Environment

The East Hampton BESS facility, a collaboration between National Grid and NextEra Energy, was the site of a fire in May of 2023.
East Hampton Environment Recent

Lawsuit Filed Over Contamination in East Hampton Public Wells After BESS Fire

Beth Young
The Suffolk County Water Authority filed a federal lawsuit against the operator of an East Hampton Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) operator late last week after the discovery of high levels of perfluorinated compounds in nearby public drinking water wells following a 2023 fire at the BESS facility. East Hampton Town is now calling for a task force to protect the community's drinking water. Pictured Above: The East Hampton BESS
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Photographer Mary Bertschi with her photographs and stained glass sculpture of a Baltimore Oriole — a bird she's photographed both here and in Honduras.
Arts Environment Photos Recent Visual Arts

Breaking Down Borders, For Birds and For People

Beth Young
As spring migration season reached symphony status here in recent weeks, the sounds of Baltimore orioles, wood thrushes and an array of warblers have filled the East End's air. If you haven't given much thought to what happens when that symphony goes silent here, take heart. North Fork Audubon knows. Pictured Above: Photographer Mary Bertschi with her photographs and stained glass sculpture of a Baltimore Oriole — a bird she's
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Environment On the Water Peconic Bathtub Recent The Business Accelerator

Federal Disaster Declaration Issued for Oyster Farms Devastated by Ice

Beth Young
The United States Department of Agriculture has issued a Disaster Designation for Suffolk County shellfish farmers due to this winter's heavy snowfall and multi-week severe freeze, which significantly impacted the county’s oyster aquaculture industry this February — an estimated combined $2.4 million loss. The Disaster Designation now allows affected farms to apply for disaster assistance and low-interest emergency loans. It is separate from another federal fishery disaster declaration also being sought
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Renuka Ramcharan's photograph of a mute swan
Arts Environment Literature Photos Southampton Visual Arts

Out of the Classroom: Bringing a Love for Nature Alive with Photos and Words

Beth Young
It's easy to notice kids who may some day become scientists. They may stare, fascinated for hours, at ants following pheromone trails through the backyard, hide flinty rocks in the crevices of their homes and embark on experiments with the most basic of household equipment, cooking up fake food for wolves with your pots and pans. But kids with this innate curiosity often lose sight of what originally drew them
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Environment Photos Recent Riverhead

Photos: Celebrating the Beauty of Aquebogue’s Broad Cove Preserve

Beth Young
Along the edge of Flanders Bay in Aquebogue is a 100-acre swath of woodlands and meadows that was once a duck farm and had been slated half a decade ago to become a luxury condominium complex. The Peconic Land Trust purchased the former Broad Cove Duck Farm property in 2021, and since then has been working with an array of partners to provide public access to the property, which is
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SWCA Environmental Consultants Project Manager Arianna Porter at the May 5 forum.
Environment Photos Recent Southampton

Planning for Wildfires in Our Backyards

Beth Young
While vast swaths of Long Island's fire-prone pine barrens are west of the East End, communities throughout western Southampton Town learned quickly in March of 2025 that they could easily be right in the path of an out-of-control wildfire. High winds and dry fuel conditions led to the rapid spread of a wildfire that reportedly started when a family in Manorville tried to make s'mores in their backyard on the
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A Suffolk County monitoring well across Route 25 from the Grumman Memorial Park
Environment Photos Recent Riverhead

Suffolk County Pushes Navy to Clean Up EPCAL Plumes

Beth Young
Suffolk County says it has compiled mountains of ammunition in its fight to get the U.S. Navy to clean up plumes of numerous hazardous compounds emanating from the Enterprise Park at Calverton, including data showing fish highly contaminated with the perfluorinated compound PFOS the county says the Navy withheld for a year, and high levels of other perfluorinated compounds in the headwaters of the Peconic River. Pictured Above: A Suffolk
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Column Editorial Environment Opinion Recent

Editorial: A Viral Media Problem

East End Beacon
It’s been a long time since we were this embarrassed to be part of the Long Island press corps.  In case you haven’t heard, the local media landscape was blanketed last week with dire warnings about “flesh eating bacteria” making its way into our waters. These warnings came from the mouth of one of the most respected marine ecologists working here, Stony Brook’s Dr. Christopher Gobler, who mentioned flesh eating
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Dr. Christopher Gobler at the April 21 press conference on the Peconic riverfront. |. Denise Civiletti photo
Environment Peconic Bathtub Photos Recent

Dr. Gobler Warns of Troubled Waters Ahead of Annual State of the Bays

Beth Young
In what’s become an annual warning to Long Islanders about the health of Long Island’s waters, Stony Brook Chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation Dr. Christopher Gobler is again asking for the public’s help in addressing one of the greatest threats to coastal ecosystems — on-site septic systems. Dr. Christopher Gobler at the April 21 press conference on the Peconic riverfront. |. Denise Civiletti photo/Riverhead Local Dr. Gobler outlined the
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Arbor Day Posters
Environment Photos Southold

Southold Celebrates Arbor Day With Annual Poster Contest

Beth Young
The Southold Town Board celebrated Arbor Day at its Tuesday evening meeting, honoring the student winners of the town Tree Committee's annual Arbor Day Poster Contest. The contest, which includes the display of the posters at Town Hall, was founded and had for many years been organized by longtime Tree Committee Chair Peggy Murphy, who passed away last year. "We kept it to her liking, and had fun picking out
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