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.
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.
The Let Them Build agenda that is aimed at expediting construction of housing, a component of New York State’s fiscal year 2027 budget signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last month, is drawing negative reviews from environmental advocates on the South Fork, while the legislation was quickly followed by the Long Island Builders Institute’s formation of a council dedicated to construction in the five East End towns.
The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire for staff firings, climate and deregulation controversies, but Administrator Lee Zeldin, who is from Long Island, returned to his home turf Friday to spread the word on what is right with the EPA.
On May 14, the Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) released a report of Long Island Sound water quality restoration projects it would like to see funded through the New York State Environmental Bond Act. The list was composed following meetings with village, town, county, and state representatives from across Long Island and shared digitally following a press conference at Northport Yacht Club.
