air pollution

Brookhaven landfill: Town seeks 5-year operating extension, drawing residents' ire

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.

Environmental leaders join Rep. Tom Suozzi in legal fight against EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions rollback

Environmental leaders join Rep. Tom Suozzi in legal fight against EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions rollback

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi stood along the waterfront in Glen Cove on Tuesday, Feb. 17, warning that Long Islanders cannot afford to ignore what he described as a sweeping rollback of federal climate protections.
“Climate change is real,” Suozzi repeated several times during the news conference, held just days after President Donald Trump and the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded the 2009 “endangerment finding,” a policy that concluded greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.

Advocates see 2 Lee Zeldins: Friend on local issues, not on global ones

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.

NYS environmental groups upset at federal climate policy reversal

NYS environmental groups upset at federal climate policy reversal

New York climate advocates are disturbed by the Trump administration’s decision to revoke a key legal finding stating that climate change impacts public health.

The 2009 Endangerment Finding has served as the basis for national efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and build more clean energy. The administration claims revoking the finding will lower transportation and energy costs.

LIPA and Suffolk County Launch Partnership to Advance Large-Scale Industrial Solar Development

LIPA and Suffolk County Launch Partnership to Advance Large-Scale Industrial Solar Development

The Long Island Power Authority CEO Carrie Meek Gallagher and Suffolk County, N.Y., Executive Ed Romaine announced a new partnership to evaluate the potential for large-scale solar energy development across major industrial areas in Suffolk County.

How the EPA says cleanups are working at 5 Long Island Superfund sites

How the EPA says cleanups are working at 5 Long Island Superfund sites

Cleanup remedies at five Long Island hazardous waste sites "continue to be effective in protecting human health," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said this week, though some of the toxic areas need continued monitoring. 

The agency conducted the federally mandated reviews at Superfund sites located in Glen Cove, Port Jefferson Station, Franklin Square and East Farmingdale. Across New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico, 32 federal Superfund sites were appraised, which happen every five years, the EPA said. 

Suffolk County Legislator Englebright honors CCE for 40 years of advocacy

Suffolk County Legislator Englebright honors CCE for 40 years of advocacy

Suffolk County Legislator Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) invited Citizens Campaign for the Environment co-founder Adrienne Esposito and CCE board and staff members to the Suffolk County Legislature’s Nov. 25th General Meeting to honor them for 40 years of advocacy. Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) joined Englebright at the podium, where the CCE team received a proclamation along with flowers and balloons.

Esposito: For reliable power, Long Island needs offshore wind

Esposito: For reliable power, Long Island needs offshore wind

In Brief:

  • Experts warn New York could face energy shortages as early as 2027.

  • Offshore wind offers clean, reliable power and price stability.

  • South Fork Wind Farm already powers 70,000 Long Island homes.

  • Upgraded transmission and new wind projects are urgently needed.

This fall, New Yorkers across the state showed up and spoke up to demand clean, affordable, reliable, safe and healthy energy infrastructure during the state’s energy plan hearings. Tragically, the Trump administration is wreaking havoc on our nation’s clean energy progress, making it more important than ever for New York to step up and lead the way to the sustainable, resilient system we need. Right now, we’re not on track.

1st day without Clean Pass increases traffic to Long Island

1st day without Clean Pass increases traffic to Long Island

Thousands of cars that had been given an HOV lane exemption were forced back into the regular lanes on the Long Island Expressway today.

Drivers reported experiencing more traffic today on the Long Island Expressway, the first day after the Clean Pass program expired.

Oyster Bay suit: Northrop Grumman 'concealed' extent of heavy metal contamination at Bethpage Community Park

Oyster Bay suit: Northrop Grumman 'concealed' extent of heavy metal contamination at Bethpage Community Park

After the discovery of chemical drums at Bethpage Community Park last year, Oyster Bay officials worried about the presence of hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing toxin, in the soil near the drums, federal court records show.

They were concerned by what they saw: yellow and green sludge, a sign of chromium contamination, according to a filing in the town's lawsuit against Northrop Grumman, which seeks to accelerate and widen the scope of the plan to clean up the 18-acre property Grumman Aerospace used as a toxic dumping grounds for decades.

EPA policy shift plan will have detrimental consequences for climate and public health, LI advocates say

EPA policy shift plan will have detrimental consequences for climate and public health, LI advocates say

 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. 

The EPA’s Repeal of Core Greenhouse Gas Rules

The EPA’s Repeal of Core Greenhouse Gas Rules

“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.”

EPA to repeal all greenhouse gas vehicle emissions standards, rescind scientific finding that planet-warming gases endanger public health

EPA to repeal all greenhouse gas vehicle emissions standards, rescind scientific finding that planet-warming gases endanger public health

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. 

State expands septic grant program, increases funding for Suffolk County

State expands septic grant program, increases funding for Suffolk County

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.

PSC cancels New York power line project for offshore wind energy

PSC cancels New York power line project for offshore wind energy

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.

Rail yard at Lawrence Aviation Industries at a halt, officials urge action

Rail yard at Lawrence Aviation Industries at a halt, officials urge action

While the Lawrence Aviation Industries site in Port Jefferson Station is clean and cleared from the superfund registry, the atmosphere around the prospective rail yard is murkier than ever.

The MTA has yet to secure the 40 acres allocated to the rail yard, which would be crucial to electrifying the Port Jefferson line. As the June 30 deadline approaches, local officials and environmental leaders met at the site on June 2 to urge the MTA to sign and for Governor Kathy Hochul to apply further pressure. Brookhaven bought 40 acres to preserve as open space and the county bought the other 40 acres to use as a solar farm.

Community Leaders Warn of Destructive Impacts of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Community Leaders Warn of Destructive Impacts of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Leaders of Long Island’s health care, social service organizations and environmental groups warned of the damaging impacts to lives “of neighbors, family, community” as a result of the funding cuts in the Republican budget bill (known as Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”) that passed the House in the middle of the night by a single vote. The bill, while slashing Medicaid, SNAP, clean energy projects and raising costs, delivers the needless tax cuts to the wealthiest, and will explode the national debt by $3.3 trillion.

As the Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee reported, the “GOP Tax Scam” cuts nearly $1 trillion from the health care system – effectively chipping away if not repealing entirely the Affordable Care Act - eliminating health coverage for at least 13.7 million Americans including 1.5 million New Yorkers.

Trump Reverses Wind Energy Orders; Empire Project Goes Forward Off LI

Trump Reverses Wind Energy Orders; Empire Project Goes Forward Off LI

LONG BEACH, NY — The Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project will go forward off the southern coast of Long Beach and Jones Beach. 

“I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Burgum for lifting the stop-work order on Empire Wind 1 which will allow this transformative clean energy project to move forward as planned," said Doreen Harris, President and CEO of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Trump officials allow massive New York offshore wind project to restart

Trump officials allow massive New York offshore wind project to restart

The administration reversed course and will allow the Empire Wind project to proceed after lobbying by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Norwegian energy firm Equinor.

The Trump administration lifted the stop-work order on a major wind farm off the coast of New York on Monday, according to a statement by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), following direct appeals she made to the president. 

Groups File Brief in Support of Lawsuit Against Ban on Wind Power

Groups File Brief in Support of Lawsuit Against Ban on Wind Power

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – A group of 10 environmental groups filed a legal brief today in support of an effort by states and industry to overturn the Trump administration’s government-wide ban on new wind energy projects. 

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