2023 Trash Talkin'
With the Brookhaven Landfill expected to begin closing over the next few years, more than two million people on Long Island will need to find new ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle over 14 million tons of municipal waste generated each year.
It's important to talk trash because how we throw out our garbage directly contributes to climate change, especially in environmental justice areas that are disproportionately impacted by pollution and waste disposal in their communities.
This series is in collaboration with Stony Brook University's School of Communication and Journalism. Support comes from the Solutions Journalism Network.
Para leer en Español visita Tu Prensa Local.
It's important to talk trash because how we throw out our garbage directly contributes to climate change, especially in environmental justice areas that are disproportionately impacted by pollution and waste disposal in their communities.
This series is in collaboration with Stony Brook University's School of Communication and Journalism. Support comes from the Solutions Journalism Network.
Para leer en Español visita Tu Prensa Local.
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The North Bellport community opposes a warehouse proposal in which the developer is requesting a payment in lieu of taxes from the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency. The IDA is now concerned that the developer misled the community during a town planning meeting about how much the warehouse would contribute to property taxes revenue for the local school district. -
The challenge Long Island is faced with is diverting hundreds of thousands of ash waste when the Brookhaven Landfill closes. A 30-year-old boathouse in Stony Brook may hold the answer. -
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine said if there’s any toxic ash in the Brookhaven Landfill, then the state is to blame. The candidate for Suffolk County executive made the accusation during a debate hosted by News12 Long Island. -
Democratic candidates for the Suffolk County Legislature have seized on environmental justice issues due to the controversy surrounding Brookhaven Landfill’s vendor Covanta. Outside of the Yaphank facility, Minority Leader Jason Richberg called for Ed Romaine, county executive candidate and Brookhaven Town Supervisor, to be held accountable. -
The Brookhaven landfill is a key issue in the upcoming election for Suffolk County Executive. A debate hosted by Newsday became heated when candidates responded to an investigation into the landfill’s past — and its future. -
The NAACP, environmentalists and community groups want New York Attorney General Letitia James to launch an independent investigation of waste company Covanta dumping toxic ash into the Brookhaven landfill. -
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation will continue to investigate Covanta over allegations of improper ash mixing and disposal at Brookhaven landfill. -
Between 2006 and 2014, there were several incidents where landfill vendor Covanta dumped ash at the Brookhaven landfill and that state monitors willingly looked the other way by omitting negative information on inspection reports, according to documents obtained by Newsday. -
The state Office of Environmental Justice will require the Town of Brookhaven to assess and remediate a toxic plume that has been emanating from its landfill in Yaphank for decades. -
Several months after filing her intentions to sue, Nacole Hutley remembers her late 13-year-old son. She said closing and mitigating emissions from the Brookhaven Landfill and moving the school nearby where she believes Javien Coleman got sick remain a priority. -
Following Riverhead’s decision in May, the Town of East Hampton has joined a growing number of Long Island municipalities to explore food scrap composting programs to reduce the amount of waste that is transported out of the region each year — saving taxpayer money and the environment. -
The state should expect to hear an earful from communities of color, industry leaders and advocates for environmental justice concerned about the direction of the next 10 years of waste policy. -
The Sunny Farms Landfill in Fostoria, Ohio is one of the destinations set to receive Long Island’s waste after the planned closure of Brookhaven Landfill. Residents of nearby communities are frustrated and worried about the potential harm Long Island’s garbage will bring.
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Communities around the U.S. have pioneered approaches to circular economies around waste management that could be brought to Long Island before the Brookhaven Landfill closes in a few years.
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The Town of Riverhead hopes to become a model for partnering with nonprofits Long Island Organics Council and Green Inside and Out to launch more municipal drop-off sites for food scraps to be converted into compost. -
Environmental justice advocates have questions about the priorities of the study that will determine the future of Long Island’s waste. -
The New York NAACP joined environmental groups to ask a judge to force the Town of Brookhaven to conduct a full environmental review of a proposed warehouse project ahead of a planned waste transfer station in Yaphank. -
The Brookhaven Landfill is expected to begin closing in 2024, and there isn’t the appetite to keep a smaller Babylon facility open after 2031. So, Long Island towns will need to keep talking trash to come up with a plan to work together, the private sectors and communities. -
Over the weekend, an Earth Day celebration on Long Island urged the Town of Brookhaven to close the landfill in Yaphank. Residents of North Bellport encouraged their community of color to join them in the streets to talk about “environmental racism” in their neighborhood. -
Under New York law, only certain businesses are required to donate food, and even fewer are required to recycle organic material. Environmental groups say a change in overall behavior could help remedy this issue. -
How does an anaerobic digester work? Long Island will be home to among the largest for processing food scraps, yard trimmings and more organic waste. -
New York is hearing feedback from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by waste disposal and transfer facilities. It’s part of the decennial solid waste management plan the state is working on. -
Extending a rail spur through protected land and developing two warehouses to store, sort and ship tons of trash from a proposed waste transfer station in Yaphank will have “no significant impact” on the environment or nearby community, according to the Town of Brookhaven. -
New York has identified so-called disadvantaged communities on Long Island and the rest of the state that will be targeted with funding to fight climate change. A 2019 state law requires these communities to receive at least 35% of state funding for clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. -
A proposed bill in New York would allow the Town of Brookhaven to eliminate a zoning requirement that protects open space to allow for expanded rail access and proposed waste transfer service on Long Island. State NAACP officials warn its location would disproportionately harm communities of color. -
An environmental symposium on Wednesday at Stony Brook University attracted industry leaders and many Long Island towns to discuss solving the region’s waste management crisis. But new state goals could drive collaboration between Suffolk County’s local governments. -
It is one of four waste transfer stations proposed by individual businesses to replace the Brookhaven Landfill when that facility stops accepting construction debris by the end of next year. -
Residents who live near the Brookhaven Landfill are concerned that keeping the facility open for a few more years will endanger their community’s health for decades. -
A bill proposed in New York shifts the responsibility of reducing plastic and paper waste on to the companies that package their materials. The goal is to reduce the tons of garbage that ends up at landfills. -
The Brookhaven Landfill is on track to stop accepting construction debris next year. Despite local objections, the facility plans to continue some of its operations. -
A pending lawsuit blames both the South Country Central School District and the Town of Brookhaven for the death of Javien Coleman, a teenager who is believed to have developed cancer due to toxins emitted from the Brookhaven Landfill while at school.
