This year marked the 37th year for the Pine Barren Society’s Environmental Award Gala which was held on October 16th, at the illustrious Oketa Castle in Huntington. This year’s gala was christened “The Wonder of Water” to cultivate an awareness to the Society’s campaign to reverse declining drinking water and surface water quality across Long Island. Award recepients were Dr. Christopher Gobler, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. Dr, Gobler was recognized for his research and continued commitment toward public education and awareness regarding Long Island’s coastal ecosystem; Messrs. Bellone and Mangano received awards for their leadership and drive in prioritizing water quality improvement in both counties.
Dr. Gobler’s research is what set him apart from other candidates for this very prestigious award. As a native of Long Island, Dr. Gobler recognizes the problems facing Long Island waterways from brown tides, red tides, green tides, rust tides, fisheries collapses to oxygen starved waters and fish kills. As scary and bleak as those problems are, he is optimistic because he believes that by knowing what the problems are, you are then able to look for solutions. For instance more than one million homes in Suffolk County use septic tanks and cesspools as opposed to a sewer system that is found in other areas. Because of this, nitrogenous waste is seeping into our groundwater which creates a host of problems not only for people but also the health of our entire ecosystem as well. Dr. Gobler’s research has uncovered that the densest developments on Long Island do have the highest nitrogen levels, while the Pine Barrens Core Preservation area has the lowest levels. Meaning that, beyond preserving Long Island’s drinking water, open space and character, the preservation of the Pine Barrens has prevented the negative trends in our coastal waters from further decline. Thereby making land preservation as imperative moving forward as is improved household waste treatment options. We need a system that will remove more nitrogen concentrations in our groundwater. The chosen recipients emulate that it will only be through a combination of social and political determination that we will see a change for the better.
Left to right: Nassau Couty Executive Ed Mangano, Dick Amper and
Kathy Nasta, co-hosts of the Pine Barrens Society’s gala, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Dr. Christopher Gobler from Stony Brook University
