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.
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.
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.
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.
The Trump administration announced plans this week to roll back portions of the nation’s first federal drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals, drawing criticism from environmental advocates on Long Island who say the move weakens protections for communities already grappling with groundwater contamination.
The Town of Brookhaven has released its plan to address a toxic groundwater plume spreading from the Brookhaven Landfill — but environmental advocates say the proposal does little to actually clean up the contamination.
An enormous landfill on Long Island is scheduled to close in two years, but Brookhaven residents who live nearby are anxious and worried about the underwater toxic plume the landfill created.
The Beaver Dam Creek and Bellport Bay, plus underground drinking water wells, are threatened by a 4-mile toxic plume emanating from the 52-year-old Brookhaven town landfill, according to the state. The dump is scheduled to be shuttered in 2028.
For immediate release: June 22, 2026
For more information, contact:
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, 516-390-7150, aesposito@citizenscampaign.org
Farmingdale, NY – Suffolk County Water Authority has closed two wells in East Hampton after finding contamination from toxic PFAS chemicals and has filed a lawsuit alleging a 2023 fire at the East Hampton Energy Storage Center is responsible for the contamination. This Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) was one of the first to be built in New York and is of an older, first-generation model that was put in place before New York implemented strict fire codes. New BESS facilities will be built with state-of-the-art fire mitigation systems that do not require water to be used, this older facility used over 2 million gallons of water to fight the fire and had no containment system to prevent contamination from seeping into Long Island’s groundwater.
Citizens Campaign for the Environment is urging East Hampton Energy Storage Center to take responsibility and clean up the contamination. CCE is also urging New York State and municipalities to require that new facilities implement stormwater management to prevent PFAS or other contaminates from entering groundwater. While the situation in the East Hampton fire would be prevented by the New York State fire codes, developers should still be implementing a system to ensure there is no potential PFAS in stormwater runoff from rain.
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, issued the following statement:
“Battery Energy Storage Systems are a critical piece of our renewable energy mix and necessary to diversify our energy sources. They stabilize our energy grid in the face of more extreme weather events and provide capacity that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, leading to cleaner air for New Yorkers. Every large-scale energy project has impacts, but especially with newer technology such as BESS, it is crucial that we build them responsibly and in a way that is protective of our environment.
The East Hampton Energy Storage Center was one of the first BESS projects in the state. The fire helped spur New York to create a stringent, protective fire code to ensure these systems are built safely with no risk to the community. PFAS contamination was a result of using the sprinkler system designed to fight such a fire if one occurred, therefore, the company is at fault and we are calling on the developer to fully clean up that contamination. Moving forward, we need to ensure that no toxic contamination results from stormwater runoff at BESS facilities. We must protect drinking water and communities. We must also transition off fossil fuels by building renewable energy and energy storage. This can absolutely be done safely and responsibly.”
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This is a tale about unintended consequences in science, governmental malfunction affecting Suffolk County, and a mammoth spread, globally, of poison.
It began in 1938. As the website Health Brief related last week: “A chemist at the DuPont company accidentally discovered an exciting new polymer. It repelled water, it was chemically stable and nonreactive, and nothing stuck to it. The material — brand name: Teflon — has been used in countless consumer products since then to reduce friction between surfaces. Among its best-known applications is in nonstick cookware. … In the past few decades, however, the chemicals that go into nonstick surfaces have been linked to certain health issues and environmental pollution.”
Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine fired a shot across the U.S. Navy's bow last week.
At a community meeting in Calverton, Romaine threatened to sue because two toxic plumes at the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant are spreading forever chemicals, or PFAS, and endangering the region's water. The Navy has delayed cleanup, Romaine said.
Brookhaven's plan to clean up a 4-mile-long toxic plume that runs through residential neighborhoods south of the landfill calls for hooking up more homes to public water systems and expanding a drinking water monitoring program — but closing the landfill still would have to wait two more years.
