NY State Objects to Long Island Sound Silt Dumping Plans

New York has formally objected to the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal for disposing of dredged silt in eastern Long Island Sound, saying it's inconsistent with the state's coastal policies to reduce dumping there.

In a letter to the EPA, Secretary of State Rossana Rosado says the federal agency hasn't sufficiently considered the cumulative effects of dumping or other available disposal sites.

The waterway separates New York and Connecticut.

The EPA says dredging is needed to ensure safe navigation and has proposed using a site in the eastern sound for long-term dumping of dredged silt, saying other sites in the waterway used since the 1980s lack the capacity for more.

Rossado says testing of dredged sediments to identify contamination is inadequate and the proposal threatens environmental habitats.