More than 40% of the plastics in use today are only used once before being discarded. Single-use plastics such as bags, straws, stirrers, tableware, carryout containers, and foam cups don’t biodegrade once they enter the environment—instead they break down into tiny pieces, which are frequently mistaken for food and ingested by fish and other aquatic wildlife.
BY JARRET LIOTTA
Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 9, 2019
State Sen. Will Haskel, State Rep. Tony Hwang and State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg tout a bill that would ban single-use plastic bags in CT Saturday, February 9, 2019, while Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe and
WESTPORT — Hoping to demonstrate a united front, a group of state legislators, local officials and environmental activists held a beach news conference Saturday afternoon focused on banning single-use plastic bags in Connecticut.
Westport was the first municipality in the state to do so, 10 years ago, and several involved with that fight, including state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, spoke Saturday of its importance.
“People said it couldn’t be done, (but) the state can do it, too,” Steinberg said, noting the first bill aiming to do so was introduced eight years ago in Hartford.
Steinberg and state Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, along with state Rep. Kim Rose, D-Milford, have each introduced bills into the Legislature that, respectively, prohibit use and distribution of single-use plastic bags, promote the use of reusable bags, and establish fees on paper bags.
“Paper bags also have an adverse impact,” said Louis Burch, program director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, noting the goal was to encourage people to bring their own reusable bags.
“It’s time now for our state government to follow Westport’s lead,” Haskell said, addressing around 60 people who endured icy winds to take part in the rally adjacent to the historic cannons at Compo Beach.
He said 18 billion pounds of plastic waste ends up in the world’s oceans every year, with only 5 percent ultimately recycled. “It’s time to reverse that trend,” he said.
“The next generation of voters has spoken loudly and clearly,” Haskell said.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am that Westport is actually the home of the plastic bag ordinance,” First Selectman Jim Marpe, a Republican, said.
“This is not a Republican or Democratic issue,” he said. “It’s a bipartisan issue.”
Liz Milwe, a District 1 member of Westport’s Representative Town Meeting, and who took part in the original plastic bag ban, said Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, and Weston have all recently passed local bans similar to Westport’s.
“We hope the whole state of Connecticut will join us,” she said.
Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association, which represents retail organizations, said his group was in agreement with the ban.
“Connecticut’s growing retail community fully supports this effort,” he said. “We want to be part of the solution.”
“I do believe it is important to bring all the shareholders into this dialogue,” noted State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, noting the manufacturing of the single-use bags was poor business.
“I’m fully supportive of (a statewide ban) ... for the environment, but for good business as well,” he said.
“We use these things for a minute or a second, and then they go in the seas, and they can be there for centuries,” state Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said. “That should tell us everything we need to know.”
But while she expressed her support for a ban, she said that, given the extreme state of the planet, it wasn’t enough.
“We have a major problem with lots of single-use plastic bottles,” she said, noting the market for plastic waste was diminishing.
“We’re going to have to learn to, A: limit it, and B: treat it in a more methodical way than we do,” Lavielle said.
“I think this is a good first step, but it’s not enough,” she said.
Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 9, 2019
WESTPORT - Several elected officials came together across party lines Saturday at Compo Beach to discuss the importance of a statewide single-use plastic bag ban and to draw attention to the issue.
Later this month, the Westport will be celebrating 10 years without single-use plastic bags.
"It's time now for our state government to follow Westport's lead,” says state Sen. Will Haskell. “Westport has shown over the last 10 years that we can change consumer behavior."
Dozens of supporters were also at Compo Beach – many left with brand new reusable bags that officials are encouraging everyone to use.
"It's not enough to simply ban plastic bags, paper bags also have adverse environmental impacts and they take up unnecessary space in our waste stream," says Louis Burch, of the Citizen's Campaign.
In early January, Big Y, which has 30 stores across the state, announced they would phase out plastic bags by 2020.
Management says their ban will ensure that 100 million bags, that are used annually, will not impact the environment.
Greenwich, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston and most recently New Canaan each have bans in place. Lawmakers say in order to preserve the Long Island Sound and the greater environment, a statewide ban is vital.
Watch the video.
Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 8, 2019
BROOKHAVEN - Residents in Brookhaven are voicing frustration with the town's new set of recycling rules.
At the beginning of the year, the town switched from single-stream recycling to dual stream. The new rule means that homeowners now have to separate plastics and metals from paper and cardboard.
Items like glass, greasy pizza boxes and plastic bags are not being accepted at all.
Some say the new system is confusing and that crews don't always pick up their recyclables.
"The town wasn't clear about what should go into containers and what should not," said Don Drosselmeier, of Centereach. "But I went on the website and found out and this week, the truck came and didn't pick up the plastics."
Town Recycling Commissioner Christopher Andrade says that restrictions are being felt nationwide ever since China decided it would no longer import most American waste.
"It's frustrating, it's inconvenient right now, but I think after a while people get on board," Andrade says.
Items in the Centereach neighborhood may not have been taken because some of the plastic was of the wrong grade.
Guidelines also vary depending on the town, but garbage trucks in Brookhaven will only accept plastic that's labeled No. 1 or No. 2. Brookhaven says it has put out notices, including mailers, explaining to residents what should be recycled and what shouldn't.
Environmentalists like Adrienne Esposito says the town isn't doing enough.
"By leaving the recyclables there and not letting the person know what they did wrong, you're causing frustration, you're causing anger," Esposito says.
Residents in Huntington have made similar complaints to News 12.
Officials say they have also worked hard to get the word out about dual-stream recycling.
Watch the video.
Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 8, 2019
OAKDALE - Hundreds of homes in Oakdale are being hooked up to a sewage system free of charge.
Residents in the area say cesspools in their houses have been a big problem.
Dave Hescheles says his cesspool leaks into the canal behind his house so he can't use the water for fishing, collecting clams or swimming.
"Something needs to be done," he says.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking to solve that problem and clean up the water along the South Shore by giving Oakdale $26 million to switch roughly 400 homes from cesspools to sewers.
"We have to provide sanitary systems if we're gonna keep our water safe," Cuomo says.
Part of the state grant would extend pipes from the sewage treatment plant in West Babylon to homes in Oakdale.
Environmentalists say that once that happens, the water in the Great South Bay will be much cleaner.
Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, says pollution from septic tanks is harmful to aquatic life, beaches and the public.
"It doesn't solve the whole problem, but it's one giant step at a time," Esposito says.
Homeowners will eventually have to pay an annual fee to use the sewer system, but some think that may be cheaper than having their cesspools emptied all the time.
"You pay for it one way or another," said Chris Hines of Oakdale.
Before the switch can happen, Oakdale residents must vote to approve the plan.
Watch the video.
Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 8, 2019
WOODBURY - Gov. Andrew Cuomo was on Long Island Friday to explain some new environmental initiatives.
Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizen's Campaign for the Environment, says the group was "thrilled" with what they heard from the governor.
Cuomo announced a $40 million sewer infrastructure in Smithtown and a $26 million sewer infrastructure in Oakdale. He also called for funding to improve Long Island parks, banning plastic bags and more money for shellfish restoration.
"All of that is good news for us, as well as the new Green Deal, which means more offshore renewable energy to replace our aging infrastructure," Esposito said.
The governor also called for action to get the Bethpage plume under control. Cuomo says he is not waiting for the Grumman facility or the Navy to clean it up.
Esposito says this "aggressive" action by Cuomo is important to protect the public's drinking water supply.
Watch the video.
BY BRIAN NEARING
Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 7, 2019
ALBANY — While a multi-billion-dollar state program to fix aging drinking water and sewer pipes is working, the state should double the money it currently devotes to dealing with widespread problems, according to a study issued Thursday by a environmental lobbying group.
While praising the state's three-year-old, $2.5 billion program to fix such infrastructure, Environmental Advocates of New York said another $2.5 billion ought to be added.
While state funding is substantial, Hayes said, it is dwarfed by the potential price tag of $80 billion or more to fix aging municipal water and sewer systems that serve millions of New Yorkers.
Out of the 22,000 miles of sewer pipes statewide, nearly a third are beyond their projected 60-year lifespans, according to the report. A quarter of more than 600 sewage treatment plants are beyond their projected useful life of 30 years.
Hayes said local governments facing upgrade projects have filed 884 applications seeking $1.4 billion since 2015. The state, however, was able to award about $500 million for 316 projects.
"New York is currently far from the level of annual funding needed to fix our pipes," according to the report. "With an estimated need for state investment of $80 billion over 20 years, the state would need to invest $4 billion each year to tackle our water infrastructure crisis."
Also Thursday, a nationwide coalition of environmental groups from states around the Great Lakes urged Congress to increase the amount of federal aid available to states to pay for such projects.
It is projected to cost nearly $180 billion over the next two decades to fix water and sewer systems in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, according to the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.
In New York, the group includes the Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the National Audubon Society.
Federal funding for water infrastructure has dropped significantly since the 1970s, when federal aid covered nearly two-thirds of spending on local water and sewer improvement projects. After years of federal budget cuts, that had dropped to about 9 percent by 2014.
Help CCE build on our success, and support our campaigns to protect public health and the environment in NY and CT. Make a contribution today.
Highlights
Governor Cuomo's 2019-2020 Executive Budget proposal included many of our top legislative and funding priorities for the year:
$2.5 billion in clean water infrastructure funding.
Increasing NY's renewable energy goal to 70% by 2030, and carbon-free electricity by 2040.•Increasing NY's offshore wind goal to 9,000 megawatts by 2035.
Banning plastic bags and expanding the state's bottle deposit to additional beverage containers.•$300 million for the NYS Environmental Protection Fund.
Banning offshore drilling in NY's waters.
CCE's Adrienne Esposito testified at the Legislature's budget hearing to ensure that these and other priorities are strengthened and make it into the final state budget. We will continue pushing these and other important policies, including banning 1,4-dioxane from consumer products, protecting menhaden (a fish species crucial to whale survival), fighting climate change, and more throughout the 2019 legislative session.
In January, the Carlls River and Forge River sewering projects were approved with 73% of the vote! In the largest sewer expansion on Long Island since the1970's, 6,500 homes in Mastic and Babylon will be connected to sewers, greatly reducing nitrogen entering our local waterways. A huge thank you to all the Suffolk residents who came out and voted for clean water. We're looking forward to seeing improved water quality, healthier fisheries, and less harmful algal blooms thanks to these much-needed sewering projects.
As a member of the environmental policy subcommittee, we briefed Governor Lamont and his transition team on key issues in CT, including eliminating single-use plastics, expanding food waste composting, and improving the state's recycling system. We look forward to advancing these and other key priorities in CT this year!
1,4-Dioxane is hidden carcinogen lurking in an estimated 46% of personal care products, but it is not listed on their labels. Last year, we had 30 baby products, detergents, shampoos and body washes tested for the contaminant. Unfortunately, 23 out of the 30 products contained 1,4-dioxane. After releasing a report on these results, we received calls from the public asking us to test additional items, including generic and discount brands. We just sent an additional 50 products to a certified lab to be tested for 1,4-dioxane. The results will be coming this spring along with a shopper's guide of all 80 tested in total, so stay tuned!
We are an active member of the HeatSmart CNY campaign, which has been working to help CNY residents and businesses install modern, clean geothermal systems. HeatSmart CNY is a grassroots community initiative to support residents and businesses in exploring ways to improve the efficiency of their buildings, including air source, ground source, and hot water heat pump technologies. To learn more about geothermal technologies, join us at upcoming HeatSmart events. If you own a home or business in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, or Oswego Counties, you can sign up for a free, no obligation energy assessment!
New York waters are already showing signs of ocean acidification. This is the result of greenhouse gas emissions combined with polluted runoff from land. This acidity can negatively impact shellfish, finfish, and other marine organisms. The New York Ocean Acidification (OA) Task Force was established to ensure that the best available science is used to assess and respond to this emerging threat to New York's marine waters and fisheries. CCE attended the January task force meeting, and we will continue to monitor the task force and look forward to its plan on how to address ocean acidification in New York waters.
In January, the Town of East Hampton passed a ban on polystyrene foam containers (commonly called Styrofoam)! The Town is also considering banning the intentional release of balloons. Meanwhile, in Southampton, we testified at a public hearing last month to ban polystyrene and plastic straws. These crucial efforts will curb single-use plastics polluting our beaches, bays, and ocean on the South Fork.
A clean, healthy, and thriving environment is the backbone of economic development throughout New York. For the past 26 years, the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) has invested billions to protect and restore our precious environment in every region of the state. Governor Cuomo included a fully-funded EPF at $300 million in this year's Executive Budget. This funding will support capital projects that protect clean water, conserve open space, save family farms, revitalize waterfronts, protect our oceans and Great Lakes, and much more. Join us in Albany on February 12 for the annual EPF Lobby Day and help us fight for a fully-funded EPF in the final state budget! Register for the EPF Lobby Day.
Throughout 2018 we hosted a series of forums highlighting the importance of reducing nitrogen pollution from outdated septic systems and cesspools. We will be helping residents secure grants to change out their old systems for new, on-site, nitrogen-reducing treatment systems through Suffolk County's Reclaim Our Water program. We continued the series in 2019 with presentations in Holbrook and Port Jefferson Station. Our next forum will be at Connetquot Public Library on March 19 at 7:00pm. We hope to see you there!
The Senate minority leader wants the federal agency to set maximum contaminant levels for PFOS and PFOA, which the EPA has said can cause cancer.
BY ROBERT BRODSKY
Posted: February 5, 2019
Originally Published: February 4, 2019
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to set strict limits on a pair of toxic chemicals contaminating the water supply of millions of Americans, including tens of thousands in Suffolk County.
At a news conference in Farmingdale, Schumer threatened to hold up acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler's nomination to become the agency's permanent chief if he fails to set maximum contaminant levels for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which the agency has said can cause a host of health defects, including cancer. Schumer also plans to reintroduce legislation, first proposed in 2017, requiring the EPA to address the contamination.
"The EPA is trying to walk away from its responsibilities," said Schumer (D-N.Y.). "To take a carcinogenic chemical like PFOS and PFOA and say we are not going to pay attention to that when we have learned that it is in many more locations than you would think . . . makes no sense whatsoever."
New York State has moved ahead with regulating PFOA, PFOS and another chemical, 1,4-dioxane, over concern that the federal government wouldn’t act.
In December, a state panel of experts recommended a drinking water standard of 10 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, which would be the strictest in the nation. New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker is expected to adopt the measure some time this year, officials have said.
But the fixes would come with a hefty price tag. At the standard recommended by the state, an estimated 23 percent of public water wells in New York would need treatment — at a cost of $855 million in capital costs and $45 million a year for annual maintenance and operations.
The EPA has been studying whether to put maximum legal limits on the two chemicals, which have been detected in the groundwater near airports, industrial sites, military bases and firefighting training facilities. The contaminants are used in a number of industrial and commercial products, including firefighting foam, coatings that repel water, oil, stains and grease, food packaging, water-resistant clothing and stain-resistant carpeting.
But Schumer said Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, expressed resistance to aggressively regulating the chemicals during a meeting last week.
"He doesn't deserve to be EPA commissioner if he is abdicating his responsibility," Schumer said of Wheeler, whose nomination to become permanent EPA chief comes up for a vote Tuesday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
An EPA spokesman said a plan is still to be determined.
“Despite what is being reported, [the] EPA has not finalized or publicly issued its PFAS [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances] management plan, and any information that speculates what is included in the plan is premature," said David Ross, EPA Office of Water assistant administrator. "The agency is committed to following the Safe Drinking Water Act process for evaluating new drinking water standards, which is just one of the many components of the draft plan that is currently undergoing interagency review.”
The detection of PFOS and PFOA in groundwater prompted the state to name Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach and a Suffolk County fire training center in Yaphank to the state Superfund list. Two public water supply wells near the Hampton Bays Fire Station were closed when the chemicals were detected, while PFOA and PFOS were found in more than 150 private wells in Wainscott, near the East Hampton Airport.
"This is not a small problem," said James Tomarken, commissioner of the Suffolk County Health Department, which has tested more than 850 private wells in the past two years for the contaminants. "This is a widespread problem, and it needs to be addressed by the federal government."
The EPA has said exposure to the chemicals, which are present in the bloodstream of roughly 98 percent of Americans, can cause testicular and kidney cancer, developmental issues in fetuses or to breast-fed infants, and liver damage.
To regulate a contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA must find it has adverse health effects, occurs frequently at levels of public health concern and "there is a meaningful opportunity for health reduction risk for people served by public water systems."
"To turn a blind eye to this issue, which is literally affecting thousands of people, and probably thousands more, is really unconscionable," said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "We need an EPA that fights to protect our water, not to keep it polluted."
The two chemicals can be removed from wells using a carbon filtration system, which runs approximately $750,000, Esposito said.
"The good news is we know how to filter these chemicals out," Esposito said. "The bad news is it's going to cost a lot of money."
The EPA in 2016 established a voluntary health advisory for PFOS and PFOA, recommending a limit of 70 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water. A separate federal report released by the EPA last summer found the chemicals dangerous at much lower levels.
Last October, the state announced $200 million in grants to help communities remove "emerging" contaminants from drinking water, including $9.7 million for a water main in Wainscott and $1.65 million to the Bethpage Water District to treat 1,4-dioxane, which is found in paint strippers, solvents and household products.
With David M. Schwartz
Posted: February 4, 2019
Originally Published: February 4, 2019
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Sen. Chuck Schumer on Monday called on the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure drinking water is at safe standards.
During a visit to Long Island, Schumer said it’s vital that the EPA set federal drinking water standards for the cancer-causing chemicals PFOS and PFOA that have been turning up in private wells and public water systems in Suffolk County.
“I met with the nominee for EPA and I asked him to put out these regulations and he said he's not sure he would do it. Today, we are announcing we're going to try to hold up his nomination unless he does this and, if that doesn't work, pass legislation requiring the federal government put out standards about PFOA’s and PFOS’s,” Schumer said.
He notes that the chemicals can be toxic and that there is no current standard for them. They are often found in laundry detergent and firefighting foam.
The chemicals have been plaguing Long Island was months and lawmakers have addressed concerns of toxic drinking water in the past.
Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, also tells WCBS 880’s Sophia Hall that it can be quite simple to remove the chemicals from drinking water.
“The PFOA’s and PFOS’s can be filtered out with carbon filters,” she said.
Though, the trouble lies in the fact that many private wells and many public water systems do not yet have carbon filtration systems installed.
Listen to the story.
Some Residents Are Concerned That The Village's Character Is Being Compromised By Aggressive Construction
Posted: February 4, 2019
Originally Published: January 16, 2019
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — One Long Island community is now considering a moratorium on new development.
The mayor of Farmingdale is proposing the move — and it’s getting support from some residents and business owners who say downtown is growing too fast, CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported Wednesday.
The turnaround seemed to arrive overnight — explosive growth in the village of Farmingdale. The demolishing and rebuilding has taken center stage near the Long Island Rail Road station.
“One hundred million dollars worth of development in our downtown area,” Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said.
The mayor, who is also a village pharmacist, has been hearing some complaints.
Farmingdale’s master plan in 2013 was to build 375 units of housing over 25 years, but in just six years it has already surpassed 250 units.
The village is buzzing as an up-and-coming destination, but some residents are pushing back, worried about a sudden change in the character of their hometown.
“It’s almost getting to … have you ever been to New Orleans? It’s like a Mardi Gras,” one person said.
“There’s lot of new shops, a lot of new little restaurants that we can all enjoy,” another said.
“Parking is extremely difficult on Main Street,” another added.
Bars, restaurants, shopping and millennials. Vision Long Island’s Eric Alexander said multiple Long Island villages are going through such a resurgence.
“But of course they want it at a pace that they can digest, that works with their quality of life,” Alexander said. “We always have to listen to the local community.”
Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which is located on Main Street, said challenges come with smart growth.
“Increased litter, a lot more congestion, a lot more truck traffic making deliveries and a lot of noise,” said Citizen Campaign’s Adrienne Esposito.
Entrepreneur Kelly Zhou said municipalities have to address that, but not at the expense of new businesses.
“We see a lot of young people coming into the area from the train station, from the new apartments upstairs,” Zhou said.
When asked if it’s time to hit the pause button, Mayor Ekstrand said, “That’s correct. Let’s look at everything that’s been done in the past six years. Let’s look and see if we have to tweak the master plan a little bit.”
A six-month moratorium on new downtown development will be voted on at the next village board meeting.
Following a contentious community hearing, a proposal to build another 54-unit apartment building and performing arts center on Main Street has been withdrawn.
DEC says it's looking into source of petroleum deposits after beach cleanup
BY ANTHONY RIFILATO
Posted: February 4, 2019
Originally Published: January 16, 2019
As the state Department of Environmental Conservation began removing tar balls that were discovered by residents along the shoreline in Lido Beach and Long Beach last weekend, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky called on the agency to open an investigation to identify the source of the sludge.
Two residents of Lido and Long Beach said they have seen petroleum deposits, or congealed black, blob-like shapes that local environmentalists say are typically associated with oil spills. Lido Dunes resident Carol Barrow said she saw thousands of tar balls while walking on the beach last Sunday.
“I was walking on the beach in Long Beach towards Lido Beach,” Barrow told the Herald on Wednesday, reading a letter that she sent to Kaminsky and County Legislator Denise Ford. “I kept seeing black, ovoid shapes intermingled with shells, but thought that they were pieces of asphalt that had been polished by the waves. Then it occurred to me that there were more than a few of these polished-rock looking solids. I took a closer look. They aren’t asphalt ovoids. They are soft. They are actually what we used to call tar balls.”
“We deserve to know when mishaps, not only full-blown ecological disasters, occur,” she added.
In a letter to the DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos, Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, called on the agency to open a formal investigation and test the “black, tar-like substances” that were discovered over a more than three-mile stretch, from Matlock Street in Lido Beach to Lafayette Boulevard in Long Beach.
“As the DEC is currently cleaning up the debris, I request that such debris be tested in order to ensure proper cleanup and prevent future contamination,” Kaminsky wrote. “Residents are extremely concerned about the possibility of a petroleum spill.”
In a statement, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen said town workers have been “working collaboratively with state officials during the cleanup and will be performing a clean sweep of our local beaches to ensure that all deposited waste was properly collected and nothing else is washing ashore.”
The DEC said it had completed the cleanup on Wednesday, which included a mix of tar balls and peat deposits, which look similar. Approximately a ton of both materials, the agency said, were collected over the two-day cleanup.
“The DEC thoroughly inspected the site after receiving reports of tar balls in the area,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “The DEC and a contractor completed the cleanup of the tar balls and peat balls this morning to address this pollution. The tar balls will be submitted for sampling prior to disposal at an approved facility.”
The DEC said that it was looking into the source of the tar balls with the U.S. Coast Guard — a “heavier” impact was found near Lincoln Boulevard beach — but had not received reports of any oil spills in the area. Tar balls, the DEC said, occasionally wash up in small quantities and “are usually picked up by beach maintenance crews when they rake up sea weed and other debris.” They are most often the result of shipwrecks or oil spills in the Atlantic Ocean.
“Tar balls are not regularly reported on Long Island but are found occasionally,” a spokeswoman said in an email. “In this case, the tar balls are old and dried out, indicating they are remnants from an old — perhaps very old — spill.”
City officials, meanwhile, said there was no cause for alarm, saying that only some tar balls had been found among what were described as clay and peat deposits, which are common.
“When the DEC came out, a lot of them were peat and clay, but some were tar balls and they decided to clean them all up,” said Public Works Commissioner John Mirando, adding that “very few” tar balls were discovered. “Our beach people have not found tar balls — everything they’ve been finding has been clay or peat. The ones we’ve been cleaning all year are peat or clay and natural deposits that exist in the ocean.”
Lifelong Long Beach resident Marvin Weiss, a surfer and vice chairman of the Surfrider Foundation Central Long Island Chapter, said that he and others began noticing gray clay deposits wash up on the beach last year — coinciding with the offshore dredging of sand as part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ coastal protection project — but that the substances turned black a few months ago. He said he and others have noticed the objects on all beaches in the city since the dredging began, and on Lincoln and Franklin boulevard beaches as recently as Wednesday.
“We were told that they were clay deposits,” Weiss said, adding that tar balls have not been seen in Long Beach since the early 1980s. “Over the past couple of months, what I noticed is that the gray turned to black … and the black would stay on my fingers, an oily-like substance. There are still gray clay balls on the beach, but some of them have shown up black lately. There are pieces out there that are the size of a basketball, others like the shape of a golf ball — they look like stones on the beach.”
Did the Army Corps “dig too deep? Is this old sediment from the days that we did have oil spills in the late 1970s and early ’80s?” Weiss asked. “Back then, there were tar balls on the beach, but this was cleaned up over the years, and the beaches have been great. Maybe with the dredging, should we take a look and see how deep they’re dredging?”
Earlier this month, the Herald reported that the dune and sand replenishment work in Long Beach had been paused because of rough weather and damaged equipment, and is set to resume in March, according to Army Corps officials, who said that the offshore dredge had been moved.
Officials of both Army Corps and DEC said that the tar balls were not a result of the recent Army Corps work.
“We don’t have any equipment working in the area,” Army Corps spokesman Michael Embrich said.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, told the Herald that it was unlikely that the tar balls were related to the Army Corps work.
“Dredging occurs all across Long Island for different reasons,” Esposito said, “and we don’t see this happening as a result of dredging on a routine basis. This could be something from a minor leak from a tanker that was heading to the New York City port. It could be from an illegal discharge that occurred out in the ocean.”
Esposito said Wednesday that the DEC informed her group that the tar balls were, in fact, petroleum deposits. “The DEC is handling it as if it’s tar and oil,” she said. “If it was a one-time event, and it’s been cleaned up, we should be OK. However, we’re concerned that more may wash up. It’s a great unknown.”To report a tar ball or oil spill, call the DEC at (800) 457-7362.
The push to ban single-use plastic bags is gaining steam as elected officials propose legislation to phase them out in Connecticut.
BY ZAK FAILLA
Posted: February 4, 2019
Originally Published: January 21, 2019
Two bills have been sent to the General Assembly’s Environmental Committee in Connecticut that would either ban or disincentive the use of such bags by charging a fee for each one used.
The first bill, co-sponsored by Reps. David Michel and Josh Elliott would potentially ban plastic bags, straws, certain packaging and other products that contain microplastics. The second proposed bill, submitted by Rep. Christine Conley, would see a five-cent tax on any single-use plastic or paper bags. Funds from the fees would then be allocated for environmental projects statewide.
Recently, grocery chain Big Y - which has 30 locations in Connecticut - announced that it would be phasing out all single-use plastic bags in its stores by 2020. Big Y estimates it uses 100 million plastic bags and 3.5 million paper bags annually.
Between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled in the United States and they are not acceptable at certain recycling centers.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, single-use plastic bags are one of the top five single-use plastics found in the environment by magnitude, and they are one of the top five items encountered in coastline clean-ups.
The EPA estimates that 80 percent of plastic pollution in the ocean originated on land, which includes plastic bags, and in New York, residents use 23 billion plastic bags annually, which contributes to pollution both on and off land. These bags do not biodegrade and they persist for years.
"Plastic pollution has become a serious threat to our lakes, rivers and marine environment as well as public health. Scientists are finding plastic pollution in shellfish and finfish, making its way to our dinner plates,” Citizens Campaign for the Environment Executive Director Adrienne Esposito noted. “Giving up plastic bags and using reusable bags is one easy, reasonable step each member of the public can take to help combat the plastic pollution epidemic. It is time for everyone to get on the plastic bag 'ban wagon.”
BY ROGER SUSANIN , OLIVIA LANK
Posted: January 23, 2019
Originally Published: January 23, 2019
HAMDEN, CT (WFSB) - Hamden leaders took a major step towards banning plastic bags on Tuesday night.
The council is zeroing in on the type of bags you get at places like supermarkets and convenience stores.
Very soon, that age old question paper or plastic could become irrelevant here in Hamden.
Louis Burch is a leading voice in the push to ban carryout plastic bags in Connecticut.
“We support a ban on plastic bags because of the disproportionate environmental impact they have. They wreak havoc on the marine environment,” said Burch.
Burch, who serves as the Connecticut Program Director for the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, considers Tuesday night to be a major victory for his cause.
At Hamden Town Hall, council members took a major step towards eliminating plastic bags from local stores.
“State legislation is coming down the pipeline we know that’s something that’s coming. To be able give Hamden businesses the opportunity to be ahead of that curve, that’s critical,” said Brad Macdowall, Hamden council member.
Town council member Brad Macdowall drafted the proposal.
He says you can see the bags which take hundreds of years to biodegrade into tiny particles all over town and the issue was only getting worse.
“The environmental impact is huge. You can’t walk on the canal line, you can’t go to our parks, you can’t drive on most streets without seeing the kind of litter that’s left behind from these plastic bags,” Macdowall said.
Macdowall says he expected pushback from retailers who stand to lose money if the plan becomes law but says so far, just about everyone has supported the proposal and no one spoke out against it at the meeting.
“Largely, people know that this is something we need to do. They know this is the direction they need to go, and they were really happy to work on it,” said Macdowall.
Burch hopes Hamden adds a customer fee for using paper bags but is pleased overall.
He believes the Hamden proposal along with similar laws in communities like Westport, Greenwich, Norwalk, Stamford, and Weston show that after a decade of hard work momentum is on his side.
“My thought is that within ten years or so these plastic bags are going to be a thing of the past. It’s just a question of how we get there,” Said Burch.
The proposal could become law in early February and go into effect by the summer.
The plan also calls for a soft ban on plastic straws which means customers would have to ask for one before clerks would hand them out.
Watch the video.
BY SAM GURWITT
Posted: January 23, 2019
Originally Published: January 23, 2019
Hamden’s Legislative Council heard comments from the public in support of a plastic bag ban — and none opposed — at a well-attended meeting Tuesday evening. A council committee voted in favor of the proposed ordinance; the full council is set to vote on it Feb. 4.
If enacted, the ordinance would ban businesses from providing single-use plastic bags to customers upon checkout, and would go into effect six months after passage. The council is also considering an ordinance that would require restaurants to ask patrons if they would like single-use plastic straws rather than providing them automatically.
District 9 Representative Brad Macdowall introduced the idea of the plastic bag ban in July.
“It’s a critical way of trying to be a more environmentally sustainable community,” he told the Independent. “One of the things we need to do is limit and eventually eliminate our use of single use plastic” and “get people to think about the way that they consume.” He said he hopes that the legislation will allow Hamden to be ahead of the curve when it comes to plastic waste.
The ordinance would still allow single-use plastic and paper bags “that are used by consumers inside stores” to package wet items such as produce or meat. It would also allow dry cleaner bags, bags that contain pharmacy prescriptions, and bags that “safeguard public health during the transportation of hospital waste.”
New Haven has also begun debating banning single-use plastic bags at checkout. (Read about that here.) It had a ban years ago, then revoked it.
In addition to helping clean up Hamden’s environment, the ban would save the town money on cleaning up parks and on tipping fees for removal of plastic bags from recycling bins, Councilman Macdowall said. Though they are made of plastic, plastic bags cannot be recycled in single-stream recycling.
The bill was officially introduced to the council at Tuesday’s meeting. It had previously been introduced in the Environment and Conservation Committee. After Tuesday night’s public hearing on the ban, the committee voted with the support of four of six members to advance the ordinance out of committee into the council as a whole.
During the public hearing, eight people got up to speak in favor of the ban, and no one spoke against it. Citizens and representatives from activist organizations spoke. No one was present representing the business community.
Louis Burch, Connecticut program director for the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, was the first to speak. He advocated for both a ban on single use plastic bags and a fee on paper bags. When San Jose introduced that combination of band and fee, the percent of shoppers who brought their own reusable bags shopping shot from 4 percent up to 62 percent.
Plastic bags have also contributed to a solid waste crisis, Burch said. China has stopped accepting contaminated American plastic at its recycling plants. He added that plastic bags cannot be recycled in single-stream recycling anyway because they get tangled up in the equipment.
Robert Mark, chair of Hamden’s Solid Waste and Recycling Commission, told the council that “the passage of this ordinance will be a step forward.” He used anecdotes to illustrate the ubiquity of abandoned plastic bags in Hamden, describing how he has seen people leave a store, remove one item from a bag, and throw out the bag.
Robert Mark: “Our residents, and the environment, will thank you.”“In the long run, our residents, and the environment, with thank you,” he told the council.
Resident Helen Ward told the council that when she and her husband moved to Hamden from Maine, they were shocked by the plastic waste. As time went on, their habits began to change because they were not surrounded by a culture of conservation. As dedicated as they were to recycling and reducing waste, “we still felt like we were slipping in our behavior,” Ward said.
Annes: What About Business?
After the public hearing, and after the Environment and Conservation Committee had voted to advance the bill, the council made a motion to discuss it.
Eric Annes, who represents District 4, raised the concern that the council had not heard from any Hamden businesses. He said he supports reducing plastic. He said he understands plastic bags are terrible for the environment and would like to eliminate them. But he said he could not vote on the bill “without hearing from everyone that is affected.” He added that he is “quite concerned about moving this too quickly.”
At-Large Rep. Marjorie Bonadies agreed with Annes that the council needs more information. She began by making clear that she is “in favor of reducing all plastic.” Then she asked how the ordinance would be enforced, and what the town would do with the money from fines.
Hamden, she said, is not recycling compliant. If the town can’t recycle properly, how will it manage to enforce this ordinance?
“We are going to add another layer of big government, of more rules that people are not going to follow,” Bonadies said.
Clerk of the Council Kimberly Renta, At-Large Rep. Marjorie Bonadies.Macdowall told the Independent that in the process of drafting the bill, he spoke with many of the town’s stakeholders in order to draft the best legislation possible. He first went to the Chamber of Commerce to talk about how the ordinance would affect businesses. He also discussed it directly with small business owners and with activist organizations.
A number of residents turned out to hear the arguments about the ban or to show their support. Katherine Hinds and Fritz Hansen said they were looking forward to the council’s passing the ordinance. “We’re very aware of garbage, and we know how easy it is to use reusable bags,” said Hinds.
Fritz Hansen and Katherine Hinds.Elizabeth Hayes, a Democratic Town Committee member, said she supports the ban overall. “I am for eliminating plastic bags, but at what cost?” She asked how the ban would affect those who can’t afford to buy bags, and what the alternative would be. Paper?
The ordinance does include a section on paper bags. It specifies that businesses may provide recycled paper bags at checkout. A recycled paper bag “contains no old growth fiber and a minimum of 40% post-consumer recycled content, is 100% recyclable, and has printed in a highly visible manner on the bag the word ‘Reusable’ and ‘Recyclable,’ the name and location of the manufacturer and the percentage of post-consumer recycled content.” Any other paper bag would be off limits, either complimentary or for sale.
The ordinance would still allow single-use plastic and paper bags “that are used by consumers inside stores” to package wet items such as produce or meat. It would also allow dry cleaner bags, bags that contain pharmacy prescriptions, and bags that “safeguard public health during the transportation of hospital waste.”
After the meeting, Macdowall said he is confident that the council will pass legislation on Feb. 4. If it does, Hamden will join Norwalk, Stamford, Greenwich, and Westport in having a ban and/or fee on plastic bags.
Until then, Macdowall plans to seek to assuage the concerns of council members, citizens, and businesses. “The next step is to make sure everyone’s questions are answered,” he said.
The three separate ballot measures would connect 7,000 properties to sewers in Brookhaven, Islip and Babylon. Residents would have to pay an average of $470 to $755 a year for operations and maintenance.
BY DAVID M. SCHWARTZ
Posted: January 21, 2019
Originally Published: January 21, 2019
Suffolk County’s largest sewer expansion in decades goes before Suffolk voters today as they decide whether to green light $390 million in sewer projects.
The three separate ballot measures would connect 7,000 properties to sewers in Brookhaven, Islip and Babylon. Planning and construction costs would be covered by federal and state grants for coastal resiliency — most created following superstorm Sandy — while residents would pay an average of $470 to $755 a year for operations and maintenance.
One referendum would create a new sewer district in the Mastic and Shirley area and build a sewage treatment plant at Brookhaven Calabro Airport. The other two referendums would expand the existing Southwest Sewer District; one in West Babylon, North Babylon and Wyandanch around the Carlls River; and the other in Great River along the Connetquot River. Apart from the referendums, grant money will be used to connect 1,500 homes within the existing Southwest Sewer District to the sewer system, and sewers would be extended to 300 homes in the village of Patchogue.
A total of about 9,500 voters are eligible to cast ballots, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
Suffolk County said it will not spend any of its money on the sewer project. If costs come in higher than expected, the projects will go in front of the Suffolk County Legislature. If any of the referendums are rejected, the money for those projects will be lost because of federal deadlines to spend the money, county officials said.
Sewer plans for Suffolk County’s South Shore had sat on government shelves for years, but the costs to residents — potentially thousands of dollars a year — were too high without state or federal grants.
Then came superstorm Sandy. In the wake of the storm’s devastation to the Northeast, federal lawmakers approved tens of billions of dollars, including funds for “coastal resiliency” projects.
A state environmental official in Albany came up with a novel idea, according to Peter Scully, deputy county executive.
Jim Tierney, deputy commissioner for water resources with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, had been reading scientific papers and “connected two dots,” Tierney recalled Thursday.
The first was that nitrogen — which came from unsewered homes using septic tanks and cesspools, as well as lawn fertilizers and other sources — degrades marshlands by over-fertilizing the plants. That makes for lush leaves and greenery above the soil, but creates a shallow root system — like an over-fertilized lawn. The second dot was that healthy marshlands serve as a natural storm barrier, absorbing wave surges.
Adding sewer pipes to homes that now use septic tanks and cesspools would reduce nitrogen flowing into rivers and bays, improving the health of the wetlands. That could then serve as “natural infrastructure” to protect the coast from storm damage.
Tierney called Scully, then the Long Island regional director of the DEC, who in turn called Suffolk and Nassau counties for projects that could qualify, Scully said.
Suffolk County officials received the proposal warmly.
“Needless to say, they were just ecstatic about an idea to do something that’s almost a Holy Grail project,” Tierney said.
A DEC white paper from April 22, 2014, connecting strengthened wetlands with coastal protection, was circulated with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and County Executive Steve Bellone announced they’d received the funding in 2015.
In the area along the Forge River in Brookhaven, some environmentalists and civic groups said the area should cover more residential areas and less commercial areas.
Kevin McAllister, founder of Defend H2O, a Sag Harbor-based environmental group, said he believes the sewer project is more about economic development than reducing nitrogen.
“Economic development through the Mastic-Shirley area is not a bad thing. But let’s be clear on what’s driving the sewer district,” he said.
Scully and other environmental groups, including the Nature Conservancy and Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said the sewer lines in residential areas have to go through the commercial corridor along Montauk Highway to get to the wastewater treatment plant.
The 200 commercial properties will have to pay for their own connections, unlike the residential parcels.
The only areas being sewered where there would be more development is along the Montauk Highway Corridor in Mastic, “where sewering has been a goal of local government as part of redevelopment efforts,” Scully said in a statement. The additional nitrogen from the treated water “would be de minimis compared to significant reductions associated with the overall project.”
William and Charese Henry, an engineer and teacher, liked the promised environmental benefits but worried about the price.
“It’s a good thing, but it’s an extra cost,” William Henry said. “We already pay a ton in taxes.”
Others, though, said the fact that federal and state money would pick up most of the costs was too good to pass up.
“It’s an infrastructure investment that’s fair and reasonably priced,” said Steve Affelt, an architect.
Suffolk sewer vote
Polls for about 9,500 Suffolk County voters will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday. The polling places are:
Forge River area: Mastic Fire House, 1080 Mastic Rd., Mastic
Carlls River area: Lincoln Elementary School, 300 Park Ave., Deer Park
Connetquot River area: Great River Fire House, 108 Great River Rd., Great River
Projects at a glance
Shirley/Mastic: The $191.3 million project along the Forge River in Mastic and Shirley would include construction of a new sewage treatment plant at Brookhaven Calabro Airport.
Nearly 2,770 residential parcels and businesses, along with a commercial corridor near Montauk Highway, would be connected initially. Eventually, the treatment plant would allow connections for an additional 10,500 residential units.
The initial project would reduce nitrogen pollution in the river by 193 pounds per day, a 14.4 percent reduction from homes in the watershed. That accounts for additional nitrogen from treated effluent that will be recharged into the ground at the new treatment plant.
Property owners would pay $470 a year. Construction would start in July 2020 and be completed in July 2025.
Great River: The $26.4 million project along the Connetquot River in Great River would connect 474 parcels to the Southwest Sewer District. It would cut nitrogen in the river by 40 pounds a day, a 7.8 percent reduction.
Property owners would pay $755 a year. Construction would start in July 2020 and be completed in December 2022.
Babylon: The $140.2 million project along the Carlls River in West and North Babylon and Wyandanch would connect 2,847 residential parcels to the Southwest Sewer District. It would cut nitrogen pollution in the river by 234 pounds a day, a 33.5 percent reduction.
Property owners would pay $532 a year. Construction would start in September 2020 and be completed in December 2023.
BY SCOTT WILLIS
Posted: January 21, 2019
Originally Published: January 17, 2019
Governor Cuomo unveiled a number of environmental priorities this week in his state of the state address, including one that’s been a bit more controversial.
"You look at the damage done by plastic bags, it is everywhere, hanging from trees, in water, in every community across the state. Let's once and for all step up, I know it isn't easy, I know everyone has an opinion. Let's ban plastic bags once and for all," Cuomo said to applause on Tuesday.
Mike Durant is President of the Food Industry Alliance of New York, which represents the state’s supermarkets.
"The plastic bag ban is probably the number one issue of concern for the retail food industry of New York."
He says they’ve been a champion of encouraging customers to recycle plastic bags and switch to reusable ones. But Durant thinks the governor’s plan will cause shoppers to ask for paper bags, which have a higher carbon footprint when you factor in manufacturing, shipping, and storage.
"Just by putting a ban on one is not going to drive consumers to buy or take advantage of reusable bag giveaways. A more sustainable solution to help the environment and the industry would be to address paper and plastic in a variety of different ways."
Hanna Ring agrees the governor's proposal needs to address paper bags. She's CNY program coordinator at Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
"We definitely would need a ban on plastic bags coupled with a five cent fee on paper bags in order to effectively change public behavior. It's critical that we don't solve the plastic bag problem by just exacerbating another problem."
Suffolk County on Long Island has the toughest local law so far; stores there charge a fee for both plastic and paper bags. Durant with the Food Industry Alliance says that resulted in an 80 percent increase the adoption of reusable bags. Ring with the CCE says it’s a great example of how fees can work, but an outright ban on plastic bags is the best way for the state to address a serious environmental problem.
Listen to the story.
Aging and failing sewage infrastructure discharges raw sewage into local waterways, jeopardizing human health, closing beaches, harming fish and wildlife, and damaging local economies. Drinking water infrastructure is also in a state of constant disrepair, with communities facing ever-increasing water main breaks every year and numerous "boil water advisories" due to contaminated drinking water.
Bottle Bill would expand
BY FRITZ MAYER
Posted: January 21, 2019
Originally Published: January 16, 2019
ALBANY, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced legislation on January 13 that would ban most single-use plastic bags in the state, to be included as part of his proposed 2019 budget. In making the announcement, he once again contrasted environmental actions in Albany against those taking place in Washington, D.C.
“While the federal government is taking our environmental progress backwards and selling out our communities to polluters and oil companies, in New York we are moving forward with the nation’s strongest environmental policies and doing everything in our power to protect our natural resources for future generations,” Cuomo said. He went on to say that the bag ban, along with the proposed expansion of the Bottle Bill, “will reduce litter in our communities, protect our water and create a cleaner and greener New York for all.”
The move comes nearly two years after the governor blocked a plan by New York City officials that would have instituted a five-cent fee on plastic bags in the city. Cuomo said at the time that the plan was flawed and would allow merchants to keep the fee as profit, which could have amounted to $100 million. Cuomo promised to establish “a state-wide task force to develop a uniform state plan for addressing the plastic bag problem.”
The Plastic Bag Task Force released a report on January 13, which estimated that New Yorkers use 23 billion plastic bags annually. “Single-use plastic bags are a detriment to the health of communities and the environment alike,” the report concluded. “From the significant recycling and disposal issues they pose as litter and the harm they create to wildlife, their negative impacts can be seen daily.”
Cuomo said his legislation would also include an expansion of the Bottle Bill, which was first passed by the legislature 30 years ago. Cuomo said the legislation has since diverted 320 million tons of glass and plastic and other recyclables away from landfills, and reduced the release of one billion metric tons of carbon dioxide that would have been required to create the bottles to replace those that have been recycled.
Now, Cuomo is proposing to add most non-alcoholic beverage containers, such as those containing sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit and vegetable beverages and iced tea, to the list of containers which have a five-cent redemption value. The bottle bill expansion would have some exemptions for bottles containing dairy milk, milk substitutes, infant formula, syrups and flavorings, medical prescriptions and dietary supplements.
Environmental groups hailed Cuomo’s initiative, but also called for simultaneously instituting a fee on paper bags when plastic bags are banned. “This is the beginning of the end for the scourge of plastic bag pollution in New York. However, experience shows that a fee on paper bags must accompany the proposed ban on plastic bags, to avoid a serious increase in paper waste and pollution,” said a joint statement from the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Riverkeeper.
BY DENISE CIVILETTI
Posted: January 16, 2019
Originally Published: January 14, 2019
Single-use plastic bags would be banned statewide under a new proposal being advanced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The governor yesterday announced his intention to include the ban in his 2019 executive budget. He also announced that his budget will include an expansion of the state’s bottle bill to make most non-alcoholic drink containers eligible for 5-cent redemption.
The single-use plastic bag ban will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic bag production and disposal, from petroleum used to produce the bags to emissions from the transportation of bags to landfills, the governor’s office said in a statement. New Yorkers use billions of plastic bags annually, according to the statement.
Environmental advocacy groups welcomed the initiative.
“This is the beginning of the end for the scourge of plastic bag pollution in New York,” Citizens Campaign for the Environment, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Riverkeeper said in a joint statement.
But the organizations called for a mandatory fee on paper bags “to avoid a serious increase in paper waste and pollution.”
A 5-cent fee on single-use plastic bags went into effect in Suffolk on Jan. 1, 2018 and the law had a dramatic impact on consumer behavior, according to Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which advocated for its passage.
The group conducted surveys at grocery stores across Suffolk County, one just before the law took effect and a second one on the weekend of April 7-8. Teams of volunteers observed 20,000 people in December 2017 and 6,000 people in April.
Prior to the 5-cent bag fee law, 71 percent of the public were using plastic bags in December, according to CCE. In April, only 30 percent of the public were taking plastic bags. Reusable bag use shot up from 6 percent of shoppers to 43 percent, the organization said. Shoppers who didn’t bring reusable bags often carried out items without any bags, the survey found.
Cuomo opposed a plastic bag fee enacted by New York City in 2017 and with state legislators stepped in to block its implementation. He created a state task force to develop a statewide solution, but it failed to reach a consensus.
Last year Cuomo introduced a program bill to ban single-use carryout plastic bags statewide. That bill would have pre-empted local government’s authority to adopt laws like Suffolk’s. It failed to gain support of some environmental advocates and faced bipartisan opposition in the legislature.
The governor’s office did not release text of his new proposal or any additional details. Cuomo is scheduled to give his “state of the state” address tonight.
The State Department of Environmental Conservation will “work with stakeholders and community leaders to ensure the roll-out of this initiative does not disproportionately impact low and moderate income and environmental justice communities through the distribution of reusable bags and exemptions where appropriate,” according to the statement released yesterday.
