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Highlights of CCE’s Recent Victories

MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) now banned in the Tri-State region. Seven years after CCE launched our campaign to protect drinking water from MTBE contamination, a majority of states, including Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, have banned MTBE. Additionally, the federal oxygenate requirement ended on May 5, 2006, ending federal incentives for MTBE in our nation’s gasoline. Contaminating wells and aquifers across the tri-state area, MTBE is an EPA classified possible carcinogen.

CCE stops EPA plan to dump dredged spoils in Long Island Sound. After CCE members sent in almost 11,000 letters to state and local leaders, NY and CT Governors agreed to phase out dumping of untreated dredged materials into Long Island Sound! The agreement calls for the development of a Dredged Material Management Plan focuses on using alternative technologies for dredged materials and establishes the phase-out of open water dumping.

Broadwater Victory!
New York State Governor Paterson Says NO to Broadwater—The public prevails over Big Oil!
Governor David Paterson announced on April 10, 2008, at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island to a crowd of Broadwater opponents that the State finds the Broadwater proposal to violate the Coastal Zone Management Act and ruled the project inconsistent with the values and uses of the Sound. The proposal, to place a Liquefied Natural Bas Barge in the middle of Long Island Sound, would have threatened local ecosystems and required an unprecedented "no public access zone" in open waters of the Sound. This challenging campaign to stop Broadwater spanned three years, and CCE is eternally grateful to every person who wrote a letter, attended a public hearing, made a phone call, and stood up to keep Shell Oil from industrializing Long Island Sound.

Increasing Funding for Environmental programs. In 1993, CCE worked with our NY partners to establish a dedicated state funding stream to protect drinking water, preserve open space, and other critical programs, called the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). For over 15 years, CCE has worked to increase allocated funding levels. In 2007, CCE successfully advocated legislation that requiring the EPF increases up to $300 million, by 2009!  To protect the Long Island Sound water quality, CCE annually advocates for full federal funding for critical public education and pollution prevention programs. 

Open Space Protection. CCE successfully advocated the passage of the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act to empower towns in Westchester and Putnam to protect open space, farmland and historic areas. After years of CCE advocacy, Western New York’s Zoar Valley gorge is now protected permanently as a designated State Nature and Historic Preserve.

Protecting families from toxic pesticide exposure. CCE campaigned to ban the use of pesticides on school property at all elementary and middle schools in Connecticut. In 2005, CCE helped to thwart the EPA ill-conceived study, known as CHEERS, designed to test toxic pesticides on humans, including pregnant mothers, children, and infants! CCE conducted successful grassroots campaigns to enact the NYS Pesticide Neighbor Notification law in Erie, Monroe, and Ulster counties to give residents the right to know before dangerous pesticides are being sprayed on neighboring properties. Advanced notification allows families to take precautions to avoid unnecessary exposure from toxic chemicals. 

Promoting the use of clean renewable energy. CCE has successfully urged more than 50 municipalities to purchase wind power for some or all of their electricity needs, thus expanding the market for this clean, renewable, and domestic energy source. The Wind Power Education Project (WPEP) is a collaborative effort of CCE and our partners to provide information on wind power to local communities.