Soon after Ron Martz built his home on River Road in Manorville in 1993, tests of his private well water revealed high levels of iron.
Riverhead Town officials rejected his requests to connect to public water, he said. "We were told, ‘You will never get public water here,' " Martz, 71, recalled in a recent interview. "Never."
The Western Bays — the waters stretching 10 miles from the East Rockaway Inlet to the Jones Inlet — are in the midst of a much-needed resurgence.
The bays represent a vital sub-region of the South Shore Estuary Reserve, which is a crucial habitat for hundreds of wildlife species along the Atlantic Ocean.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- A new report released on Thursday says drinking water is slowly getting safer on Long Island.
The findings credit stringent state and federal guidelines and mandatory chemical filtering from water suppliers. As CBS News New York's Jennifer McLogan reports, although multiple water districts exceed limits, there is overall growing improvement.
Long Island water shows decline in toxic chemicals
Despite concerns about Long Island’s drinking water, a Citizens Campaign for the Environment report shows levels of two toxic chemicals have decreased since the nonprofit's 2016 analysis. FOX 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg breaks down the findings and if residents should be concerned.
The New York Department of State today announced the completion of the Newbridge Road Park water access point project in the Town of Hempstead as part of the South Shore Blueway Trail Plan. The completion of this new public access point adds a year-round, ADA-accessible recreation destination that connects to the access point at Seamans Neck Park in Hempstead, creating a network of water access points for individuals to experience Long Island’s South Shore.
For years, conservationists have warned that too much drinkable water is being extracted from the aquifer — a critical repository deep below Long Island — but there wasn't a lot of recent data to define the extent of the problem.
That was until an eight-year study released in August found the aquifer is "under stress," leading to saltwater intrusion, draining of some groundwater-fed streams and abandonment of degraded public wells. The authors of the study, a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, note some of these problems date back decades and have been exacerbated by climate change.
Citizens Campaign for the Environment is sponsoring an educational forum to provide information on Prop 2 on the ballot in Suffolk County this November. If approved, Prop 2 will create a reliable, needed funding stream to expand sewers and provide grants to homeowners to replace their antiquated cesspools and septic systems.
CCE Executive Director Adrienne Esposito will be joined by Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Suffolk County Legislator Dominick Thorne to discuss this important county program.
Date: Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: South Country Ambulance Building – The Community Room
420 Station Road, Bellport
Thank you for joining us!
Sincerely,
All of us at CCE
It was a sight to behold. And one that was a long time coming.
Suffolk County Water Authority contractors who are installing mains that will carry clean drinking water to homes in a remote section of Manorville crossed into Riverhead Town from Brookhaven yesterday.
Four residents who were instrumental in the years-long fight for access to public water gathered midday on Wading River Manor Road and River Road to witness what was for them a momentous occasion.
The last batch of homes with private wells believed to be polluted by subterranean toxins are expected to soon be connected to the Suffolk County Water Authority system, officials said.
The Suffolk County Water Authority began work Monday on a major water main extension to bring public water to 64 homes in the Riverhead Town sections of Manorville and Calverton, taking them off private wells that have been shown to be contaminated by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
The securing of a federal grant last month to restore three coastal wetlands in Suffolk County is the start of a lengthy process to make sure the work doesn't do as much harm as good.
The selection of the sites — Cupsogue Beach Marsh, Scully Marsh and the East Islip Preserve — and securing of funding represent years of advance work, including collecting data on tidal flooding, risk assessments and a cost-benefit analysis. The cost of restoring Cupsogue, for example, is estimated at $2 million, with losses averted totaling $50.6 million.
August 7, 2024 – Citizens Campaign for the Environment Executive Director Adrienne Esposito discusses legislation imposing broad restrictions on the harvesting of horseshoe crabs, which are a threatened species, but useful for biomedical development.
More than 200 community members gathered at the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) August 2 to attend the Offshore Wind Industry Open House and Union Apprenticeship Awareness Day, which offered a unique opportunity to learn about career prospects in this growing field.
“We are destroying this incredible living fossil, chopping it up for bait,” New York State Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick (D-NYC) told me in an interview last week.
Ms. Glick is the author of a bill in the State Assembly, which with a companion measure in the State Senate, have passed that would protect horseshoe crabs. They would prohibit horseshoe crabs from being taken from the waters of New York State except for educational and research purposes.
“We are destroying this incredible living fossil, chopping it up for bait,” New York State Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick told me in an interview last week.
She is the author of a bill in the State Assembly which with a companion measure in the State Senate has passed that would protect horseshoe crabs. They would prohibit horseshoe crabs from being taken from the waters of New York State except for educational and research purposes.
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.
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!
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.
Work is underway on Sunrise Wind, an 84-turbine offshore wind farm that will be seven times bigger than its neighbor, South Fork Wind, about 30 miles off the coast of Montauk.
