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Waterways

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Members of the Setauket Harbor Task Force. Photo from George Hoffman

Save the Sound’s most recent report card states that inner and outer Port Jefferson Harbor, as well as middle Port Jefferson Harbor (Setauket Harbor), are among Long Island Sound’s top five waterways, boasting strong water chemistry. Water chemistry ratings indicate that a body of water has healthy chemical conditions that support aquatic life and overall ecosystem health.

This is something to celebrate, as stormwater systems have steadily reduced our harbors’ nitrogen levels over the past 30 years.

However, despite our improved knowledge of waste disposal and our diligent efforts to test our water’s chemical and bacterial levels, more work remains to be done.

August’s devastating storm served as a stark reminder that Mother Nature is a powerful force. Despite our area’s best efforts, advanced technologies, and state-of-the-art flood safeguards, millions of dollars in damage proved that even our best preventive efforts can be in vain.

That is why we must not remain stagnant in our efforts to protect our island. Worsening weather conditions can easily overshadow even our most cautious endeavors. Following the recent storm, bacteria levels in Stony Brook Harbor and neighboring waterways spiked, creating an unsuitable environment for aquatic life—not to mention the dozens of fish that washed up on our streets.

So, TBR implores you: Please continue your efforts to keep our environment clean and safe. Properly dispose of household chemicals and waste, minimize fertilizer and pesticide use, and maintain your car to prevent leaks.

Don’t forget to pick up litter you see in the streets and be mindful of your own waste. Community cleanups are frequently held in our coverage areas, providing not only a great way to keep our environment pristine but also an opportunity to connect with fellow community members. Water conservation is crucial, as well. It helps maintain healthy water levels in rivers, lakes, and estuaries, preventing excessive pollution concentration, protecting our aquatic ecosystems, and ensuring sufficient water for recreation and wildlife survival.

Bask in the success of our environmental consciousness, but don’t rest on your laurels. Together, we can make Long Island cleaner and safer for our ecosystems than ever before!

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Bert Conover and George Hoffman, water monitoring volunteers, hold a sign highlighting the five best and worst scoring bay segments, for New York water chemistry. Courtesy George Hoffman

By Mallie Jane Kim

The water chemistry in Port Jefferson Harbor rates as some of the best among bays in Long Island Sound, according to a new report by bistate environmental organization Save the Sound.

The biannual report card released Oct. 10 was based on data collected in 2023 and showed middle Port Jefferson Harbor, the area near Strong’s Neck and Old Field, tied for top marks with Oyster Bay and Mill Neck Creek, which is also in Oyster Bay. Those three areas earned an “A-” in water chemistry quality.

Inner Port Jefferson Harbor, also known as Setauket Harbor, and outer Port Jefferson Harbor, adjacent to Port Jefferson Village, both received a “B+” to round out the top five. The inner port score is up from a “C” in the report card released in 2022, and the outer harbor is down from “A-.”

“We’re pretty happy about it,” said George Hoffman of the Setauket Harbor Task Force, which has been taking water chemistry measurements at set locations within Port Jefferson Harbor twice a month from May through October since 2018. “We’re seeing small evidence of the improvement that we have advocated for.”

According to Hoffman, the harbors have seen a 50% reduction in nitrogen in the harbor over the last 30 years due to structural improvements in stormwater catchment systems and tightened regulations on nitrogen levels in treated sewage that is piped out into area bays.

The task force was part of securing a grant that paid for a storm water collection system on 25A near Setauket Pond Park, and they regularly educate boaters about a free pump-out service to prevent them from dumping human waste into the harbors.

“We’re like guardians of the harbor,” Hoffman said.

The task force is one of 27 harbor groups in Connecticut and on Long Island that participate in the Save the Sound program. Citizen scientists wake up at early hours to bring scientific equipment to specific locations and take measurements at predetermined depths, together monitoring 57 bay segments in the Sound. They measure things like dissolved oxygen, water clarity, chlorophyll, salinity and temperature. They also look at seaweed accumulation.

To note, area counties are responsible for testing for bacteria and other direct water-quality markers, but the water chemistry factors are also indicative of water health. For example, high chlorophyll levels tend to predict algae blooms.

More than 98% of Long Island’s open waters earned a grade “B” or higher, though several areas close to New York City, in the “Western Narrows,” earned an “F.”

“It’s clear that past investment in nitrogen pollution reduction from wastewater infrastructure is linked to improving the open waters of Long Island Sound,” said Save the Sound’s vice president for water protection, David Ansel, at the report card release “Now, our challenge is to find the political will to extend and expand this investment.”

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Metro Creative Connection

You are probably tired of hearing about last week’s storm.

It was catastrophic, terrible, disturbing and all-around, a complete and utter drag.

But, it is so incredibly important to remember that this Earth is precious, and should not be taken lightly. Storms like this serve as stark reminders of the fragility of our planet, and how it can be struck with disaster, at the blink of an eye.

We know you have all heard this before, but it is vital to care about our home. And, not just in Stony Brook or Port Jefferson or Rocky Point or Smithtown or Centereach. We need to nurture our Long Island home. Our waterways. Our wildlife. Even our infrastructure.

If we are to experience natural disasters, the last thing our planet needs is plastic bottles thrown onto the curb, incessant pipe exhaust and muck-ridden water. Everything in life is a chain reaction. If we show indifference to our atmosphere, the climate will change. If our animals swim in filth, they will die. If they die, their terrain is permanently altered. It goes on and on.

We are not scientists, and we are not seeking to preach. However, as concerned citizens of this community, all we want is for it to thrive. To be clean and livable for all living creatures.

As that sign down in the Stony Brook Village Center says: “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.” But, perhaps more importantly, the full quotation continues on, “I like to see a man live, so that his place will be proud of him.”

Our planet is unpredictable enough, so let’s not add unnecessary variables to its already, sometimes devastating, whims.

So, let’s make our Earth proud.

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Adrienne Esposito speaks against a plan to dump dredge spoils in the Sound as county Legislators Sarah Anker, Kara Hahn and Al Krupski look on. Photo by Giselle Barkley

It’s been about six months and North Shore leaders are still fighting against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposal to continue dumping dredge spoils into the Long Island Sound.

Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) stood alongside fellow county Legislators Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue) and Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) on Tuesday at the William H. Rogers Legislature Building in Hauppauge to voice their opposition to the plan and ask Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and New York Secretary of State Cesar Perales to reject the proposal. George Hoffman of the Setauket Harbor Task Force and Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, were also among the leaders who voiced their opposition to the plan.

The Army Corps has dumped dredge spoils into waterways leading to the Sound for decades. Its final proposal, known as the Long Island Sound Dredged Material Management Plan, was completed on Jan. 11 and suggested dumping 30 to 50 million cubic yards of dredge material cleared out from Connecticut waterways over the course of another 30 years.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has supported the Army Corps’ proposal. Stephen Perkins, a member of the EPA’s dredging team, said the spoils are tested before being dumped to ensure they meet certain safety standards.

But critics say the state can reject the plan under the federal Clean Water Act.

Dredge dumping has caused toxic chemicals to be dispersed throughout the Sound over the years, affecting the ecosystem and many water-dwelling species, including fish and lobsters.

“If this was private industry doing this, I don’t think they’d go very far,” Krupski said. “They’d probably end up in jail.”

Over the past 11 years, the local government has spent $7 million to address environmental issues in the Sound, a fragile body of water, according to Anker. Some of that went toward creating a Long Island Sound study.

According to Esposito, New York State rejected a similar plan that the Army Corps proposed in 2005, and ordered that group and the EPA to slowly reduce the amount of dredge spoils being dumped into the Sound. She called for the plan to go back to the drawing board.

“We’ve committed so much resources, money, time and energy to protecting this water body,” Hahn said. “And then to just dump potential harmful and toxic waste spoils into our waters is a darn shame.”

Anker agreed, saying that the Sound creates upward of $36 billion of economic value on the Island.

Instead of dumping dredge spoils into the Long Island Sound, Esposito suggested using it to restore wetlands, rebuild beaches and cap landfills, among other methods of disposal.

“The Sound is dying and what they’re trying to do now is bury it in dredge spoil,” Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) said at the press conference.

The local leaders also criticized the EPA for supporting the Army Corps.

“On one hand, they are advancing a nitrogen-reduction plan,” Esposito said. “And on the other, they’re turning a blind eye to the disposal of the large quantities of dredge materials which cause significant nitrogen loading into the Sound.”

A public hearing on the dredging plan will be held on Tuesday, March 1, at the Port Jefferson Free Library, at the corner of Thompson and East Main streets. That event runs from 5 to 7 p.m., with registration for public speakers starting at 4:30 p.m.

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