July 27th, 2023 - Long Island Water Quality Plummets Following Heavy Rains And High Temps

Southampton Town proposed a six-month moratorium on battery storage systems to give officials more time to review the nascent technology’s potential risks while also freezing a pending application. Joe Werkmeister reports on Newsday.com that the storage batteries complement renewable energy sources such as wind and solar by storing power generated for future use. Town officials said they viewed the facilities as essential infrastructure to expand clean energy initiatives designed to combat climate change. Officials said a town code adopted in 2021 to regulate the facilities may be inadequate. At a special meeting on July 20, the town board voted to schedule an Aug. 8 public hearing on the moratorium. Southampton Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said there’s been a “learning curve” for town officials since the code was adopted. He said officials initially believed the facilities posed little risk and were a “benign” use. “I think our base of understanding has modified over time and I understand why the public is concerned here,” he said. “We want to make sure that whatever code is on our books is adequate to fully protect them.” The current code requires facilities with a capacity of greater than 600 kWh to obtain site plan or special exception approval from the planning board and set certain safety requirements. Southampton Town’s Planning Board is currently reviewing an application for a battery storage facility in Hampton Bays that has generated concerns among community members for potential hazards such as a fire to the lithium-ion batteries. The applicant, Canal Southampton Battery Storage LLC, has proposed a 100-megawatt facility on a 4.9-acre site just east of the Shinnecock Canal and south of Sunrise Highway. A recent fire at a similar facility in East Hampton heightened community concerns. Water quality across the East End and much of Long Island cratered over the last two weeks as soaring temperatures and torrential downpours combined to spark algae blooms, bacterial loads and oxygen-starved waters in local bays. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the destructive algae blooms that have been dubbed the “rust tide,” for the color the blooms stain the water in long, tiger-like stripes, have exploded in Shinnecock Bay at densities that are deadly to any sea creatures unable to escape. Fecal coliform bacteria levels have spiked in bays where groundwater laced with human waste feeds into bays. Water in reaches of bays far from inlets and tidal flushing are a dingy brown or green, and are starved of oxygen. Marine scientists from Stony Brook University closely monitor water quality at more than 30 sites across Long Island and reported this past week that only six sites met the criteria of “good” water quality, and only one, directly adjacent to Shinnecock Inlet, met state and federal water quality standards. At locations from central Great South Bay to western Shinnecock Bay, and in the headwaters of Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, the water failed all four of the main parameters used to measure water quality: algae densities, bacteria counts, water clarity and levels of dissolved oxygen. Water temperatures in the Peconic have already topped the 80 degree mark — a temperature that is known to kill bay scallops and has been seen as one of the driving factors of massive die-offs the last four summers. Stop & Shop in Southampton Village is projected to re-open tomorrow. Following a fire last Friday, Stop & Shop in Southampton has been closed. The supermarket was expected to reopen on Tuesday, but remained closed and security stationed in front of the entrance told 27east.com that the reopening is planned for Friday…tomorrow. The Southampton Fire Department was dispatched to Stop & Shop supermarket on Jagger Lane in Southampton for a reported structure fire at 11:26 p.m. on Friday, Ju