Senator Kenneth P. LaValle hosted his annual environmental roundtable on Jan. 28 at Suffolk County Community College in Selden. Joined by his Assembly colleagues, Marc Alessi and Fred Thiele, the senator heard from organizations and concerned individuals about environmental issues impacting the First Senate District.
The governor’s proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) was of critical importance to the group. In recent years, EPF funds have been raided to fill the general budget gap. The governor’s 2010-11 budget makes further cuts and will have a negative impact on land, air, and water preservation and protection initiatives, according to a press release issued by LaValle. The state legislators acknowledged the seriousness of the funding cuts and said they will work together to protect and restore EPF funding for projects critical to our region.
LaValle also said he would prioritize the restoration of state funding for breast cancer research and advocacy a priority. Budget cuts in 2009 affected funding for programs such as the Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors at Cornell and the Breast Cancer Hotline at Adelphi University.
“Our region of the state is reported to have a higher than expected incidence of breast cancer,” LaValle said. “With mounting evidence that certain chemicals have a negative impact on public health, it is important that we continue to fund programs that study environmental risk factors, as well as those that educate and support cancer patients.”
Another call to action that came out of the roundtable was the timeliness of making open space purchases. This a valued investment an the present economy allows for greater purchasing power, the senator said. However, competition with developers is strong, so the time to act is now, he said. “We should be looking at installment purchases that will allow us to achieve our land preservation goals in a cost effective manner,” LaValle said.
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