CCE in the News
Great Lakes Cheese often polluted Ischua Creek, data shows
It has been nearly a month since the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation began investigating wastewater discharge from Great Lakes Cheese that likely killed tens of thousands of fish and countless other aquatic species in Ischua Creek.
The Trump administration's plan to rescind a rule used to enforce limits on greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles will jeopardize health and safety on Long Island while undermining billions of dollars New York has spent electrifying the transportation sector, local environmental advocates and scientific experts say.
“Trump’s EPA to repeal core of greenhouse gas rules,” was the Reuters headline this week as Lee Zeldin, chosen by Donald Trump to be administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, announced what Reuters said “will rescind the long-standing finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, as well as tailpipe emission standards for vehicles, removing the legal foundation of greenhouse gas regulations across industries.”
Following through on a pledge made in March, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Tuesday that the EPA is proposing to repeal all greenhouse gas emissions standards for light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles and engines.
You flush and forget about it. But what goes down doesn’t just disappear. On Long Island, where it ends up has been a problem for decades. Outdated septic systems and cesspools leak pollutants into the groundwater. As a result, these aging systems pose serious threats to drinking water, the environment, public health, and the local economy. It’s been a long fight for change, but on July 23rd, Suffolk County took a huge step toward cleaner water.
Some residents along the path of a new proposed transmission line that would cross Long Island and Queens have found themselves in opposition to environmental groups, electrical and construction unions and developers of the project designed to upgrade the state’s energy grid.
3:30PM: With the opening of the Jambalaya Stage, a new area is available for festival goers.
As the Environmental Protection Agency lays the groundwork to potentially end its own ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a delegation from the advocacy group Long Island Sound Citizens Advisory Committee went to Washington last week to meet with someone they knew well: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. The agenda: ensure consistent protection for Long Island Sound amid harsh federal funding cuts.
Suffolk County homeowners will soon be able to upgrade to enhanced septic systems that reduce dangerous nitrogen pollution at a higher discounted rate, thanks to a surge of state funding announced Wednesday.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill Wednesday morning at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood that increases the reimbursement rate for installation of an enhanced septic system to 75%, or up to $25,000. The governor also announced Suffolk County will receive $20 million in new grant funding it can use toward its Septic Improvement Program that provides homeowners $10,000 grants for the upgrade.
New York State is increasing funding for grants that Suffolk County residents can use to replace outdated septic and cesspool systems with newer, advanced systems that reduce the contaminants wastewater releases into the environment.
The goal is to make new and improved septic systems affordable to the public.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new septic bill that would provide a $25,000 grant to people with old and polluting cesspools.
Legislation S8241-A/A8807 Makes It Easier and More Cost-Effective for New Yorkers to Upgrade to Advanced Septic Systems That Significantly Reduce Water Pollution
State Septic System Replacement Program Targets Priority Geographic Areas Like Long Island Which Rely on Sole-Source Aquifers
Funding Incentivizes Replacement of Old Septic and Cesspool Systems to Prevent Water Pollution
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was on Long Island Monday to harshly criticize the proposed $8 million in funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget for the National Estuary Program, which supports clean water initiatives, including those on the Island.
U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand paid a visit to Riverhead on Monday morning to warn about President Donald Trump’s proposed $8 million federal funding cut from the National Estuary Program, which could threaten ongoing efforts to maintain and restore the Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound.
The Village of Port Jefferson is one of several Long Island municipalities and organizations sharing more than $600,000 in grants aimed at creating new pollinator gardens.
Pollinator gardens are floral areas stocked with specific nectar- and pollen-producing plants meant to attract bees, moths, beetles and other pollinating insects responsible for pollinating about three-quarters of the world’s plant life.
Contaminated water can lead to a plethora of health risks; cutting funding to maintain estuary water quality will endanger Americans’ well-being
Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sounded the alarm on the proposed $8 million funding cut from the National Estuary Program (NEP) in the president’s FY26 budget. The NEP works to maintain and restore water quality of 28 estuaries across the United States, including the Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound. Without sufficient funding, the NEP will not be able to monitor New York’s estuaries and keep them safe from threats such as excess nitrogen pollution, pathogens, and harmful algal blooms, which have been shown to be harmful to public health and the environment. Funding to restore and protect our estuaries also boosts coastal resilience from storms, improves tourism and recreation, and supports local jobs.
United States Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand came to Riverhead today to warn that the president’s proposed $8 million funding cut from the National Estuary Program could jeopardize ongoing efforts to protect and restore the Peconic Estuary.
Xilin Zhang was tired of the pressures of maintaining the “perfect lawn,” she said.
So Zhang, a homeowner in the village of New Hyde Park, yanked out her grass and turned her front lawn into a native plant garden: She planted milkweed, false sunflower, New York Ironweed and other plants native to the area. She began the work in 2021 and, over the past few years, her yard started to look like a “little national park,” she said, and was better for the environment, too.
The electric power cable leak that spilled oil into Mill River in East Rockaway has been stopped and repairs have begun, a spokeswoman for PSEG Long Island said Thursday.
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — New York’s Public Service Commission decided on Thursday to stop the project that would bring offshore wind power to New York City. They said that their decision would protect New Yorkers from paying for expensive power lines that might not be needed soon.
Crews have been using absorbent materials to soak up the oil and bagging the contaminated debris for disposal. Trucks have been hauling away the waste as quickly as it’s collected.
An oil spill continues to spread through Mill River in East Rockaway. Since Monday night, hundreds of gallons of oil have leaked into the waterway. Although cleanup efforts are underway, the exact source of the spill has not yet been located.
News 12 is providing an exclusive look inside the labs at Yale University as researchers search for answers about how 1,4 dioxane impacts the human body.
News 12’s What’s In The Water series offers an exclusive look at a Yale University study into 1,4 dioxane and what the study will reveal about the dangers lurking in your drinking water.
A first-in-the-nation study hopes to answer questions about an emerging contaminant in Long Island water - and whether it can cause cancer.
On July 2, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation gathered with local officials at Port Jefferson’s former Lawrence Aviation site to announce the proposed delisting of 96% of the land from the New York State Superfund Registry.
The atomic age is perpetually on the verge of dawning.
Nuclear power is a political winner — but not a money saver. Just ask Tim Echols.
Echols’ term on the Georgia Public Service Commission is up this year, and unlike most states, his position is an elected one.
He says the Vogtle nuclear plant has been a campaign issue — it’s hiked customers’ bills by about 12 percent since coming fully online last year, $21 billion over budget and seven years behind schedule — but that his opponents haven’t been able to weaponize it. He won his Republican primary resoundingly last month.
Two decades ago, the sprawling grounds of the shuttered Lawrence Aviation Industries in Port Jefferson Station were littered with thousands of barrels leaking industrial solvents that created a mile-long toxic plume between the Sheep Pasture Road property and Port Jefferson Harbor.
WASHINGTON — Halfway through his first year back in office, President Donald Trump has the green light from the Republican-majority Congress to move ahead on major parts of his domestic agenda.
The sprawling budget bill Congress passed this week, which Trump signed into law at a July Fourth White House ceremony, will touch Long Island in a variety of ways — from the economy to the environment, from health care access to immigration enforcement — and will be at the center of next year’s midterm elections, said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies.
A rare pine barrens forest in Brentwood is now permanently protected, following a major conservation agreement between New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the Sisters of St. Joseph.
