August 16th, 2023 - Unkechaug and Shinnecock Members Express Concern Over Potential Disruption From Sunrise Wind Cable

Members of two Long Island Indian nations have expressed concern about potential disruption of native burial and artifact sites along portions of the land-based route of the Sunrise Wind cable, and the developer says it’s working with the nations to monitor the work. Harry Wallace, chief of the state-recognized Unkechaug tribe located on the Poospatuck reservation near Mastic, said he was made aware of the potential conflicts about a month ago and has had recent meetings with representatives of Sunrise Wind to express his concerns. A representative of the federally recognized Shinnecock Indian Nation also has concerns. Mark Harrington reports on Newsday.com that the 17.5-mile cable will make landfall at Smith Point County Park and travel along William Floyd Parkway before making its way to a Holbrook substation along the Long Island Expressway. Newsday has reported that preliminary construction for the project, which will bring 924 megawatts of power to the Long Island grid, began last month. An online "open house" to detail the plan is scheduled for today at 6 p.m. Questions can be submitted to the developers prior to the session. The project promises to provide power to some 600,000 homes by the time it's fully constructed in 2025. Wallace said the developers have been open to his demands. “We’re now in discussions after I screamed and yelled and hollered,” he said. “I’m getting a monitor in place as soon as possible to prevent any desecration of our sacred ground.” A spokesman for Sunrise Wind said the developers are working with the tribes to make sure no culturally sensitive sites are disturbed. ***A proposal from the Moriches Bay Project to install oyster and clam farms at three sites on Quantuck Bay was tabled last week by the Southampton Town Trustees while the town attorney’s office determines whether the plan is in sync with a recently adopted town aquaculture program. “When the town attorney says table it, we hit the brakes,” Trustee President Scott Horowitz said following the August 7 Trustees meeting. The Moriches Bay Project, founded in 2012 by Westhampton Beach resident Laura Fabrizio, has raised and seeded more than 2.5 million oysters into Moriches Bay over its 10-plus year history, according to the nonprofit’s website. Tom Gogola reports on 27east.com that the organization, which has an office in West Hampton Dunes, also offers educational programs that this year featured oyster-farm outings at the West Hampton Dunes Overlook and at Lashley Beach, both located off of Dune Road. At issue for the town and the Trustees is that the bottomlands are a shared but limited resource with multiple stakeholders — environmentalists, baymen, homeowners, recreational anglers and the like — all vying for access. ***The Heart of Riverhead Civic Association is hosting the EPCAL Watch group at the civic’s monthly meeting tomorrow evening for an update on plans at the Calverton Enterprise Park. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that this Thursday’s meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall on Peconic Avenue in Riverhead from 6:30 to 8 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.) Tomorrow’s presentation by members of EPCAL Watch and their invited panelists will discuss plans aired by Calverton Aviation & Technology, a Triple Five Group company, for vacant land at the former Grumman manufacturing plant. Calverton Aviation & Technology is in contract to purchase, 1,644 acres of vacant land, including the site’s two runways, from the Town of Riverhead for $40 million. ***