. This analysis has found that: 

Check out our Interactive Map

• 450,000+ Long Islanders (out of 2.7 million served by public water) have drinking water below the detection levels of 2 ppt for PFAS chemicals.

• 570,000+ Long Islanders’ drinking water exceeds the current standard of 10 ppt for PFOA/PFOS.

• 1.7+ million Long Islanders’ drinking water with PFOA/PFOS between 2ppt and 10ppt.

Want to Learn More about Battery Energy Storage?

Join us for a free community meeting on battery energy storage and its role in Long Island’s transition to renewable energy 

New York is a leader in the fight against climate change, with targets of 70% renewable energy by 2030 and carbon neutral electricity by 2040. We are in the process of transitioning from polluting fossil fuels to renewable energy, including wind and solar energy. 

As part of this transition, 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. They will also help stabilize the energy grid as we move towards achieving our state energy mandates, powering thousands of homes and bringing significant economic benefits to our region. 

Join us and our partners to learn how large-scale battery storage works and the critical role it will play in transitioning us away from polluting fossil fuel power plants. We will have a presentation followed by a Q&A.  Register here

When: Wednesday, June 26th at 7:00 pm

Where: Christ Episcopal Church, 12 Prospect Street, Babylon, NY

Thank you for joining us!

Sincerely, 
All of us at CCE

PROTECT OUR GREAT LAKES!

Pretty lake photo Image by Ilona Ilyés from Pixabay

Tell Congress to pass the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 

The Great Lakes supply millions of New Yorkers with their drinking water, provide habitat for wildlife, and support billion-dollar industries such as tourism and fishing. To help protect and restore the health of the lakes, Congress established the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in 2010. The GLRI has funded thousands of projects to clean up the lakes—protecting drinking water, cleaning up toxic pollution, fighting invasive species, and more. 

Despite our progress, more work remains to protect and restore the health of our Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 will extend the successful program for another five years—authorizing $500 million annually. We need our federal representatives from New York State to fight for passage of this critical legislation as soon as possible—email your representatives today!

BACKGROUND

New York’s Great Lakes basin covers 42% of the state’s surface area—second most among all Great Lakes states

The Great Lakes are a natural wonder of the world that hold 20% of the world’s fresh water supply. Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, and the St. Lawrence River comprise over 700 miles of shoreline in NYS. The Great Lakes provide four million New Yorkers with drinking water and support a multibillion-dollar tourism, fishing, and recreation economy.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative 
Established by Congress in 2010, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was created to fund projects to protect and restore the health of the Great Lakes—cleaning up toxic pollution, restoring important habitat, fighting invasive species, reducing pollution from farms, and more. To date, the GLRI has funded more than 7,563 individual projects totaling over $3.7 billion and has greatly improved the quality of life in the region. New York State has received over $270 million to support hundreds of restoration projects. 

The GLRI is not only restoring the health of our Great Lakes, but it is also providing major economic benefits. Throughout the Great Lakes region, every dollar invested in restoration provides $3 in economic returns to the regional economy. In Buffalo, where the GLRI is supporting the cleanup of the Buffalo River and other important projects, the return is even higher—providing a 4-to-1 return on investment!

Threats to the Great Lakes Ecosystem Remain
Despite progress to protect and restore the Great Lakes in recent years, the health of Great Lakes remains threatened. Examples include:

• Toxic legacy pollution: Only one of New York’s six toxic hot spots (known as Areas of Concern), which were identified back in 1987, has been cleaned up.

• Invasive species: Invasive carp sit on the doorstep of the Great Lakes. If established in the lakes, they would decimate the ecosystem and the multibillion-dollar fishing industry.

• Emerging Contaminants: Emerging toxic pollutants, such as PFAS “forever chemicals,” are being found in Great Lakes waters and contaminating drinking water.

Congress Must Continue Progress to Restore the Great Lakes
The GLRI program is authorized through 2026, and unless action is taken by Congress, the program will expire in 2027. Recently introduced in the Congress, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 would reauthorize the GLRI program for an additional five years. The GLRI Act of 2025 would provide $500 million annually, from 2027-2031. 

Thank you for taking action.

Sincerely,
All of Us at CCE

2024 New York State Legislative Session Wraps Up

Image by Aida from Pixabay

We’re celebrating major victories—while continuing to fight to address unfinished business

This past weekend, the New York State legislature finished up the 2024 legislative session, which began back in January. Thanks to your support, we led successful efforts to protect clean water, safeguard the public from toxic chemicals, save vulnerable species, fight climate change, save taxpayers money, and more. 

The Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act, which will allow a Suffolk County ballot referendum to allow the creation of a fund to upgrade sewers and septic systems in order to protect clean water, is a priority bill that passed and was signed into law by the Governor. 

While the following bills still need to be signed by the Governor to become law, passing these important bills in NYS Senate and Assembly is a major accomplishment:

✔ Horseshoe Crab Protection Act: While horseshoe crabs have been around for over 350 million years, having survived the extinction of the dinosaurs, their numbers are now dwindling due to overharvesting. Not only is this a problem for this keystone species, but also the threatened and endangered bird species that depend upon horseshoe crab eggs for survival, such as the Red Knot. We led efforts to get legislation passed that will ban harvesting of these crabs for commercial and biomedical purposes.

✔ Climate Superfund Act: We know that the burning of fossil fuels is causing the climate crisis, yet fossil fuel companies have not taken responsibility for the damage this is causing, until now. Rather than forcing taxpayers to pay for damage, this legislation will hold these corporations accountable—fossil fuel companies will pay into a fund that will help New York adapt to climate change. It would generate about $3 billion annually to fund projects to keep communities safe from flooding, protect vulnerable infrastructure, pay for damage from extreme weather, and much more.

✔ Ban on Fracking with CO2: While we fought to ban dangerous fracking that uses water to extract gas (hydraulic fracking) years ago, there was interest in circumventing the ban by extracting gas using carbon dioxide instead. Since this would be just as dirty and dangerous as hydraulic fracking, we supported legislation to ban CO2 fracking.

Unfinished Business

While we successfully advocated to pass some critical bills, other priority bills didn’t make it past the finish line. After major campaigns by CCE and our coalition partners, the following bills passed overwhelmingly in the NYS Senate. While we secured more than enough votes to pass the bills in the Assembly, Assembly leadership failed to allow the bills to come up for a vote. We’ll work to get these bills passed as soon as possible, which may be a special session later this year or next legislative session:

• Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act: This groundbreaking legislation would reduce wasteful plastic packaging by 30%, while also increasing recycling, banning toxic chemicals in packaging, and saving local taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually. This is the most important thing we can do to help solve our solid waste crisis in NYS, and we won’t stop until we get this bill passed into law!

• Ban on PFAS in Household Products: This legislation would ban the use of harmful PFAS “forever chemicals” in products that New Yorkers use every day, including children’s products, cleaning products, rugs, ski wax, and more. Not only would this reduce our daily exposure to these dangerous chemicals, but it would also reduce the amount of PFAS chemicals that are polluting our environment and our water supplies throughout the state.

Let’s Not Forget Our Success in the State Budget!

While it was passed a couple months back, we can’t forget what we accomplished in this year’s state budget. After a proposal to cut clean water funding by 50%, we successfully led efforts to have full funding restored in the final budget at $500 million. This will ensure that we continue progress to stop sewage overflows into our waterways, remove toxic contaminants from drinking water, replace dangerous lead drinking water pipes, and more!

The NYS Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) was also at risk of being cut, and we worked with our partners to ensure program funding was fully restored to $400 million. We worked to ensure that priority programs within the EPF, including those that help to protect and restore our Great Lakes, ocean, and South Shore Estuary Reserve, were fully funded and not cut.

These bills and budget priorities represent just some of what CCE worked on throughout the legislative session. Visit our website for more information on our 2024 NYS legislative agenda. 

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,
All of us at CCE

Highlights and Happenings: May 2024

Image by Ulrich Hummel from Pixabay

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.

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Highlights

Victory! Governor Hochul Signs Suffolk County Clean Water Bill 
We were excited to join Governor Kathy Hochul as she signed the Suffolk County Clean Water Referendum Bill. This bill would allow Suffolk County residents to vote on a ballot referendum this November. The initiative would create a unified wastewater management district and 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. The next step is passing it through the Suffolk County Legislature, which is holding a public hearing on the bill on June 4th. As Newsday editorial board stated, “The stars finally are aligning for clean water in Suffolk.” 

Fighting to hold manufacturers—not taxpayers—responsible for their waste 
We have been spending lots of time in Albany working to pass one of our top NYS priorities, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. We have been fighting for a strong policy that will reduce product packaging, eliminate toxins in packaging, increase packaging recyclability, prevent plastic pollution, and save taxpayers money—it is estimated the policy would save local governments across the state $420 million annually! We will continue to fight to pass this critical legislation this year, but with just a few session days left we need your help in urging the NYS Legislature to pass the bill. Please send an email urging your representatives to support this bill. 

Turn Off the Tap to Dangerous PFAS Chemicals Now!
Toxic PFAS chemicals can be found in many of the products that we use every day. As a result, drinking water sources across NYS have been contaminated by these chemicals. PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are very persistent, meaning they build up in our bodies and don’t break down in the environment. New science indicates that there is no safe level of exposure to PFAS in our drinking water and we must do more to protect public health from this growing threat. In May, we joined our partners in Albany for a press conference and lobby day in support of legislation that will ban the use of PFAS chemicals in a host of everyday products. Take action today and urge your elected representatives to support passage of this critical legislation today! 

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Happenings

Weighing in on the Future of Great Lakes Restoration 
EPA recently released a draft five-year plan (2025-2029) to oversee federal investments to restore and protect the Great Lakes. In comments submitted to the EPA with our partners at the Healing Our Waters Coalition, we applauded the agency for the plan’s focus on community health and ecological health; commitment to community engagement; solutions that confront climate impacts; importance of local workforce development and economic revitalization; actions to benefit communities hardest hit by pollution and environmental harm; and equitable access to restoration benefits. The plan is expected to be finalized by the start of the federal government’s next fiscal year, which begins October 1. 

Long Island Sound High School Summit 
At the 2024 Long Island Sound High School Summit, which was held in May, high school students from around Long Island showcased their projects and research focused on protecting Long Island Sound. The topics the students covered include stormwater runoff, water quality, marine life, and plastic pollution. It was great seeing the next generation of Long Island Sound stewards come together to share their research and discuss solutions. We were impressed! Thanks to our partners at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society and Friends of the Bay for co-hosting for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for hosting us and giving us a tour of their fish lab. 

Transitioning to Offshore Wind 
As always, lots going with offshore wind in NY. Here’s what was happening in May: 

• Building Support for Offshore Wind—Sign the Petition – Take action today to show your support for offshore wind! As New York’s offshore power kicks into action, it’s a critical time to come out strong for a clean energy future. Join us in urging Governor Hochul's administration to grow New York's renewable energy, including offshore wind! Sign the petition today!

• What’s Brewin’ Offshore – We joined the NY League of Conservation Voters, Climate Jobs NY, and Community Offshore Wind for the latest installment of “What’s Brewin’ Offshore” to discuss the importance of offshore wind and transitioning off fossil fuels. We had a fun educational evening networking and discussion at Strong Rope Brewery in Red Hook, Brooklyn. 

• Vineyard Wind Open House – We headed to Long Beach for an open house by Vineyard Wind last month, who is proposing an offshore wind project approximately 24 miles off the coast of Long Island. We had some great discussions on the potential project, thanks to all who joined. 

• Oyster Shore Energy Storage Open House – As part of our transition off of fossil fuels, we will need renewable energy including offshore wind, solar, and hydropower—as well as battery storage. Battery storage will allow these renewable technologies to deliver clean, renewable energy when it is needed most, especially in high energy demand areas like New York City and Long Island. Last month we attended an open house for the proposed Oyster Shore Energy Storage project in Glenwood Landing on the north shore of Long Island, which will convert and remediate a former petroleum terminal to a battery storage facility. To learn more about battery energy storage and the role it plays in transitioning NY to renewable energy, check out our webinar here. 

Clean Water Symposium: Global Challenges and Local Solutions.
We joined the North Shore Land Alliance and The Nature Conservancy to co-host a conference bringing together leaders in the field of water science in May. Leading experts updated attendees about the condition of local water, including surface water and drinking water. There was also robust panel discussion focused on solutions that both municipalities and homeowners can use to address the protection of Long Island’s critical natural resources. The event was a huge success, thanks to all who came out. 

Skip the Stuff in Suffolk County 
Last year New York City’s Skip the Stuff law successfully went into effect, which requires restaurants to provide plastic utensils, condiments, napkins and other single-use foodware to take-out and delivery customers upon request. Suffolk County is now considering similar legislation to reduce plastic pollution in our waterways and reduce solid waste on Long Island. Last month, we testified in support of the bill with many of our environmental partners. We are fighting to get this common-sense legislation to combat single-use plastics passed in Suffolk this summer. 

Understanding the Health Risks of 1,4-Dioxane on Long Island 
Yale Superfund Research Center has crafted a study to better understand the impact of 1,4-dioxane exposure on Long Island residents. Last year, we launched our partnership with Yale to provide education and outreach to inform Long Islanders about this new, exciting program. If you live on Long Island and are interested in participating and finding out if you have been exposed to 1,4-dioxane, you can find out more here. The Yale Superfund Center will be contacting potential participants in the next few weeks to participate in the study over the summer, so stay tuned.