Five years ago, Suffolk County launched a plan to dig up and replace every outmoded, polluting septic tank and cesspool in the county. The ambitious project, one of the largest causes championed by Long Island environmentalists over the past several decades, was expected to take 50 years. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the Montauk Lighthouse over the weekend to sign new protections for whales into law.

Called the Whale Awareness Act, the legislation is centered on education and integrates marine mammal protection into both New York State boater safety courses and the vessel registration process.

Key Points

• Riverhead is working on draft revisions to its battery energy storage code.

• The discussion follows PFAS detections in public water wells near the 2023 East Hampton BESS fire site.

• SCWA says PFPrA was detected in water that migrated from the fire; state officials say the source remains under investigation.

• Rothwell opposes a moratorium but wants runoff containment and removal of utility-scale BESS from Residence A-80 zoning.

• Several Suffolk towns have adopted or extended BESS moratoria while reviewing local rules.

The state of New York has a solid waste problem. At least when it comes to tracking it.

This is according to a new audit from the New York State Comptroller’s Office.

Auditors found the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) “lacks reliable information on how much material is recycled across the state.” 

The Trump administration is buying back New York offshore wind leases as it moves forward with plans to expand the use of fossil fuels.

The company RWE U.S. Offshore is receiving more than $1 billion to give up its leases to build wind farms off the coasts of New York, California and Louisiana. It is one of several deals the federal government made with renewable energy companies to get them to invest in fossil fuels instead.

COALITION PROPELLING LONG ISLAND TRANSMISSION: A new coalition has formed to support the Propel NY project that’s awaiting a key state approval and running into some last-minute hurdles.

A new New York law aims to protect whales by requiring whale-safe boating education and instructing boaters to keep at least 300 feet away from whales.

A new state law will change what boaters learn before they hit the water, including how to safely respond if they encounter a whale.

As more whales spend time in Long Island waters, a new state law aims to educate boaters about how to avoid collisions with the marine mammals.

State officials plan to boost funding for the Clean Vessel Assistance Program, a grant initiative that helps marinas install and upgrade boat pump-out stations that reduce water pollution.

In response to increased collisions between boats and marine mammals off New York’s coast, state lawmakers want better training for boaters to protect dolphins and whales. We discuss this issue with Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

Plum Island’s future is coming into clearer focus, thanks to Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine’s announcement Wednesday that the County will seek to acquire the 822-acre island off the tip of Long Island’s North Fork. 

New York attorney general Letitia James sued chemical manufacturers (PDF) 3M, DuPont, Corteva, Chemours, and EIDP in state court on July 9 for their role in contributing to pollution and other alleged harms from the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products.

Environmental advocates say PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have been used in consumer products for decades and that the lawsuit represents an important step toward reducing public exposure.

A U.S. Navy official made a stunning admission last month, one that residents and Suffolk County officials had already suspected. For over a year the Navy withheld from the public test results that found dangerously high levels of the chemical PFOS in fish and the waters in Swan Pond near the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton.

As the mercury rises, the Long Island Water Conference is urging residents to conserve water in ways that are good for the environment and your wallet.

With Long Island already classified by the federal government as being in a severe drought , the organization is encouraging residents to save water, both in the short and long term. LIWC represents the major public and private water suppliers that provide drinking water to almost 90% of the island's population.

In a fenced-off area of Bethpage Community Park, a long-delayed cleanup of a former chemical dumping ground trudges along: Construction excavators have dug into the landscape in recent years, and arrays of metal pipes have drilled into the dirt.

The East Hampton Energy Storage Center, which caught fire in 2023, and as a result, according to a recent lawsuit filed by the Suffolk County Water Authority, leaked perfluoropropionic acid, a so-called “forever chemical,” into the groundwater and the water authority’s nearby wells is not unique in the Town of East Hampton.

The Huntington Town Board has approved a six-month moratorium on permits and approvals for the installation of battery storage systems in the town, citing ongoing concerns over fire safety.

Board member Dave Bennardo sponsored the resolution, which passed 5-0 at a board meeting last week.

Last month, Bennardo hosted a meeting with fire chiefs from Greenlawn, Centerport and East Northport, as well as residents and some storage system representatives, to discuss the future of such facilities.

A new round of funding is now open to Long Island property owners willing to trade some lawn for native plants—and the reasons to apply go beyond a reimbursement check.

The Long Island Garden Rewards Program, a partnership among the Long Island Regional Planning Council, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Long Island Sound Partnership, the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve Program, and NEIWPCC, offers reimbursements of up to $500 to property owners who install rain barrels, create rain gardens, or plant native species on their land. Homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits are eligible. Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis until funding runs out. Since the program launched in 2023, more than 580 property owners have received reimbursements.

In the wake of pressure from Suffolk County to clean up numerous environmental issues emanating from the former Grumman plant in Calverton, consultants for the U.S. Navy have unveiled a plan to capture a groundwater plume of the emerging contaminants PFAS that is believed to be spreading toward a nearby lake and the Peconic River.

ALBANY — The recently passed state budget includes more money for top environmental issues, like clean water, protecting Long Island’s estuaries, increasing renewable energy sources and weaning the state off fossil fuels.

But the changes to the state’s landmark climate law Gov. Kathy Hochul muscled through cast a pall over other progress environmentalists felt they made.

Key Points

• The Navy says interim PFAS treatment could begin by mid-fall.

• The work targets groundwater contamination moving toward Swan Pond.

• RAB members criticized the Zoom format and limited public participation.

• The Navy did not answer whether Suffolk County will remain in technical meetings.

The Let Them Build agenda that is aimed at expediting construction of housing, a component of New York State’s fiscal year 2027 budget signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last month, is drawing negative reviews from environmental advocates on the South Fork, while the legislation was quickly followed by the Long Island Builders Institute’s formation of a council dedicated to construction in the five East End towns.

Chemicals linked to the Navy’s former Grumman site have spread to Swan Pond and contaminated three private drinking water wells nearby, according to a new report by the Navy.

The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire for staff firings, climate and deregulation controversies, but Administrator Lee Zeldin, who is from Long Island, returned to his home turf Friday to spread the word on what is right with the EPA.

More than 50 volunteers spent part of their weekend helping create a new pollinator garden along Great Patchogue Lake, a project designed to support struggling bee and butterfly populations while improving local water quality.

On May 14, the Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) released a report of Long Island Sound water quality restoration projects it would like to see funded through the New York State Environmental Bond Act. The list was composed following meetings with village, town, county, and state representatives from across Long Island and shared digitally following a press conference at Northport Yacht Club.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a long-anticipated proposal to rescind federal limits on certain toxic "forever chemicals" in drinking water — established two years ago by the Biden administration — a move New York has sought to neutralize.

Legislators joined by colleagues, environmental organizations and advocates in support of bill that will reduce packaging 30% over 12 years and save New Yorkers $1.3 billion

Albany, NY – New York State Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah Glick, along with other state legislators and a large group of environmental, consumer, public health and municipal advocates from across New York, called today for support of the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA) at a press conference in the New York State Capitol. 

Patchogue area residents are invited to help bees and other pollinators buzz back from a toxic setback by joining in Pollinator Garden Planting Days on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30.