Interesting news from the Long Island, opulent mansions immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Great Gatsby and the County that marked the first successful action against the use of the osprey-damaging chemical, DDT in the 1960’s. At the time of this writing, Suffolk County, New York is considering a coal tar sealant ban. This action, sponsored by the Presiding Officer of the Legislature, William J. Lindsay, if successful, will be the first countywide ban of this product in the United States. It also would add a sizable population (1.4 million) to the growing number of citizens under a ban.
This action could be a deja vu of sorts from the historic DDT stories nearly 50 years ago now. Most people know that Rachel Carson advocated for the ban of DDT in her best seller, Silent Spring, but it is generally forgotten that one of the major DDT events she wrote of happened in Austin, Texas. A spill of DDT into a storm sewer eventually led to a massive fish kill covering over 100 miles of the Colorado River. So in the same way that one event on one stream in Austin back then informed the people of Suffolk County and the nation, we now have another event in a stream in Austin poised to do the same.
Recently the Legislature held a public hearing on the matter and now will be reviewed and voted upon by a subcommittee of the legislature before returning to the full body. Earlier the USGS presented their research to the decision makers. May the wisdom of the Suffolk County Legislature continue to lead our nation in much the same way as it has it the past!
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| Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer William J. Lindsay |