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Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Oct. 31, 2024

THE HORSESHOE CRABS

To the Editor:

It’s difficult to imagine a summer without witnessing horseshoe crabs coming to shore getting ready to spawn, finding their molts on the beach, or educating our children not to pick them up by their tails as they try to get a better look.

These experiences are in jeopardy. Like most other places along the East Coast, there is a documented population decline with no end in sight. In February 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to list the Atlantic horseshoe crab as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Often touted as living fossils, horseshoe crabs play an integral role in our ecosystem. It’s not just about the horseshoe crab, it also involves many other species, like migratory shorebirds that rely on the horseshoe crab eggs as part of their diet.

While horseshoe crabs have played an important role in the biomedical and commercial fishery industries, it has been to their detriment. Alternatives for the biomedical use of horseshoe crab blood exist and have become mainstream. If alternatives are not utilized for commercial bait, the horseshoe crab population will likely continue to decline.

Group for the East End has been advocating for Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, which bans the commercial harvesting of horseshoe crabs for bait and biomedical purposes. Last year, Connecticut enacted the exact legislation. New York must step up and do its part in helping to protect a species that not only has intrinsic value but has provided so many benefits over the millions of years it has existed.   

We can and should do better in our conservation efforts. Please call 518-474-8390 or email Governor Hochul’s office at [email protected] and express your support for the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act.

JENNIFER HARTNAGEL

Director of Conservation Advocacy, Group For the East End

WATER FORUM

To the Editor:

The Oct. 17 article on a Water Advisory Board (WAC) forum was characteristically biased in favor of public water and its supporters.

It mentioned that Greg Nissen of Mermaid Water Solutions, whose company installs home water treatment systems, commented that “overall Island water is very good.”  But the article did not mention the revelation that some 60% of his customers are on public water. Two key questions jump out.

Why would a public water customer install a home treatment system? Because, as the article obscures, Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) is only obligated to provide water meeting the minimum applicable standards (including 10 mg/l of nitrates) for potable water. So, SCWA water may — or may not — be better than a homeowner’s own well water. As a result, extension of SCWA water would not address the concerns about elevated nitrate levels (5-10 mg/l) that the WAC has expressed great concern about. (The article also obscures that barely a handful of the 156 Center wells tested exceeded the 10 mg/l standard.)

Why would a homeowner already paying for in-house water treatment want to pay significantly more for SCWA water than for using their own well water?  I can’t imagine why.

The article also did not mention critical comments made by at least six other audience members, including Town Board candidate Tom Cronin, who noted that, once SCWA comes to an area, homeowners will ultimately have to connect; a resident who challenged the presenter’s conclusion that public water costs only 10-20% more than well water; and a WAC member who challenged the notion that it will take decades for I/A systems to improve the aquifer.

The Oct. 24 WAC article double downs on this slanted portrayal of the forum and unfair swipes at Councilman Dickson. What next?

STEPHEN JACOBS, Shelter Island

SHELTER ISLAND TREASURE

To the Editor:

As a presenter at the Shelter Island  Library’s Friday Night Dialogue on Oct. 25, I want to thank Liz Larsen of Adult Programming for inviting me to speak about Taylor’s Island and its historic Smith-Taylor Cabin and the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church for extending Fellowship Hall for our Shelter Island community to gather and get acquainted with this Town-owned property, run by our citizens.

I also want to thank members of the Taylor’s Island Foundation: Jim Mitchell, Greg Raymond, Harriet Reilly and Charity Robey who set up and showed up along with Committee members Kathy Gooding and my Co-Chair Richie Surozenski.

The last slide of my PowerPoint presentation is the cover of a book Robin Drake and I have been working on and is gratefully nearing completion thanks to input from Charity Robey and Harriet Reilly which reads: “How a Community Came Together to Preserve, Restore and Share a Shelter Island Treasure.”

P.A.T. HUNT, Shelter Island

ELECTION DAY

To the Editor:

Our upcoming election is critically important for the United States of America, from the smallest towns to the largest cities. This election will change things. What’s happening in America is not unprecedented, making it much more disturbing. We’ve seen this brand of hate before. The packaging is a little different, but the product is the same. 

I’ve always been a candidate voter more than a party loyalist. I’m not a one-issue voter. I want a candidate who is well-versed in all aspects of the job at hand. I want people who will listen openly and respectfully to all members of the community. I want the most qualified, experienced, and inclusive person in all elected offices. I want people who aren’t beholden to old alliances or owe anyone any favors. People who care about all the people they serve and the health of the land we live on.

This year has proven to me that we have a whole host of highly concerning issues in our local government. This year, I noticed the general public is being overlooked or silenced by obstructionist behavior to further personal agendas.

I am normally a reclusive person. I will always favor books, music, nature, and long meditations over social interaction. Peacefulness is my creed. But I also refuse to allow blatant injustice to stand without my voice standing against it. My human rights, and yours are on the line in this election.

I know without hesitation that the rights of all humans are equally important.

KETURAH HURST, Shelter Island