Group Calls for Long-Term Plan for Protecting Coastal Communities

The newly formed Save the Great South Bay group, founded just two months before Hurricane Sandy decimated the South Shore of Long Island and Fire Island communities, is calling on lawmakers to develop a broad, large-scale plan for protecting the coastal areas of Long Island.

The group, which has more than 500 members, is planning several activities this year to increase awreness of the Bay's status.

It also recently participated in a public forum on what to do regarding the new breach at Fire Island’s Old Inlet caused by Sandy, according to a press release.

The two-and-a-half hour meeting held last weekend in Bellport was keynoted by Dr. Charles Flagg of SoMAS, and featured presentations by Kevin McAllister of the Peconic Bay Keeper and Joseph Gagliano, chairman of the Bellport Village Waterfront Commission.

The focus of the meeting, sponsored by SUNY Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, was focused on advocating to keep the breach open.

However, a number Long Island elected officials - including Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Suffolk County Legislator Wayne Horsley, Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer and Lindenhurst Village Deputy Administrator Doug Madlon and Lindenhurst Village Emergency Manager Ray Fais - recently held a press conference and called for the breach to be closed.

They felt the increased flooding seen in many communities along the South Shore - including Lindenhurst - in recent months is a result of additional water spilling into the Great South Bay through the breach.

According to STGSB, the politicians who support closing the breach chose not to attend Saturday’s meeting, and weren't represented by staff members.

Those in attendance represented at least 20 different environmental and marine-related groups.

They included the Sea Run Brook Trout Coalition, Brookhaven Affiliated Civic Organization, the Nature Conservancy, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Long Island Sound Lobstermen’s Association, Coastal Conservation Association, South Bay Cruising Club, Operation Splash, the Village of Bellport, Surfrider Foundation and Pattersquash Creek Civic Association.

Look through the Lindy Lens at the two YouTube videos depicting the breach.

Related Coverage:

• After Sandy - Long Island Recovers
• Hurricane Sandy Long Island
• The Latest Sandy Updates
• Lindy Blogger Feels FI Breach & Increased Flooding Must Be Related
• Lindy Blogger Discusses Raising Homes in LI Coastal Communities
• Do Lindy Residents Think the Fire Island Breach Should be Closed?
• Blog: Petition about the Old Inlet Breach
• Watch: Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer on Recent Flooding
• Bellone: 'We Want That Breach to Be Closed Now'
• Post-Storm Flooding Plagues S. Lindenhurst (Photos)
• Sandy Storm Cleanup Begins on Fire Island
• Residents Report More Flooding in South Lindenhurst
  
• Village Concerned about Thursday Night's High Tide
• Residents Report Flooding throughout South Lindenhurst
• Sandy Storm Cleanup Begins on Fire Island
• Photos: A Look at Fire Island's Breach at Old Inlet

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