The battle over the proposed Nassau County casino in New York continued Thursday during an occasionally heated public meeting attended by over 300 people.
SOURCE:
January 19, 2024
Experts studying the environmental impact of Las Vegas Sands’ proposed $4 billion casino resort in Uniondale told Hempstead Town officials Thursday they would survey traffic patterns and the possible impact on air quality of the project. Their comments came during a town hearing attended by hundreds of supporters and opponents of the project. The session was among the largest public hearings held on the project since Sands announced it would apply for a state gaming license for a casino resort on the Nassau Coliseum site. Candice Ferrette reports on Newsday.com that Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, testified Thursday in favor of the casino project. “Frankly, no matter what we put there, we are going to have more traffic, we are going to use water, we’re going to have energy consumption and we’re going to have waste generation,” Esposito said. “The question is, are we going to develop that area with a company that believes in environmental stewardship or are we going to develop that area that doesn’t care about environment?”
Hundreds of Long Islanders sounded off at Thursday's public hearing on plans to build a casino and resort at the Nassau Hub in Uniondale. The $4 billion project drew supporters excited about the revenue and job opportunities, and detractors who raised concerns that a casino would bring crime, traffic and pollution.
UNIONDALE, Long Island (PIX11) — Developers behind a casino project on Long Island say it would bring jobs, pull the community together, and attract world-class entertainment.
Developers also state the projects would improve the environmental status of the place where the complex, called the Nassau Hub, would be built. People critical of the project warn that it could harm the communities that it is meant to serve, in a variety of ways. Both sides voiced their opinions in a big way at a pair of hearings on Thursday.
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- More than 300 Nassau County residents packed the ballroom at the Uniondale Marriott on Thursday to have their voices heard regarding a proposed $4 billion resort casino.
Some are demanding independent traffic, air, water and noise studies.
Dive Brief:
The Brookhaven Landfill on Long Island, New York, may get two extra years of life to accept incinerator ash, newly elected Town Supervisor Dan Panico told Newsday last week. Panico is seeking an extension of the landfill’s permit that would allow it to remain open until 2027 or 2028, rather than its current permit expiration on July 11, 2026.
Local leaders are working to find alternative disposal capacity for incinerator ash from the Covanta-run facility in Westbury that handles much of Suffolk County’s waste. Panico also confirmed the landfill would stop accepting C&D waste — which constitutes 65% of the waste accepted at the landfill annually — by the end of the year.
The permit extension will buy extra time for private industry solutions to press forward. Carlson Corp., a longtime Long Island C&D and organic waste processor, has applied for federal permission to construct a rail terminal to process and ship waste off the island. Winters Bros. has also floated a proposal for a rail terminal adjacent to the Brookhaven Landfill.
While New York has secured eight offshore wind contracts for development, energy experts say not enough investment is being made in the port infrastructure needed to assemble the turbines and deploy them out to sea.
South Fork Wind under construction off the coast of Long Island. The project will be the one of the first large-scale offshore wind farms up and running in the United States.
New York has big plans to generate power from non-polluting renewable energy, produced by giant windmills floating in the Atlantic ocean.
To help safeguard pollinators, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed the “Birds and Bees Protection Act.”
Signed into law last week, the legislation prohibits the use of specific neonicotinoid pesticide-treated corn, soybean and wheat seeds and neonicotinoid pesticides for outdoor ornamental plants and turfs. The ban goes into effect in 2027, according to published reports.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $479 million in grants for critical water infrastructure projects, including the first funding awarded through the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022, which was passed by voters after Hochul pushed to increase the total amount by $1 billion upon taking office.
ALBANY, NY — A coalition of farmers, health professionals, and environmental groups are celebrating today after Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Birds and Bees Protection Act (S1856-A/A7640). The bill will limit the use of neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics), and, when fully implemented, would eliminate up to 80-90% of the neonics entering New York’s environment annually by prohibiting only unneeded neonic coatings on corn, soybean, and wheat seeds and non-agricultural lawn and garden uses.
ALBANY, NY — With 10 days left to sign the Birds and Bees Protection Act (S1856-A / A7640), New Yorkers have called for action from Governor Kathy Hochul. Today, doctors, farmers, and advocates expressed concern that if Governor Hochul doesn’t sign the bill, an immense opportunity would be missed to protect people and the environment from neonic pesticide exposure. The Birds and Bees Protection Act would eliminate 80-90% of neonics from entering New York’s environment annually by prohibiting the use of neonic-coated corn and soybean seeds, as well as limiting unnecessary neonic lawn and garden uses.
East Hampton Town officials, along with their counterparts from Suffolk County and New York State, were in a celebratory mood on Dec. 6 at Town Hall, where they toasted the clean, renewable electricity that last week began flowing from the South Fork Wind farm through 78 miles of underwater cable to a Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton.
The Birds and Bees Protection Act — the first bill in the United States that aims to prohibit the agricultural use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which decimate pollinator populations — has been awaiting signage by Gov. Kathy Hochul since its approval by the New York State Legislature in June. But after months of limbo and mere weeks remaining until the end of the year, environmental advocacy groups are pushing harder than ever to get the bill signed into law — keeping New York state at the forefront of national environmental legislation.
“We have worked on this bill for five years,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE), said.
