Brookhaven Town is suing the state Department of Environmental Conservation, claiming that a state law enacted last year blocks the agency from requiring the town to clean up toxic plumes stemming from the town’s mammoth landfill and a town-owned airport in Shirley.
'It’s poisoning us all.' Residents voice concerns about Brookhaven landfill
Environmentalists raise alarm on PFAS in produce
In a virtual presentation on March 6, environmental scientists and advocates broke down how long-lasting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have infiltrated Long Island produce. Citizens Campaign for the Environment Executive Director Adrienne Esposito along with other experts arranged a study focusing on how these “forever chemicals” impact Long Island farmland.
‘Forever chemicals’ found in vegetables from Long Island farm stands: study
“Forever chemicals” known as PFAS — cancer-causing pollutants already found in Long Island groundwater — have been detected in vegetables purchased from farm stands across the North and South forks, according to a new study by Stony Brook University.
How Long Island’s produce is impacted by ‘forever’ chemicals
The Citizens Campaign for the Environment Lunch & Learn
The Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) hosted a webinar last Thursday, March 5, to discuss the impacts of toxic PFAS chemicals in New York, where scholars discussed their findings regarding the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on locally grown produce on Long Island.
The online panel follows a collaborative study between Stony Brook University, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and Citizens Campaign for the Environment, according to the CCE website. The discussion featured PEER director of Science Policy Dr. Kyla Bennett, CCE executive director Adrienne Esposito, Stony Brook University professor Dr. Lokesh Padhye and research consultant Dr. Seven Lasee.
Brookhaven landfill: Town seeks 5-year operating extension, drawing residents' ire
Brookhaven is asking state regulators to approve a five-year extension of the town's landfill operating permit as the town moves to complete the oft-delayed shutdown of the lucrative but troubled dump.
Town officials and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the latter which is weighing the town's request for a new permit that would expire in 2031, say the landfill is expected to close when it runs out of room for deposits of trash, primarily ash from Long Island incinerators operated by New Jersey-based Reworld.
An invisible threat in Long Island’s waters
High levels of PFAS found in produce from 8 Long Island farms
A new study shows toxic forever chemicals known as PFAS may be entering the food chain on Long Island through contaminated soil, water and air.
PFAS have leached into our food from packaging and cookware. Now the risk may also be reaching our crops themselves.
PFAS chemicals found in Long Island produce
Stony Brook study: 'Forever' chemicals unhealthy presence in Long Island farm vegetables
Lead in school water: 3,000 fixtures above state limit on Long Island, Newsday finds
Nearly 3,000 drinking water fountains, ice machines, classroom sinks and other fixtures in Long Island schools exceeded the state's standard for lead, a Newsday review of school testing reports found — more than twice as many as reported in a state database.
Districts said these noncompliant fixtures, tested over the past three years, were immediately shut off, replaced or marked for hand-washing only, following state law. But the results, according to public health experts, show that thousands of schoolchildren could have been exposed to water with harmful lead levels for years.
Harckham and Burdick Announce New State Program to Help Remove Harmful PFAS from Private Wells
Advocates see 2 Lee Zeldins: Friend on local issues, not on global ones
WASHINGTON — As a four-term congressman, Republican Lee Zeldin played a key role in the yearslong bipartisan push to save Plum Island, off Long Island’s North Fork, from potential commercial development. He helped secure funding for clean water projects in his Suffolk district. And he spoke out against a 2018 proposal to permit offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Calverton RAB urges Navy to consider county health data from private wells
The Calverton Restoration Advisory Board has announced plans to host its own public meeting where the Suffolk County Health Department can present its independent testing data of private wells at the former Grumman site to the residents, after the U.S. Navy declined to have county officials present its findings.
Compost Coming Soon to Patchogue
Patchogue Village is getting closer to collecting your organic food scraps for compost purposes.
They will be picked up at specific locations in the village, then sent to an anaerobic digester in Yaphank.
“This will be the first program of its kind,” said Patchogue’s Business Improvement District Director David Kennedy. “The digester takes the food scraps and converts them into energy,” said Kennedy. “Right now, it would be a pilot program.”
Wake up, Long Island! Wake up, New York! Climate Change is Real
Suozzi Calls Out Administration’s Disastrous Rollback of Bedrock Environmental Policy, Stands with Conservationists in calling for the reinstatement of 2009 ‘Endangerment Finding’
Glen Cove, NY— Today, Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island, Queens) held a press conference to call out the Administration’s revocation of the ‘Endangerment Finding’ that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare—a move widely seen as a major setback to U.S. efforts to combat the climate crisis.
Environmentalists discuss the future of water quality in Stony Brook Harbor
Improved wastewater infrastructure and healthy shellfish populations are the keys to improving the water quality of Stony Brook Harbor. On Tuesday, Feb. 3, environmental activists and scientists gathered at the Stony Brook Yacht Club for a water quality forum, specifically focusing on Stony Brook Harbor.
Endowed Chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation and Distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Christopher J. Gobler spent the last two years monitoring water quality and shellfish populations in locations throughout the Stony Brook Harbor watershed. “We wanted to understand, what is controlling the growth of algae in Stony Brook Harbor?” he said.
Conservation groups split over Hochul’s plan to roll back parts of environmental law
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to fast-track certain housing projects by peeling back some environmental regulations is dividing some of the state’s most prominent climate advocacy groups.
The State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, is intended to make sure projects don’t harm sensitive lands and waters, but developers have long criticized the process, saying it slows down construction times and drives up costs. Hochul said she’s trying to bring down housing costs amid New York state’s ongoing housing affordability crisis.
Long Island’s fragile drinking water system
Experts explain what lies beneath the surface, and detail the threats to our crucial aquifers
Long Island’s drinking water supply is solely dependent on aquifers. Sarah Meyland, a retired professor at the New York Institute of Technology, spoke about the impacts of chronic water depletion on the region’s water supply.

