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Baldwinlte
meets baseball legends pg.5
FreeportBaldwinLeader.com
72nd Year, No. 36 Freeport, N.Y. 11520
The Community Newspaper
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The last days of summer
•AC^aa-y •^>-., (/^^ /
is a day at the beach becoming hazardous to your health?
by Laura Schofer
A da.\' at the beach, a classic summertime activity on Long Island, has become increasingh' threatened \>y pollution, according to a new rep>ort released by the National Resources Defense Council I.NRDC).
The repon states that beach closings were typically caused by stomiwater runoff, a mixture of toxic chemicals and bacteria that flows off highways, lawns and roads during storms and contaminates neighboring beaches.
Because the precise source of the pollution is not known, and its orsinations are diverse, run-oft" is known as non-point soiure pollution.
"Close to 39 percent of all beach closures can be attributed to stormwater runoff,'" said Senator Charles Schumer in a press release. He added that the firequen-
cy and severity of beach closures have been on die rise. From 2001 to 2005. die number of instances of beach closings is up from one in 2001 in Nassau County up to 75 in 2005.
In 2006 New York Slate saw a 55-percent increase from 2005 in the number of days the Adantic Ocean, the South Shore Estuary Reserve, the Long Island Sound and Great Lakes bathers were advised against or prohibited from entering the water, according to the NRDC report, including 92 beach closure events in Nassau County.
The NRDC report also states that everv' beach in Nassau was closed for the same eight days and that the closings were preemptive due to polluted stormwater run-oft". Not one beach was closed due to detected bacteria levels.
•'Nassau may have over-simplified their beach closings," said Adrienne Esposito,
executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment "Every beach in Nassau County was reported closed on the same day and then re-opened on the same day. It is hard to believe that there are no distinctions between water quality in any Nassau County beaches. We know from looking at Suff'olk Count^'^s data that all beaches are not created equal."
Locally, beach closures occurred at Long Beach, Zach's Bay in Massapequa and the beach (not the pool or their other facilities) affiliated with the Merrick Estates Community Association. In Nassau and Suffolk counties there are over 150 beaches operated by federal, state, county, town and local murucipali-ties, including the 26-miIe long Fire Island.
Enough money for abatement?
"A da) at the beach is a cherished sum-
.^i
Fluke season to
end Sept. 17
page 9
Benedict Ciaravino
dies page 7
mer activity that should not become a hazardous event. Our local, state arid federal government have a role in preserving the public's access to clean, safe beaches and supporting our coastal communities," said Ms. Bsi)osito.
"New York, Coimecticut and our nation must prioritize steps to upgrade sewage treatment plants and septic systems, and control stormwater run-off from contaminating our waters," she continued.
Senator Schumer released a report stating that the federal government has shortchanged Long Island local governments to help upgrade stormwater abatement systems, essentially methods to divert pollution away from the ocean or capture it before it reaches the ocean. Long Island commimities have already paid out $86 million, trying to comply with EPA guidelines but have had litUe assistance from the federal government.
(continued on page 3)
School's open -drive carefully
page 8
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | The-Leader_2007-09-06 |
| Subject | Newspaper |
| Description | This is a Newspaper distributed locally within the Village of Freeport and Baldwin. |
| Creator | Linda Toscano |
| Publisher | L & M Publications, Inc. |
| Contributors | Scanned by Imaging & Microfilm Access, Inc. (Bohemia, NY 11716) |
| Date | 2007 |
| Type | Periodical |
| Format | PDF; TIFF |
| Source | Freeport Memorial Library |
| Language | English |
| Coverage | United States |
| Rights | This digital image may be freely used for educational uses, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this image is permitted without written permission of the Freeport Memorial Library, 144 W. Merrick Road, Freeport, NY 11520 or email: frreference@freeportlibrary.info |
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