Long Island Sound is in crisis. Nitrogen pollution is smothering the Sound and killing its wildlife. Tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Governors of New York and Connecticut that we want a new, meaningful nitrogen reduction plan for Long Island Sound in 2015! #LISNitrogenDiet
Nitrogen from sewage treatment plants, fertilizer, septic systems, and stormwater runoff fuels algae blooms that produce toxins and suck up oxygen in the water. We are nearing the end of the nitrogen reduction plan put into action in 2000 (the nitrogen “TMDL”). Those actions have helped to keep the Sound alive, but oxygen levels remain dangerously low.
In many parts of the Sound, we are losing the battle against the nitrogen pollution. The impact of nitrogen pollution can be seen in toxic algal blooms that kill turtles, low oxygen zones that kill fish and lobsters, closed beaches and shellfish beds, and dying marshes that once protected our communities from flooding. Learn more about why we need a nitrogen diet for Long Island Sound at www.savethesound.org/healthywaters.
If we're going to save Long Island Sound, the EPA, New York State, and Connecticut must agree to a new set of strategies and put them in action by the end of this year.
Join us in telling EPA, NY, and CT that you care deeply about a clean and living Sound – they must take swift and decisive action this year to keep our Sound and our shorelines alive and healthy!
Photo Dead Menhaden on Peconic Bay by Randee Daddona.
