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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
