The owner of Long Island’s last remaining duck farm is pressing federal regulators to allow currently available vaccines to help protect U.S. poultry farms in the wake a devastating bird flu outbreak on his farm last month that led to the euthanization of his entire flock.

"We need a vaccine!" Doug Corwin, owner of Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, wrote in a letter to newly named EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Wednesday.

Current federal policies for dealing with the disease — killing large numbers of birds — at the farm level have been ineffective, Corwin wrote, necessitating consideration of vaccines.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture "policy of euthanizing flocks is not working," Corwin wrote to Zeldin. "Vaccines are available and being used in Europe for Avian Flu. We must start allowing farmers this protection." The letter also will go out to other federal, state and local officials, Corwin said. Mark Harrington reports in NEWSDAY that Corwin said resistance to vaccines has come chiefly from large-scale "corporate agriculture" concerns, which are "hugely worried about losing exports. This has led to the prolonging and spreading of this outbreak."

Corwin last month was forced to lay off 48 workers, some of whom had been with the farm for decades, and euthanize his entire flock of 99,000 birds after tests confirmed a bird flu outbreak there. The farm was able to save upward of 10,000 sanitized eggs that will be hatched off the farm in the hopes of reviving the operation, which has been in business since 1908.

Ducks euthanized at Crescent Farm are being composted on site, Corwin said this week, with temperatures high enough to eradicate the disease. It’s all under the supervision of the USDA.

Corwin told Zeldin that Crescent Duck Farm, with community and other support and successful hatchings of salvaged duck eggs, could be back producing ducks for the marketplace by 2026.

***

On the eve of a court hearing on whether the Southampton History Museum can evict the Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery from the corner of a dirt parking lot that the hatchery has leased for the past decade, the Southampton Town historian revealed that she has found century-old deeds and documents that would seem to indicate the museum may not, in fact, own the land the hatchery sits on.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the land that has since the late 1980s been considered to be one single parcel, owned by the museum, appears in deeds that Town Historian Julie Greene uncovered recently to have historically been two separate parcels — one owned by the Southampton Colonial Society, and the other by the Town of Southampton. The land where the Southampton Town Trustees’ boat ramp and the hatchery shed are today is one parcel. The second, immediately to the north, comprises the spit of land known as Conscience Point, where a trail through marshlands leads to the rock dedicated by the Southampton Colonial Society in 1910, memorializing the nearby arrival of English settlers on Long Island in 1640. In January, the museum filed a petition to the court to eject the hatchery from the property. The first hearing in court this Wednesday was expected to be adjourned considering the recent revelations.

***

HarborFrost, Sag Harbor’s annual celebration of winter, returns to the village this Saturday with a packed schedule of events culminating with a Grucci fireworks display off Long Wharf on Saturday night. “Like most chamber events, HarborFrost was conceived and is organized annually to support businesses in Sag Harbor and attract foot traffic during the offseason months,” said Ellen Dioguardi, the president of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce. “This year, there’s something for everyone: live music, ice carving, fire dancers, children’s activities inside several shops, and world-famous fireworks by Grucci off Long Wharf at approximately 5:45 p.m. tomorrow evening. A full listing of Harborfrost events that will be going on throughout the business district can be found at the chamber’s website - sagharborchamber.com.

***

Suffolk County officials yesterday unveiled a new multiagency, coordinated approach to find missing children and curb what they say is an "epidemic" of human trafficking in the county. The initiative, dubbed "Operation Safe and Lasting Return," brings together law enforcement, social services and community organizations to break down what officials described as siloed. The goal is to not only find missing children but provide additional services faster to help break the cycle of repeated runaways. Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the announcement comes amid the arrest of 11 people in connection with a 14-year-old East Patchogue girl who had been missing for 25 days. Two of the suspects face charges of child sex trafficking, while others face a range of charges from kidnapping, rape and endangering the welfare of a child. The teen was among the many victims who had been identified as trafficked in Suffolk County.

The county executive's office and Department of Social Services will lead the interagency initiative. Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. said the Suffolk County Jail has identified 354 victims and 224 traffickers since establishing a human trafficking unit in 2018. Newly sworn-in Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said this approach allows victims to receive additional support "before they can be dragged into this horrible, horrible world."

Faith Lovell, a county attorney and bureau chief of the family court division, which manages the state and county's first-ever human trafficking court for juveniles, said the first step is implementing a program modeled after Project Harmony — an initiative in Omaha, Nebraska that supports child abuse victims and human trafficking survivors.

***

Twenty-two states, led by West Virginia, are suing to block a recently approved New York law that requires fossil fuel companies to pay billions of dollars a year for contributing to climate change.

Under the law, called the Climate Change Superfund Act, the country’s biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions between the years 2000 and 2024 must pay a combined total of $3 billion annually for the next 25 years.

The collected funds will help to repair and upgrade infrastructure in New York that is damaged or threatened by extreme weather, which is becoming more common because of emissions generated by such companies. Some projects could include the restoration of coastal wetlands, improvements to storm water drainage systems, and the installation of energy-efficient cooling systems in buildings.

The measure, which was signed into law in December, is slated to go into effect in 2028.

At a news conference yesterday unveiling the legal challenge, the attorney general of West Virginia, John B. McCuskey, said the legislation overreached by seeking to hold energy companies liable in New York no matter where they are based.

West Virginia, a top producer of coal, is joined in the lawsuit by 21 other states, including major oil, gas or coal producers like Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and North Dakota. The West Virginia Coal Association and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia are also among the plaintiffs. The lawsuit contends that the Clean Air Act, which authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air quality and protect public health, gives the federal government, not individual states, “the chief role in determining interstate emissions standards.” The coalition opposing New York’s law has an ally in Long Island’s Lee Zeldin, President Trump’s new head of the E.P.A., Mr. McCuskey said. “He looks at energy policy in a way that says that fossil generation of electricity is the current and future of this country.”

***

The Fourth Annual Southold WinterFest is scheduled for tomorrow on the Main Road in Southold from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s an admission-free day filled with ice carving, fun, music, food and special events sponsored by the Southold Town Economic Development Committee. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that in addition to free food and beverage tastings, there is a full slate of entertainment, including DJ Phil, Eastern LI Old Time Jam, Greg Humphreys Band, GUNK Girl Band, The Hoodo Loungers, Lady T Dance Troupe, NYC’s Emphasis Break Dancers, Roth and Fuhr Men Band, and the renowned Wantagh American Legion Pipe Band. There will be 50 exhibits and 20 local merchants, prizes, gift basket drawings, and complimentary food and beverage samples at tomorrow's Southold WinterFest.

For updates about Saturday's event, visit the WinterFest Facebook page at SoutholdWinterFest.

***

Downtown Sag Harbor was packed last summer, with pedestrians crowding the sidewalks, and cars crowding the streets. It would be reasonable to assume that business was booming for the shops and restaurants that call the village home. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that it ain’t necessarily so, say some business owners. They say their sales for 2024 were flat to off by 10 or even 20 percent, despite the throngs of people crowding the Village of Sag Harbor. “Sales were solid for us, but I was expecting bigger numbers given the people in town” during the summer months, said Kevin Menard, the owner of Dragon Hemp, a CBD-hemp and Chinese herb apothecary, that opened in spring of 2022. Menard said he had heard similar stories from members of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, but rather than rely on anecdotal evidence, he said he wants to complete a detailed business study of the village, including having business owners complete a survey that he hopes will provide meaningful data about economic conditions in the village. “We definitely know more peo...

Newly found historical documents may mean Southampton History Museum does not own hatchery land

Powered by Wave AI