East Hampton

EAST HAMPTON

In 2013 East Hampton, a municipality of approximately 22,000 residents, committed to becoming “a leader in sustainable energy policies and practices by substantially reducing energy consumption through conservation and energy efficiency while significantly increasing the use of renewable energy technologies.” By 2015, they added an Energy Sustainability Committee with the task of advising the Town on reaching the renewable energy goals spelled out in a newly created Climate Action Plan.

By 2021, under the leadership of Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, a number of the extraordinary actions have moved forward, often recommended by the committee, and passed by the town with much important support coming from the Town’s Natural Resource Department:

  • The Accabonac Solar Farm, the first megawatt solar farm on the South Fork, was completed.
  • A collaboration with the New York Power Authority resulted in the installation of solar energy systems at municipal buildings.
  • A utility battery storage facility was completed in Montauk – the second such facility on Long Island.
  • Legislation was authorized for Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) allowing the Town to explore the potential for procuring renewable power from an alternative supplier. FYI: LIPA is currently holding this up.
  • Gas and diesel powered leaf blowers have been banned –from May 20 to September 20.
  • Solar powered, off-grid lighting has been installed in the Amagansett Village parking lot.
  • Fleet Efficiency Policy was established to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles for the municipal fleet.
  • Electric charging stations have been installed, from 12 fast chargers in Montauk (at no cost to the Town) to Level-2 stations at Town Hall and the Amagansett Village parking lot.
  • Climate Emergency Declaration was unanimously adopted in 2021 with the goal of viewing all Town decisions through the lens of climate change.
  • Also in 2021, an easement agreement with the South Fork Wind Farm was signed and a resolution to approve the Host Community Agreement between the Town and the South Fork Wind Farm was passed, which, when the final approvals come through from the NYSPSC and BOEM, will yield $29 million in payments over 25 years to the Town and the Trustees.

BOEM's review of the South Fork Wind Farm, a 15-turbine, 132 MW project, with a cable landing in Wainscott, a hamlet within the Town of East Hampton, was complete and approved in January, 2022 and construction began immediately.  Orsid operations are scheduled to begin at the end of 2023 powering 70,000 New York homes.

Francesca Rheannon, Host of Sustainable East End, opens this video on coastal erosion interviewing Kevin McAllister. It continues as Alec Baldwin and Cate Rogers join Kevin in the discussion. For more information, visit DefendH20.org

CURRENT NEWS

Whales, from above

By Ellie Duke 09/15/23
Sutton Lynch rises most days before the sun, arriving at Atlantic Beach in Amagansett, N.Y., for the early-morning calm. It’s the same beach he’s been going to since he was a child, and where he…
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The Government Takes On a Fisherman Over 200,000 Pounds of Fluke

By Karen Zraick 09/14/23
It was just before dawn when Chris Winkler, a fisherman in Montauk, N.Y., set off on his trawler, the New Age.
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East Hampton Braces for Hurricane Season

By Christopher Walsh 09/07/23
The flood of tourists and part-time residents may have receded from East Hampton Town this week, but another, more dangerous kind of flood could be in store as the South Fork moves into the heart…
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Runoff Prompts Stop-Work Order at Affordable Apartments

By Christopher Walsh 08/10/23
East Hampton Town’s Ordinance Enforcement Department issued a stop-work order at the 50-unit affordable housing complex under construction on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton on Tuesday after a heavy rainfall that morning led…
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Rare Win for the Town in Airport Legal Battle

By Christopher Walsh 08/10/23
The New York State Supreme Court judge who has consistently sided with plaintiffs in lawsuits that have blocked East Hampton Town from closing and reopening its airport as a private facility and implementing flight restrictions…
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Town Takes New Look at Giant Sandbags

By Christopher Walsh 08/10/23
The East Hampton Town Board held a public hearing last Thursday on proposed amendments to the town code that are intended to tighten control over the massive geotextile sandbags that are used to protect waterfront…
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New York Activists Descend on the Hamptons to Protest the Super Rich Fueling the Climate Crisis

By Keerti Gopal 08/05/23
Sophie Shepherd has always described herself as a “rule follower,” but days before her 22nd birthday, she chose to face arrest in the middle of a Long Island driveway. Under a blazing hot July sun,…
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Wind Farms Here Hit Milestones, While Others Hit Turbulence

By Michael Wright 08/02/23
The construction of the South Fork Wind Farm reached another milestone last week, while a second offshore wind farm that will send power to Long Island took its first concrete step toward construction — even…
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Governor Convenes Working Group After Fires at Three BESS Facilities

By Tom Gogola 08/02/23
Just days after the Southampton Town Board’s recent decision to enact a six-month moratorium on battery energy storage systems proposed in the town, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the creation of... more
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South Fork Is in Moderate Drought

By Christopher Gangemi 07/06/23
Despite the constant threat of rain and some brief sprinkles, the United States Drought Monitor confirmed last week that “moderate drought” has hit the South Fork, a step up in classification from “abnormally dry.” The…
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Hither Hills Is Now Solar

By Christopher Walsh 07/06/23
A newly installed 262-kilowatt solar system array is now operational at Hither Hills State Park in Montauk, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation announced last week.
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After Fire at Substation, New Battery Worries

By Christopher Walsh 07/06/23
The 5-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage system that caught fire at a Cove Hollow Road, East Hampton, substation on May 31 will be out of commission for an unknown length of time, but while its…
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PLANS TO ACCELERATE RENEWABLES

Town of East Hampton Climate Action Plan

10/01/15
Accelerating climate change continues to escalate the need for communities and municipalities to develop strategies combating current challenges to local infrastructure and the projected intensity of impacts on community assets, natural resources and public health. The…

East Hampton Comprehensive Energy Vision

10/01/13
Accelerating climate change continues to escalate the need for communities and municipalities to develop strategies combating current challenges to local infrastructure and the projected intensity of impacts on community assets, natural resources and public health. The…

KEY RESOURCES

National Risk Index Data Lookup

09/25/23
Use the form below to look up the risk details for a specific county or Census tract. As you enter information into the form, the form will update and present you with additional input fields.…

Draft Coastal Assessment Resiliency Plan Report

05/09/22
HomeGovernmentTown ProjectsCoastal Assessment Resiliency Plan

What Can and Can’t Be Recycled?

04/21/22
A simple guide to what can and can't be recycled

Promoting toxic-free lawns and landscapes for the health of people, their pets, and the planet

05/17/21
Isaac Mizrahi Goes Organic: Kicks the Lawn Chemical Habit

South Fork

02/15/21
BOEM has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the South Fork Wind Farm and South Fork Export Cable Project. The following documents are available for your viewing.

South Fork Wind

02/03/21
South Fork Wind brings unparalleled experience to Long Island. This offshore wind farm will be the first to connect in New York State and help the Town of East Hampton meet its 100% renewable energy…

Drawdown East End

02/03/21
Drawdown East End is a grass roots, non-partisan organization that inspires and supports our communities to actively engage in solutions to reach drawdown.*  Our vision is to achieve drawdown and reverse global warming by 2050…

Win With WIND

11/10/20
We are private citizens of the South Fork of Long Island who believe that becoming the first communities in New York State to be powered by offshore wind is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity that should…

Energize East Hampton

07/10/19
The Town of East Hampton’s 100% renewable energy goals require a diversified portfolio of energy technologies and approaches.

What Happens To Our Recycling, Part Three: The Way Forward

12/06/18
The men and women who work in the recycling industry describe it these days in bleak terms. From a business standpoint, recent market changes have made it much harder for recycling vendors or any entity…

What Happens To Our Recycling, Part Two: The Work Of Recycling

12/04/18
It was the early 2000s, and single-stream recycling was the newest, hottest trend in the recycling market. Waste Management, the garbage disposal and recycling behemoth, was pushing the trend, touting the convenience of allowing a…

What Happens To Our Recycling, Part One: The Recycling Myth

11/27/18
A steady parade of plastic water bottles, tin cans, empty yogurt containers and countless other “recyclable” items, either fully or partially obscured by the thick stew of garbage—and perhaps even still imprisoned inside unopened garbage…

Renewable Energy Long Island

10/02/19
Renewable Energy Long Island (reLI), established in 2003, is a membership-based, 501-c-3 not-for-profit organization promoting clean, sustainable energy use and generation on Long Island. reLI is committed to transitioning Long Island to a 100% renewable…

Accabonac Solar Farm

10/02/19
The Accabonac Solar Farm (ASF) in Springs is the first megawatt scale solar farm on Long Island’s South Fork.

Clean Energy Communities

10/02/19
Town of East Hampton is named a New York State Clean Energy Community for completing 4 high impact action items, becoming eligible for a $100,000 grant.

Energy Sustainability Committee

10/02/19
The Energy Sustainability Committee (ESC) was appointed in 2013 by the East Hampton Town Board to assist the Town in its participation in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Climate Smart Communities Program.

MORE NEWS

Proposed Calverton Air Cargo Facility May Impact South Fork

By Denise Civiletti   05/24/23  
Jet planes carrying cargo for delivery across the Long Island region may be landing on the East End for the first time, if an application now pending in Riverhead Town...
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Judge Says East Hampton Town In Contempt of Court, Again, for Failing To Comply With Airport Order

By Michael Wright   05/20/23  
A Suffolk County Supreme Court judge last week ruled that East Hampton Town was in contempt of court for failing to comply with a temporary restraining order barring it from... more
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Closer to a Fossil Fuel Ban

By Christopher Walsh   05/18/23  
East Hampton Town’s energy and sustainability advisory committee will recommend to the town board the All-Electric Building Act, which would require all appliances, including heating and cooling systems, hot water, and stoves in new residential…
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Wind Farm Road Work Is Done

By Christopher Walsh   05/18/23  
Onshore cable installation for South Fork Wind has been completed, the wind farm’s developer announced this week, and the affected roadways have been restored.
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Closer to a Fossil Fuel Ban

By Christopher Walsh   05/18/23  
East Hampton Town’s energy and sustainability advisory committee will recommend to the town board the All-Electric Building Act, which would require all appliances, including heating and cooling systems, hot water, and stoves in new residential…
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A Food-Scrap Compost Program Is on the Table

By Christopher Walsh   05/11/23  
East Hampton Town will soon embark on a composting pilot program, an effort aimed at diverting, recovering, and reusing residential food scraps to create compost and return it to the soil, Councilwoman Cate Rogers said…
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East Hampton Looking At Ways to Make Temporary Shoreline Protections Actually Temporary

By Michael Wright   05/03/23  
Rows of 1-ton sandbags that were arranged in front of waterfront homes threatened by convulsive erosion were supposed to be temporary protections while a longer term solution — like relocating the home or lofting it…
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Montauk Sewer Debate Is Focus of Express Sessions Event

By Michael Wright   04/26/23  
The debate over whether to build an estimated $70 million sewer system for downtown Montauk is just getting started, East Hampton Town officials and critics of the proposal agreed at the most recent Express Sessions…
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Climate Local Now: Keeping Our Riches in the Community

By Mary Morgan   04/26/23  
I’ll admit it….I’m swayed by my home gardener friends, healthy-yard advocates and pollinator-pathway champions crowing about their compost bins.
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East Hampton Unveils Solar Electric and Battery Storage System at Parks Building

By Michael Wright   04/25/23  
East Hampton and New York State officials celebrated the completion of a solar power system at the town’s Parks Department headquarters last week — a first of its kind pairing... more
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Clean Energy: East Hampton Completes First Solar Panel Project On Long Island

By Sophie Grieser   04/24/23  
The Town of East Hampton’s Parks Department building has become the first municipality on Long Island to complete a “solar-plus-storage” project, according to a press release by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office on Thursday, April 20.
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Rising ocean, bay tides could eventually reshape Long Island — and will alter how we live, work and play, experts say

By Carl MacGowan   04/24/23  
In 2080, the historic Montauk lighthouse and Orient Point may be on their own islands, cut off from the rest of Long Island by newly formed rivers.
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New York to launch South Fork off of Long Island, first major offshore wind farm in U.S., this year

By Carolyn Gusoff   04/20/23  
New York has an ambitious goal to fight climate change, and it includes the nation's first major offshore wind farms. On a gusty day, Wainscott resident Michael Hansen walked the beach hopeful about his children's…
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1st Solar-Plus-Storage Project Up And Running In East Hampton

By Lisa Finn   04/17/23  
East Hampton is the first municipality on Long Island to implement a solar-plus-storage project, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday.
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Climate Change Solutions: The Big Five

By Jenny Noble   04/12/23  
“We’re walking when we should be sprinting” — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chairman Hoesung Lee, describing how insufficient current plans are to tackle climate change.
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South Fork Wind Clears a Final Hurdle

By Christopher Walsh   04/06/23  
The federal Department of the Interior announced on Monday that the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has completed a 60-day review of critical design and installation reports for the South Fork Wind farm, the…
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Giant Sandbags: Temporary Solutions, Long-Term Problems

By Christopher Walsh   04/06/23  
In East Hampton Town, the massive geotextile sandbags that are used to protect waterfront properties from erosion are allowed on only a temporary basis — for just six months with the potential for a three-month…
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I Watched an Offshore Wind Farm Make Landfall on Long Island

By Patrick McGeehan   03/29/23  
New York’s pursuit of offshore wind energy hit a milestone last week. The first cable to carry electricity from a wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean snaked beneath a beach on Long Island from the…
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Army Corps Agrees to More Sand for Montauk, but Beach Rebuild Unlikely Until Spring 2024

By Michael Wright   03/29/23  
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to a request by East Hampton Town to extend the scope of the massive beach rebuilding project in downtown Montauk that it will undertake next year.
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Surfrider Seeks New Members

By Beth Young   01/31/23  
The Eastern Long Island Chapter of the international Surfrider Foundation has long been a hotbed of ocean-friendly policy coming out of the far eastern reaches of the South Fork, but the chapter, which covers the…
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Town v. Village Firefighting Foam Suit Is at Standstill

By Tom Gogola   01/26/23  
Ongoing litigation in federal court between East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village over the use and storage of controversial firefighting foam at the town airport by the village’s Fire Department remains in limbo even…
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A Decision on the Senior Center

By Tom Gogola   01/19/23  
The East Hampton Town Board has selected a design for a new $25 million-plus senior citizens center in Amagansett. After debating the merits of two design concepts by R2 Architecture over the course of several…
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New York State of Wind: Future Looks Breezy for Offshore Empire

By Samantha Maldonado   01/13/23  
While approaching Wainscott Beach on Long Island’s South Fork in early December, one could see the most tangible aspect of offshore wind’s New York progress even before hearing the crash of waves: three pillars, each…
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Counting on an Electric Future

By Beth Young   01/12/23  
As we embark down the path of a new year, the prospects are looking bright for people looking to upgrade to more energy-efficient homes.
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The Rising Tide: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change and How To Mitigate Them

12/22/22  
Throughout 2022, The Express News Group has presented a monthly series on climate change, The Rising Tide, which concludes this week with a look back on the threats that have been identified and the mitigation…
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Scoping Out the Study Ahead at East Hampton Airport

By Tom Gogola   12/15/22  
Environmental consultants from the firm AKRF gave a detailed accounting of the environmental review process now taking off at East Hampton Airport at the town board’s work session on Tuesday.
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Wind Farm Update From Orsted on a Blustery Beach

By Tom Gogola   12/07/22  
Is that Poseidon’s triton reaching from the littoral shallows, or are you just trying to build a 132-megawatt wind farm? The South Fork Wind project site at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott certainly…
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East Hampton Awarded $350K For Montauk Coastal Resiliency Plan

By Lisa Finn   12/06/22  
East Hampton Town has been awarded a $350,000 federal grant to facilitate the exploration of a living shoreline project in Montauk.
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Massive Vessels Signal Next Stage for Wind Farm

By Christopher Walsh   11/17/22  
The Jill, a 183-foot-long lift boat with jack-up legs of more than 300 feet, arrived at its position off the beach in Wainscott on Tuesday, where it is to remain for approximately three months and…
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Oceanfront Drilling Begins for Wind Farm Cable in Wainscott

By Michael Wright   11/16/22  
Engineering crews on Beach Lane in Amagansett have begun the process of drilling a 2,500-foot tunnel beneath Beach Lane, the ocean beach and the seafloor to make way for the... more
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Plugging Into Electric Vehicles: Greener Technology Could Pave Way to Less Carbon Emissions

By Michelle Trauring   10/26/22  
From the outside, the newest Ford F-150 Lighting looks like a standard pickup truck — with a spacious cargo bed, seating for up to five passengers and every luxury finish... more
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The Mast-Head: World Without Insects

By David E. Rattray   10/20/22  
These are the weeks in the fall when we took down the screens on the Star building and put up the storm windows. But in recent years, we have become lax about the screens; there…
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Judge Says East Hampton Town Cannot ‘Close’ Airport or Limit Flights

By Michael Wright   10/19/22  
A state judge has ruled that East Hampton Town cannot close East Hampton Airport and reclassify it as a private airport — even though the FAA has already reclassified it... more
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Impacts of Large Homes on Environment and Community Explored at Film Screening

By Kelly Ann Smith   10/19/22  
The surf is what first brought filmmaker Thomas Bena to Chilmark, on Martha’s Vineyard. He rented for years, relocating every year when rents rose with the temperatures, a right of... more
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PSEG Long Island Bills Higher as Fossil Fuel Prices Have Gone Up

By Brendon J. O'Reilly   10/13/22  
The spike in the cost of fossil fuels this summer is being felt in electricity bills. Coupled with an exceptionally hot, dry season that had South Fork residents running their ACs more often, bills are…
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Life Elevated: Architects Adapt Design to FEMA Regulations

By Michelle Trauring   09/28/22  
Line, space, texture, value, color, shape and form. These building blocks of architectural design are critical to the flow, balance and harmony of any given home — seven guiding principles for architects to consider and…
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Bridgehampton Child Care Center Offers Program on Wind Farm Work Opportunities

By Elizabeth Vespe   09/27/22  
Currently, three offshore wind projects are slated to be constructed off the eastern end of Long Island. With that in mind, program managers and mentors from the Bridgehampton Child Care...
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East Hampton Adopts Coastal Resiliency Plan

By Beth Young   09/13/22  
Low-lying East Hampton Town, which sits at the very tip of a long, low island could “physically transform into a series of islands,” as soon as 50 years from now, according to the Coastal Assessment…
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Town Adopts Coastal Plan

By Christopher Walsh   09/08/22  
By a 4-to-0 vote, the East Hampton Town Board adopted the Coastal Assessment Resilience Plan, known as CARP, into the town’s comprehensive plan last Thursday. The town completed CARP “in recognition of the need for…
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Court Rebuffs East Hampton Appeal To Lift Court Order Halting Proposed Limits On Airport Activity

By Michael Wright   08/31/22  
A state court has declined to hear an appeal by East Hampton Town to lift a temporary restraining order blocking the town from imposing planned flight restrictions at East Hampton...
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To adapt to climate change, New York town considers a retreat from the beach

By Samantha Fields   08/26/22  
Seven days a week, from 9 to 5, the Montauk Chamber of Commerce is open and taking calls. One of the questions they get most often is “Who has oceanfront rooms available this week?” according…
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A Site for Wind Farm Work

By Christopher Walsh   08/25/22  
The subcontractor that will perform the onshore cable installation for the South Fork Wind farm plans to use an approximately one-acre area at the end of an abandoned East Hampton Airport runway, adjacent to Industrial…
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South Fork Farmers Adapt as Drought Persists

By Christopher Gangemi   08/25/22  
While much of the South Fork of Long Island is now in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, many East End residents have not changed their watering habits despite warnings from the…
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Governor Hochul Announces Groundbreaking Of $33 Million Affordable Housing Development In East Hampton

08/17/22  
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that construction has begun on Three Mile Harbor, a $33 million housing development that will bring 50 energy-efficient apartments to East Hampton. The development offers affordable family homes in a…
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Coalition Urges Town to Buy Wainscott Sand Pit

By Christopher Walsh   08/17/22  
A coalition has formed to stop the proposed redevelopment of the former Wainscott sand and gravel pit into a 50-lot commercial and industrial subdivision and to advocate instead for East Hampton Town to purchase the…
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Coastal Resiliency Plan Well Received

By Christopher Walsh   08/11/22  
The East Hampton Town Board held a public hearing last Thursday on the adoption of the Coastal Assessment Resiliency Plan, which highlights a spate of ominous predictions as to how climate change will impact the…
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E-Bikes Ride A Legal Side Street Between Bicycles And Motorcycles

By Michael Wright   07/27/22  
The growth in popularity of electric bikes — bicycles with electric motors that can propel them at speeds up to 30 mph — has presented police agencies around the country,... more
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Something Missing in Airport Documents?

By Christopher Walsh   07/21/22  
In a charge amplified in a New York City tabloid on Friday, attorneys for plaintiffs who have so far thwarted the East Hampton Town Board’s plan to privatize East Hampton Airport have claimed that the…
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Daggers Fly In Court Filings Over Legal Tactics In East Hampton Airport Lawsuits

By Michael Wright   07/20/22  
One of the groups of plaintiffs in the gaggle of lawsuits challenging East Hampton Town’s attempts to impose new restrictions on flights into East Hampton Airport has asked a judge to kick the town’s two…
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A ‘Tax the Rich’ Climate Protest Shuts Down the East Hampton Airport

By Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly   07/11/22  
Demonstrators demanding higher taxes for wealthy Hampton residents, who they claim are responsible for increasing inequality and climate emissions, blocked entrance to the East Hampton airport this morning. No flights were delayed.
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