OYSTER BAY, N.Y., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Pollution from boats, storm-water runoff and sewage in Oyster Bay, N.Y. threatens Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge, an environmental groups says.
Defenders of Wildlife joined local and state officials at the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site -- the home of former President Theodore Roosevelt -- at a news conference Thursday to sound the alarm about the pace of development on Long Island, reported Long Island Newsday Friday.
"This one is sort of a poster child," said Kyle Rabin, executive director of Friends of the Bay, a local watchdog group dedicated to protecting the Mill Neck, Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor estuary. "If we lose this one, what's going to happen to the rest?"
The refuge's overall water quality is good, but illegal dumping has occurred in the Mill Neck Pond area -- and invasive plants and storm-water runoff also threaten some of the habitat, said Rabin.
The 3,000 acres of salt marsh and fresh-water wetlands of the Oyster Bay refuge is a roosting spot for bald eagles and host to threatened or endangered species such as the peregrine falcon, osprey and loggerhead sea turtles, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
