Legislator Steven J.
Flotteron (far right), along with (L-R): Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine, Islip
Town Councilman James P. O’Connor and Conservation Project Director for Public
Lands at The Nature Conservancy Kevin McDonald joined representatives of the
Environmental Protection Agency and New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation earlier this week to hear the results of a two-year study of the
Great South Bay’s oxygen levels and offer support for efforts to reduce
nitrogen pollution. New evidence of
seasonally low oxygen levels helps to explain previous observations of areas in
the bay that are largely devoid of bottom dwelling sea-life, including hard
clams and other shellfish. Already linked to harmful algae blooms and loss of
eel grass, low dissolved oxygen is yet another negative impact of nitrogen
pollution, which, in Great South Bay, is largely originating from cesspools and
septic systems.
The event was organized
by The Nature Conservancy, which funded the work with the help of Long Island
Community Foundation and the Knapp-Swezey Foundation; co-sponsors included
Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Seatuck Environmental Association, Save
the Great South Bay, the Peconic Baykeeper, the South Shore Estuary Reserve
Citizens Advisory Committee, and Suffolk County Department of Health
Services.