Editorial
EDITORIAL: Keep working to clean up Long Island's bays
It's too soon to conclude from encouraging results early in the bay scallop season that the future is rosy for the Peconic Bay system. It will take a few years of increasing harvests of scallops and other shellfish before we can really celebrate.
But that improvement in the Peconic Estuary does offer at least one lesson. The federal no-discharge zone in the estuary - which prohibits boats from releasing treated waste into the bays - has helped improve water quality. So the scallops that Suffolk County has planted there have a better chance.
The momentary good news in the Peconic Estuary also highlights the importance of the Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to declare a no-discharge zone for the bays of the South Shore Estuary Reserve, from the Queens-Nassau border to the middle of Southampton.
The EPA accepted a petition by the advocacy group Peconic Baykeeper, acting as agent for six towns and the Fire Island National Seashore. It shows that there are already enough pump- out facilities on land and on boats to receive the waste from the 24,000 boats on these waters on an average summer weekend. So creating the zone won't force major taxpayer investments.
But it will demand increased awareness that the health of 3,000 water-related businesses in the area depends on compliance. Bay constables, the Coast Guard and other agencies can impose fines from $500 to $1,000. So, boaters, pay attention, pump out legally, and help save this precious estuary. hN
