Government Briefs 06.28.18

Suffolk County

Springs-Fireplace Road

Suffolk County is planning improvements along Springs-Fireplace Road, County Road 41, from Three Mile Harbor Road to Old Stone Highway. Legislator Bridget Fleming has co-sponsored the necessary resolution, which focuses on continuous sidewalks along the south side of the road, new catch basins, leaching pools, and drainage swales, as well as places to allow a resurfaced roadway to have proper sloping. The drainage system will be repaired and upgraded to correct flooding, as well.

In a statement, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said the work would help improve safety along the key access road. 

Offshore Wind

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has extended the public comment period until July 30 on potential lease areas for offshore wind energy development. Deepwater Wind, a Rhode Island company, plans to construct a 15-turbine South Fork Wind Farm approximately 35 miles off Montauk. The 256-square-mile area is also to be the site of Revolution Wind, a larger installation that is to deliver power to Connecticut and Rhode Island. Local commercial fishermen have been almost unanimous in opposition to these plans, fearing damage or destruction to their livelihoods.

In association with the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the State Energy Research and Development Authority, two public sessions will take place, the first on July 11 at the Montauk Community Playhouse and the second at the Shinnecock commercial fishing dock office at 333 Beach Road (Dune Road) in Hampton Bays. Both sessions will be from 4 to 8 p.m. 

Those unable to attend can submit comments electronically via regulations.gov, entering BOEM-2018-0004 in the search bar. 

Firefighting Foam Lawsuit

New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the state attorney general, Barbara G. Underwood, announced on June 20 that a lawsuit has been filed against six companies that manufacture hazardous firefighting foam, which has resulted in groundwater contamination, including in Wainscott. The $38 million suit seeks to recoup the costs of cleaning up products from 3M, Tyco Fire Products, Chemguard, Buckeye Fire Equipment, National Foam, and Kidde-Fenwal. The State Department of Environmental Conservation is working to determine the exact source of the contamination in Wainscott.

The suit alleges the companies are liable under state law for contamination caused by perfluorooctane sulfonic acid/perfluoroctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid/perflurooctanoate (PFOA), based on having manufactured and marketed products with defective designs, inadequate warning of dangers, and the creation of a public nuisance, a statement from the attorney general said. The suit also claims that by the 1970s, all of the companies knew, or should have known, that PFOA and PFOS were “mobile and persistent in the environment, accumulated in fish and other wildlife, and could be linked to severe harms to fish, wildlife, and people.” 

“Access to clean drinking water should be a right, not a privilege, and it is time to hold the companies associated with contaminating our most precious resource accountable,” Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. said in a statement. Chemicals found in the foam have been found in several other sites in his assembly district, including the Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach. “We must recover costs and natural-resource damages associated with their negligence in an effort to protect the health and safety of our community,” he said. 

Bereavement Leave

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced this week that he had helped pass legislation to add bereavement as a legitimate reason for paid family leave. The bill he co-sponsored expands paid family leave, included for the first time in the 2016-17 fiscal budget, to allow people time to grieve without facing financial problems or other repercussions.

As a result, paid family leave will eventually provide up to 12 weeks of benefits for eligible workers to care for an infant, a family member with a serious health condition, or to ease the burden on families when earners are called to active military service. Benefits began this year with eight weeks at 50 percent of an average weekly wage. By 2021, the program will provide up to 12 weeks with 67 percent of an employee’s average weekly wage.

“Allowing individuals the necessary time to grieve leads to an improved quality of life, increases employee loyalty, betters outcomes, and creates an overall healthier work force,” Mr. Thiele said. 

The program is funded through a small payroll deduction from each employee.