Many environmental topics were brought to the forefront on Long Island in 2024, including the island’s water supply.
Recent concern grew for Long Island’s groundwater sustainability. Long Island receives its drinking water from a sole-source aquifer below the surface.
Saltwater intrusion poses a threat to Long Island’s aquifer that provides drinking water for the region’s nearly 3 million residents, according to the Long Island Groundwater Sustainability Study.
Over-pumping, population growth, pollution and climate change are major stressors to the aquifer and the region’s public water supply, found an eight-year study released in August.
That first phase studied western parts of the island, including Nassau County, Brooklyn and Queens. The second phase studying Suffolk County is expected to be complete in 2025, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Long Island Sound is another area that lawmakers and residents have tried to preserve.
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D – Long Island, Queens) hailed the bipartisan passage of H.R. 5441 in July, a bill that reauthorizes Long Island Sound Programs until 2028.
The bipartisan bill, passed by a vote of 333 to 51, was cosponsored by Suozzi and reauthorizes the Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island Sound programs through 2028. The programs, which include a stewardship grant program, focus on conserving the Sound.
“The Long Island Sound is our national park. I’ve always loved fishing and swimming in the Long Island Sound, I raised my kids on the Long Island Sound,” said Suozzi. “We’ve got to do everything we can to preserve and protect it.”
2024 also saw the Excavation of Contaminated Soils In Bethpage Community Park.
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino renewed demands for Northrop Grumman to excavate all contaminated soils at the park following the discovery of six 55-gallon chemical drums buried just 7 feet underground near the ballfield and skate park in May.
These chemical drums are encased in concrete coffins, which is highly uncommon according to environmental experts. To ensure the health and safety of residents, the Town of Oyster Bay immediately notified the state Department of Environmental Conservation and retained an environmental engineer.
This cleanup process continued throughout the summer and Northrop Grumman contractors began the second phase of the thermal cleanup at the former Grumman settling ponds in Oyster Bay in September.
The DEC oversaw the cleanup, which addressed volatile organic compound contamination deep in the soil. Contractors used an in-place heat-based thermal treatment system to treat the pollution.
