environment

EPA cannot backtrack on PFAS drinking water standards

EPA cannot backtrack on PFAS drinking water standards

This guest essay reflects the views of Adrienne Esposito, the executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, an advocacy organization based on Long Island.

I've spent decades fighting water contamination on Long Island. I've sat with families who found PFAS in their well water and helped communities and water districts scramble to obtain funding for expensive treatment systems. I've testified for congressional hearings to increase the understanding that PFAS, commonly called "forever chemicals," aren't a hypothetical threat — they are a daily, sickening reality for millions of Americans.

SEQRA reform splits New York lawmakers, snagging budget talks

SEQRA reform splits New York lawmakers, snagging budget talks

Efforts to revamp New York State environmental laws to lower barriers to building housing more quickly threw the state’s annual budget process into limbo.

Negotiations blew past an April 1 budget deliberation deadline, with a proposed overhaul of the State Environmental Quality Review Act emerging as a point of impasse.

As climate deniers score, Earth Day’s down – but not out

As climate deniers score, Earth Day’s down – but not out

Unnatural selection: As scientific ignorance infects the nation, it's not easy being green -- even on Earth Day.

Earth Day is not what it used to be, in amazing and terrible ways.

Brookhaven officials defend long-term plan for landfill as residents demand immediate action

Brookhaven officials defend long-term plan for landfill as residents demand immediate action

A crowd of people shouted “shame” at presenters during a recent Town of Brookhaven board meeting as tensions rose over the Town’s plans to address a growing underground contamination plume linked to the Brookhaven landfill.

Discussing climate initiatives for Earth Day

Discussing climate initiatives for Earth Day

On this week's In Focus, Citizens Campaign for the Environment Executive Director Adrienne Esposito discusses concerns related to PFAS and Pittsford Town Supervisor Bill Smith talks about the Greenprint plan and comments on the impact of federal funding cuts on climate change initiatives.

Toxic forever chemicals raise concerns about garden, farm products on Long Island

Toxic forever chemicals raise concerns about garden, farm products on Long Island

It was the first week of spring and Deborah Harris, of Riverhead, was visiting her local garden center, where she picked up two bags of fertilizer that she was told worked like a charm to keep deer off her hosta plants.

But after being advised to read the label for the product, Harris discovered the origins of the product were a sewage treatment facility in the Midwest, including the disclosure that it contained biosolids, one of the byproducts of waste treatment.

Brookhaven sues state DEC over requirement to clean up toxic plumes at landfill, airport

Brookhaven sues state DEC over requirement to clean up toxic plumes at landfill, airport

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.

Long Island coalition seeks $1B from Albany for region’s needs

Long Island coalition seeks $1B from Albany for region’s needs

The Blueprint:

  • The Long Island Lobby Coalition requested over $1 billion in funding from Albany to address regional needs.

  • The coalition includes small business owners, civic leaders, labor, environmental groups, and transportation advocates.

  • Funding requests include support for chambers of commerce, wastewater, solar power, affordable housing, and transportation improvements.

  • The coalition met with bipartisan state senators, assembly members, and Governor Hochul’s policy team.

Offshore Wind Is Already Working for Long Island — and the Opportunity Is Just Beginning

Offshore Wind Is Already Working for Long Island — and the Opportunity Is Just Beginning

Off the coast of Long Island, a new chapter in the region’s energy future is already spinning.

The South Fork Wind project — the first utility-scale offshore wind farm serving New York — is now delivering electricity to the East End, demonstrating that offshore wind is no longer theoretical. It’s operating infrastructure.

‘Forever chemicals’ found in vegetables from Long Island farm stands: study

‘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

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.

An invisible threat in Long Island’s waters

An invisible threat in Long Island’s waters

For generations, the waters surrounding Long Island have defined its identity — from the wide-open waterfronts of the South Shore to the shellfish beds of the North Shore. But beneath the surface, a quieter transformation is underway.

High levels of PFAS found in produce from 8 Long Island farms

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. 

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.

Harckham and Burdick Announce New State Program to Help Remove Harmful PFAS from Private Wells

Harckham and Burdick Announce New State Program to Help Remove Harmful PFAS from Private Wells

New York State Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Chris Burdick today announced a new state initiative to help homeowners test for and remove perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from private wells through New York’s PFAS Removal Treatment Rebate Program.

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.

Calverton RAB urges Navy to consider county health data from private wells

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. 

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