Week in Review: Our Fragile Environment

On EPCAL Plume Cleanup, Regeneration, Riverside Sewer, Toxic Viral Media & NFEC

Author

Beth Young
May 03, 2026

On the Forks

Suffolk County Pushes Navy to Clean Up EPCAL Plumes

A Suffolk County monitoring well across Route 25 from the Grumman Memorial Park

Suffolk County says it has compiled mountains of ammunition in its fight to get the U.S. Navy to clean up plumes of numerous hazardous compounds emanating from the Enterprise Park at Calverton, including data showing fish highly contaminated with the perfluorinated compound PFOS the county says the Navy withheld for a year, and high levels of other perfluorinated compounds in the headwaters of the Peconic River.

Sasha Fishman’s “I want to be wet,” 2024

Jeremey Dennis’s “Hill Top,” 2019

Scott Bluedorn’s “Betula,” 2025

Regeneration: Art As An Ecological Force

Caring for ecology starts with understanding your immediate environment, and the East End is a great place to dive deeply into this ethos — whether you are a scientist or an artist or anyone who has ever put two bare feet down on the earth, in the sand or into the waters here.

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill invited artists working on the East End to explore these themes in its current exhibition, “Regeneration: Long Island’s History of Ecological Art and Care,” on view through June 14. 

Four artists in the show were joined by Helen Hsu of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and Parrish Curator Scout Hutchinson for an Earth Week discussion April 18 on how ecology shapes their practice. 

Peconic Bathtub

A Viral Media Problem

Dr. Christopher Gobler at the April 24 State of the Bays

It’s been a long time since we were this embarrassed to be part of the Long Island press corps. 

In case you haven’t heard, the local media landscape was blanketed last week with dire warnings about “flesh eating bacteria” making its way into our waters.

These warnings came from the mouth of one of the most respected marine ecologists working here, Stony Brook’s Dr. Christopher Gobler, who mentioned flesh eating bacteria in passing at a press conference alongside the Peconic River in Riverhead April 21, ahead of his annual State of the Bays address.

Dr. Gobler said at the State of the Bays address April 24 that he realized there would be trouble after a “25-year-old kid with a a cell phone” working for a local TV news outlet decided to make a social media reel out of a snippet of him talking about flesh-eating bacteria. 

Bacteria going viral wasn’t on our Bingo card this year, but perhaps it should have been.

Riverside

Riverside Gets A Look At Details of New Sewer District

Sean Cameron of Site Specific Design with a model of the grinder and shutoff that will be located at each property connected to the sewer district

Southampton Town gave residents of Riverside a look at some of the practical aspects of its new $44 million sewer district Wednesday evening. The town’s consultants say they anticipate the system will begin operating in late 2029 or early 2030.

All for the Environment

Mark Haubner on Stepping Down From NFEC

Beacon Climate Local Now Columnist Mark Haubner reflects this week on his “retirement” as volunteer President of the North Fork Environmental Council, his work ahead as chair of Riverhead Town’s Environmental Advisory Committee and the classes and workshops he’s developing with the organization Bio4Climate.

You can also see Mark in conversation with Beacon editor Beth Young and other local environmentalists on the role of humans in ecological care this morning at 11:30 a.m. at the Dandelion Festival at KK’s The Farm in Southold.

Climate Local Now: How To Be a PRFCT Gardener

by Melissa Ozawa

There’s a movement growing and we, at Perfect Earth Project, are thrilled to be a part of it. More and more people want to do something to help end the biodiversity crisis, stop poisoning wildlife (us and our pets!), and use fewer natural resources. But wanting to do good is just the start. Part of Perfect Earth Project’s mission is to share hands-on knowledge about what you can do in your yard. 

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North Fork

Southold Warns Illegal Rentals Won’t Be Eligible for Short-Term Rental Lottery

Members of Southold’s Short-Term Rental Task Force at the Town Board’s Jan. 29 Code Committee meeting, as they began drafting the new short-term rental code.

As the Southold Town Board works on a new plan to grant a limited number of short-term rental permits via a lottery, the town issued a warning to landlords of existing rentals this week: “Owners of properties without a valid rental permit will not be eligible to apply for a short term rental permit.”

Youth

A Celebration Garden for Southold Town Hall

North Fork Scouts are busy this year making Southold a better place, starting just steps from the side door to Town Hall.

Mattituck High School Junior Madison Tomaszewski, whom you may have seen racing a Bandolero car in Riverhead Raceway’s youth program, is also at work on the highest achievement in Girl Scouting — the Gold Award.

She’s planning a Celebration Garden in a neglected space just outside of Southold Town Hall as part of her Gold Award project with Girl Scout Troop #261.

Community

Peconic Landing’s John May Mile Will Celebrate 20 Years May 9

Peconic Landing in Greenport will host its 20th Annual John May Mile and 5K Race to benefit the Greenport Fire Department on Saturday, May 9.

“Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the John May Mile and 5K is incredibly meaningful for all of us at Peconic Landing,” said Robert J. Syron, President and CEO of the not-for-profit life plan community. “For two decades, this event has brought the community together in support of the Greenport Fire Department and the dedicated volunteers who show up every day to protect and serve the North Fork. Now more than ever, we must continue to rally behind them to ensure they have the resources they need to respond when it matters most.”

On the Air

Behind the Headlines

Dr. Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University joined Behind the Headlines this weekend to discuss the current state of water quality on the East End, focusing on nitrogen, innovative and alternative septic systems and the impact of algae on local ecosystems.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday, May 3

Art at Darts

The Old Town Arts & Crafts Guild, a nonprofit organization, is celebrating the season by presenting an Artist’s Showcase at the beautiful Dart’s Barn in Southold. Saturday & Sunday, May 2nd and 3rd from 9-4PM.  It will feature fine art, photography, handcrafted items and will also feature art by Carolyn M. Bell and the Peconic Impressionists.

Tuesday, May 5

Flanders Wildfire Protection Meeting for Southampton Township

The Central Pine Barrens Commission will hold a public meeting about the Southampton Community Wildfire Protection Plan to improve emergency response and safety during a wildfire on Tuesday, May 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Flanders Community Center

Saturday, May 9

“Residual Light” at Duck Creek Arts

The Arts Center at Duck Creek will present “Residual Light,” a collaborative group exhibition that brings together female artists that work with alternative process and camera-less photography.

Hot Off the Press

Our May print edition is now on newsstands throughout the East End
All words in and on The Beacon are always generated by human beings. Guaranteed.

Words

“I don’t know what it is about fecundity that so appalls. I suppose it is the teeming evidence that birth and growth, which we value, are ubiquitous and blind, that life itself is so astonishingly cheap, that nature is as careless as it is bountiful, and that with extravagance goes a crushing waste that will one day include our own cheap lives… Every glistening egg is a memento mori.”

— Annie Dillard, “Pilgrim at Tinker’s Creek”

See you next Sunday,

Beth