Dear Danielle,

Welcome to our November newsletter. CCOM wishes everyone a bright beginning to our holiday season. Whether you’re traveling or welcoming guests and gathering here on the wintery East End, we extend our warmest holiday wishes to you and your loved ones. 

In this issue, read about updates on Ditch dune reconstruction, clean water campaign success, town zoning code amendment progress, new 2025 NYC traffic poll, making the most of your Thanksgiving Turkey, Montauk holiday composting drop-off, and implications of New York’s drought status.

At CCOM, we are deeply grateful for your ongoing support so that we can continue to protect and preserve our local environment and shape a sustainable future in Montauk.

With Gratitude,

Rebecca Holloway | Manager of Environmental Advocacy

East Hampton Town, in collaboration with design partners, is advancing plans for the Ditch Plains Beach Recovery Project: Phase 2. This phase focuses on restoring the dune at Ditch Plains to serve as a natural barrier against storm surges. 

This month, discussions with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) explored reducing the size of the originally proposed dune and moving it further landward from mean high tide, discussed in October's Town Board Work Session. The project remains in its planning stages, the town has submitted a preliminary design and project narrative for DEC review before submitting the final plan for approval and issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP).

Stay tuned for updates and opportunities for community input as the project progresses toward implementation.

We made waves! Thanks to our community and the years-long advocacy work of many of our East End environmental partners, Proposition 2, the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act, passed overwhelmingly this month with a margin of 72%. Starting in January 2025, tax-free grants will be available to homeowners to replace polluting septic systems with clean water technology, by installing Innovative and Alternative nitrogen removal septic systems. These upgrades are a huge gain for our environment: improving our drinking water quality, protecting local habitats, and supporting the health of our waterways and marine life communities.

CCOM remains committed to supporting homeowners and businesses through the septic upgrade and reimbursement process. Stay tuned for more updates and upcoming informational meetings in 2025, where we’ll provide further assistance on septic upgrades.

This month’s water quality testing showed low levels of enterococcus bacteria at most sites. The data indicates an ongoing improvement in water quality over time, continuing the trend of consistently low bacteria levels, likely due to the impact of ongoing drought conditions.

See detailed results on the Blue Water Task Force site and a map of CCOM’s East Hampton sites here. 

Rainfall, while essential to replenishing water sources, can worsen bacteria levels and water quality, as it washes pollutants into water bodies from streets, storm drains, and other surfaces. 

The high levels that CCOM saw at two sites on the 18th– Napeague Harbor: West and Lake Montauk: South Beach– could have been influenced by the spring tide high water conditions, which occur twice monthly when the gravitational pull of the moon and sun align, causing higher than usual tides that can stir up bacteria from the bottom of water bodies, reduce flushing of water in some areas, and bring in floodwater inundation.

CCOM collaborates with the Gobler Lab at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook to test for harmful algal blooms (HABs). Results from this year show that occurrences of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Fort Pond are the highest in the past 5 years, with 6 total blooms reported in the pond this year.

These results align with findings from the Gobler Lab’s Annual Water Quality Report, which highlighted that Long Island sites saw more than two dozen blue-green algae blooms this year, including 17 on the South Fork alone. Experts attribute the increase to excessive nutrient loading, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, entering local water bodies, often from household sewage. For more details on HABs, see here, and read about the issue of sewage on Long Island, here. 

November 19th, the East Hampton Town Board and Deputy Town Attorney conducted a detailed discussion of proposed code amendments. This follows significant feedback from the public this month, with overwhelming public support for amendments.

As reported by Nicholas Coritsidis from the Town Attorney’s office, the Town received testimony from 31 speakers at November 7th’s Public Hearing (21 in support, 3 against, 6 mixed, and 1 suggesting the changes don’t go far enough), as well as 59 written comments (46 in support, 5 against, 6 mixed, and 2 suggesting the changes don’t go far enough).

The next Town Board Work Session is scheduled for 11:00 AM on Tuesday, December 3, at Town Hall. The session will include discussions on finalizing decisions for each amendment and a preliminary review of the GFA formula. The meeting can be attended in person or watched via livestream. After the Work Session, we anticipate that the vote will take place at the Town Board Regular Meeting at 6:00 PM on Thursday, December 5. 

CCOM reaffirms our commitment to implementing necessary zoning updates—both above and below ground—to safeguard the environment and protect Montauk’s vulnerable natural resources. CCOM also advocates for the Town Board to reach an immediate resolution and finalization of GFA formula details to facilitate the urgent implementation of these critical development regulations.

Stay tuned for our recap of the results and environmental implications of these important developments.

Starting January 5, 2025, vehicles entering Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone (60th Street and below) will be charged a toll. 

This initiative is expected to cut daily traffic by 80,000 vehicles. Reduced vehicle emissions will contribute to lowering greenhouse gases, cleaner air, safer streets, and improved public transit in the most congested area in the U.S. 

The initiative has been a long time coming— MTA CEO Janno Lieber said the program has been in the works for 20 years— and it sets an exciting precedent for our ability to make real progress on long-standing challenges. 

Learn more: MTA Congestion Relief Zone

A plant-heavy diet rich in vegetables, legumes, and grains is great for both personal health and the health of the planet (learn more) (or here). For special occasions like Thanksgiving, when turkey is on the menu, there are many ways to keep it sustainable. Aside from sourcing your turkey locally… one simple tip: use the whole bird.

After carving your turkey, save the bones to make homemade turkey stock. It’s an easy, eco-friendly way to reduce food waste, save money, and add nutrition to your warming winter meals. Stock made from leftovers is rich in flavor, collagen, and nutrients. Get started with this simple recipe, and use this trick year-round with bones and vegetable scraps from your kitchen. Small, mindful steps like this can make your meals more sustainable and delicious!

Spread the word! Thank the Earth and keep holiday food waste out of our landfills.

The Problem: Our soil health, the foundation of our food system, is rapidly deteriorating due to harmful farming practices such as tilling, monoculture, and excessive chemical use. Compounding the issue, food waste significantly contributes to climate change and drought. Food waste decomposing in landfills is a major source of global methane emissions, a super-potent greenhouse gas.

A Simple Solution: Composting food and organic waste offers a powerful remedy. It reduces harmful emissions, rebuilds soil health, reduces erosion, strengthens drought resilience, and improves environmental sustainability. 

Whether you're a year-round resident or visiting for the holidays, you can help by dropping off food scraps. 

Tip: When cooking, have a bowl or compost tub nearby, making it easy to keep food waste out of the trash. Throw your flower decorations into the compost, too.

Refer to this guide to see which food scraps are accepted for collection and which are not. 

Find out more about Montauk composting here. Let’s work together to protect the planet this holiday season! 

This week, we experienced our first rain in weeks here on Long Island, offering some much-needed relief from the ongoing drought that has persisted for several months. While this rainfall is a positive development, it’s not enough to end the drought, according to The National Weather Service's New York office. Experts say it will help replenish our water sources temporarily, but more sustained precipitation is necessary for a full recovery. 

The drought has been affecting the tri-state area since the summer, but just this month, Gov. Kathy Hochul officially extended the drought watch state-wide, and included Suffolk and Nassau counties, which were previously excluded. 

While its effects aren’t always obvious, a lack of consistent rainfall puts stress on crops, pastures, water systems, and ecosystems, including an increased risk of brush fires and wildfires. At the moment, we’re relying on the higher-than-average precipitation levels we received earlier in the year that charged our groundwater levels. Thankfully, the recent rain offers hope for a return to balance for our soils, plants, and water supplies.

East Hampton Middle School students presented to the Town Trustees this month on their exciting work this season restoring native eelgrass in our local waters. As part of the students’ Do Good Be Good Club, these young conservationists worked with Barley Dunne, director of the East Hampton Shellfish Hatchery, and Robert Vasiluth of SAVE Environmental, who began a Napeague Harbor eelgrass reseeding project in 2023.

Using clamshells as anchors, the students helped plant eelgrass seeds in Montauk’s waters, a method designed to restore these vital underwater habitats. 

Take a cue from these inspiring young environmentalists this season by finding ways to “do good and be good” for our local environment.

Holiday shopping officially begins now! 

Give your favorite Montauk and East End lover some CCOM gifts. Every order comes with a free tote bag as our gift to you! Check out our website's SHOP PAGE.