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Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group

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Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group (BLARG)
Formation2020
FounderHannah Thomas, Dennis Nix, Monique Fitzgerald
Location
Key peopleAbena Asare, Kerim Odekon, and Michelle Mendez
Websitehttps://www.landfillaction.org/

The Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group (BLARG) is a grassroots environmental justice organization seeking to close and clean up the 140-acre Brookhaven Landfill (1974 - present). BLARG's mission is to support direct efforts to attain environmental justice in the North Bellport community through the implementation of local and regional waste plans that are equitable, sustainable, measurable, and public.

North Bellport is a predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood with the lowest life expectancy on Long Island, as well as the second-highest rate of asthma in Suffolk County. Every year, about 720,000 tons of construction and demolition waste and about 350,000 tons of incinerator ash from across Long Island are dumped into the Brookhaven Landfill, regarded by some as the main reason for the negative health impacts in the community.

History

BLARG was co-founded by several North Bellport community members, including Hannah Thomas, Dennis Nix, and Monique Fitzgerald. The group was officially founded in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, attributing their founding to the idea that George Floyd's death was unnecessary and the only way to prevent premature death of black people is to identify what systemic issues are putting their lives most at risk.

Projects

In 2021, BLARG helped stop the expansion of Brookhaven Landfill.

In Summer 2021, BLARG began a collaborative effort with local members to haul away food waste on bikes to community composting facilities, and to apply compost education takeaways to its own community on Long Island.

In 2022, BLARG started its own successful Community Composting Collective and diverted tons of organic waste from Brookhaven Landfill, preventing significant amounts of methane gas from being generated and released into the atmosphere.

In 2023, BLARG advocated for State Attorney General Letitia James to investigate Covanta Hempstead, a waste-to-energy plant owned by Covanta, to check whether the ash they deposited into Brookhaven Landfill was hazardous. This prompted a multi-year investigation of Covanta Hempstead by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).

References

  1. ^ Leuzzi, Linda (2021-04-15). "With Town's landfill plan revoked, they're still pushing for change". The Long Island Advance. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  2. bvawebmaster (2021-01-14). "Brookhaven Landfill Action & Remediation Group (BLARG)". Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  3. "BLARG". BLARG. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  4. "How long will you live?". Newsday. 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  5. StFleur, Nicholas (2023-05-22). "'A textbook case of environmental racism': The battle over the Brookhaven Landfill". STAT. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  6. ^ "Who is BLARG?". BLARG. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  7. ^ "Member Spotlight: All Things Kind, BLARG, People over Plastic, Pirani Life". Plastic Pollution Coalition. 2024-02-26. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  8. "New York forces Brookhaven to address toxic plume coming from its landfill". Citizens Campaign for the Environment. 2023-08-15. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  9. ^ "General 5". BLARG. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  10. "Brookhaven landfill critics call for attorney general to probe ash disposal". Newsday. 2023-10-10. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
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