Latest Long Islands

Groundwater on Long Island will soon be healthier. A new Soil Wash Plant facility recently opened on Long Island that will help to protect groundwater and facilitate more brownfield site remediation.

Many towns in New York State are currently suffering from harmful algal blooms. In order to combat them, the Department of Environmental Conservation is using monitoring technology developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to detect HABs early.

A few communities in New York State are working on electric school bus pilot programs. As part of our Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, we’re tracking these ongoing and upcoming pilot programs across New York State.

Suffolk County officials recently revealed a $4 billion plan to fight nitrogen pollution on Long Island’s surface waters. The 50-year Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan aims to upgrade and replace aging septic systems in hundreds of thousands of homes and replace them with modern sewage systems. 

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is embracing solar power in a new initiative that will help fight greenhouse gas emissions and give the authority a new income stream to improve public transit. It plans to lease more than 10 million square feet of its rooftop space to solar power generating companies.

The new single-use bag law gives counties and cities the option to opt-in to a five-cent fee for paper bags, which would further reduce litter and solid waste pollution and substantially lower carbon emissions from producing paper bags. Some local governments in New York have already voted in favor of the fee, while others have either opposed it or are still deliberating.

Traffic is a notable problem in New York as mass transit is becoming riddled with delays, signal failures, and decades-old infrastructure. Congestion pricing would raise much-needed funding for long-term improvements to the region’s transit system, reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from cars, and decrease traffic congestion by encouraging the use of public transportation.