This is user generated content sent to Patch by Save the Sound.
The Westchester County Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit filed by Save the Sound and other environmental organizations in Connecticut and New York that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s statewide general stormwater permit for municipalities isn’t doing enough to clean up stormwater runoff across the state.
Stormwater pollution from New York municipalities enters Long Island Sound and is a major contributor to the dead zone and high bacteria levels in both Connecticut and New York waters.
Currently, stormwater runoff prevents the safe use of parts of Long Island Sound for recreation, consumption, shellfish harvesting, or other recreational and ecological uses. In a favorable verdict, the court ordered NYDEC to fix several major flaws in the permit to ensure that all Clean Water Act requirements are met.
The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by the National Resources Defense Council along with a coalition of environmental groups in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, including Save the Sound, Riverkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance, Soundkeeper, Peconic Baykeeper, NY/NJ Baykeeper, and Hackensack Riverkeeper.
For more information on the lawsuit, check out this blog.
