Uniondale Herald 11-23-2023

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UNIONDALE _____________

HERALD BEACON

Building bonds in education

Aiming to erase racism in schools

Hofstra kids shake and rake

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Page 10 $1.00 FRee

NOVeMBeR 23 - 29, 2023

Uniondale’s water is source of complaints or polyfluoroalkyl substances, chemicals used in a variety of bcruz@liherald.com industrial and consumer prodA stark reality has hit home ucts, such as firefighting foam for residents who attended last and nonstick cookware. These chemicals can cause weekend’s Greater Uniondale Area Action Coalition meeting: health issues such as cancer Clean and safe water, a basic and organ damage. Although n e c e s s i t y, i s n o the levels that were guarantee in the detected did not area. exceed the le g al The meeting, limits allowed, which focused on according to the Uniondale’s water E nv i ro n m e n t a l quality, shed some Working Group, a light on the situanational nonprofit tion residents are that focuses on dealing with. environmental and According to the public health coalition, the issue issues, research, was raised by and advocacy, legalGeorge Wagner, a ity does not equate resident who often to safety. complained about “Getting a passrust-colored water ing grade from the coming from his state and federal faucets and who PeARl JACOBs gover nment,” the attributed a slew of Community activist EWG’s website health issues, states, “does not including cancer — m e a n t h e w at e r and that of his neighbors — to meets the latest health guideits use. lines as the government’s legal The coalition had Wagner’s limits are not health-protecwater tested by an independent tive.” Nassau County lab, which The EWG did its own study detected high levels of iron, of the Town of Hempstead’s arsenic and ammonia. It also water quality in 2021, using found elevated levels of PFAs,

By BRANDON CRUZ

T

Brandon Cruz/Herald

Assemblywoman Taylor Darling speaking at a climate justice rally in Hempstead, where she called on legislators and Gov. Kathy Hochul to support the Climate, Jobs, and Justice package and the People’s Climate Justice Budget.

The intersection of two crises

Residents of Uniondale and Hempstead rally By BRANDON CRUZ bcruz@liherald.com

The world is in the midst of a climate crisis, but for residents of Uniondale, who find themselves in the midst of an economic crisis as well, it’s more than just a harsh reality hitting home. And the community is not unique in its struggles. Many others are similarly affected by what Joe Sackman, a former candidate for the Assembly and an activist for the Long Island Progressive Coalition, says are the continued effects of systemic racism and environmental injustice. “We are running out of time,” Sackman said at a climate justice rally last Wednesday outside the WE Transport school bus depot

in Hempstead. “We need to even the playing field for communities like Uniondale and Hempstead.” Sackman and the coalition — along with an alliance of nearly 400 other organizations from across the state known as NY Renews — are calling for Gov. Kathy Hochul to ensure that the path forward is one of equity and justice by passing the Climate, Jobs, and Justice package, a legislative three-pack of bills, now awaiting votes in the Assembly, aimed at creating “climate justice.” “I stand with the Long Island Progressive Coalition and the Climate, Jobs, and Justice package as we fight for a brighter future for New York State,” Assemblywoman Taylor Darling, who represents Uniondale said at ConTinueD on PAGe 4

he water towers are in horrific conditions. There’s no political intent here. To me, this is environmental racism.

ConTinueD on PAGe 7


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