All Long Islanders agree about the need for clean water [“Clean-water funding is crucial in state budget,” Opinion, March 24]. Nitrogen pollution from sewage is causing water quality impairments, fish kills and harmful algal blooms. Contaminants poses a significant threat to our drinking water and health. The good news is that we know how to solve these problems, but we need money.
HAUPPAUGE, NY— Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey were joined today by environmental and labor leaders at a press conference announcing an historic deal that will transform water protection in Suffolk County and pave the way for clean water for future generations.
The Long Island Sound ecosystem encompasses a vast area across five states and is home to a rich diversity of marine and avian species. Recognizing the importance of preserving this vital natural resource, federal officials have recently announced the allocation of $12 million in grants to various organizations and a municipality working towards improving the ecological health of Long Island Sound.
The groups that make up the Long Island Sound Coastal Watershed Network have been awarded more than $262,000 to continue their efforts in addressing water quality issues.
The network, a partnership between Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Save the Sound and The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut, received the funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund.
Scientists at Stony Brook University have completed their assessment of water quality in Long Island’s surface waters for 2023 and the news was not good –the announcement was made today at a press conference on the shores of Great South Bay. During the months of April through September, every major bay and estuary across Long Island was afflicted by harmful algal blooms (HABs), oxygen-starved, dead zones, and fish and turtles kills. Excessive delivery of nitrogen from onsite wastewater has been cited as the root cause of these disturbing events.
Brookhaven Landfill rises behind the Frank P. Long Intermediate School and playground in North Bellport.
An underground plume of PFAS and other dangerous chemicals has emanated from the Brookhaven Landfill for decades. The Town of Brookhaven is now ordered to measure how far they must go to remediate affected drinking water sources.
“You could see the bottom of the water,” Montefusco recalled Thursday as he stood on the dock with several friends including Marty Lange, 86.
“Now, you can take a bright yellow, a chartreuse piece of line, drop it 2 inches into the water and you can’t see the line anymore,” Lange said.
Just a few feet away, Christopher Gobler, a professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, stood with local environmentalists and unveiled troubling data that showed water quality hitting an “all-time low” on Long Island since he started monitoring it about a decade ago.
The Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act was designed to establish a countywide sewer district and water quality fund, and extend an existing fund intended to improve resident drinking water. If approved by the county legislature, it will be subject to a mandatory referendum in the November election, but there’s only one more chance to garner majority support before the July 25 general meeting.
