SBU Study Shows Record Number of Harmful Algal Blooms and Dead Zones in Long Island Waters
AuthorAdministratorREG_DATE2024.10.24Hits133
Scientists at Stony Brook University have completed their assessment of Long Island’s surface water quality, finding a record-setting 36 distinct ‘dead zones’ or regions with less than three milligrams of oxygen per liter during the Summer of 2024.
From June through September, every major bay and estuary across Long Island was afflicted by harmful algal blooms (HABs), oxygen-starved dead zones, and/or fish kills. Excessive delivery of nitrogen from onsite wastewater has been established as a root cause of these disturbing events.