Latest news with #DepartmentofEnvironmentalConservation
New York Times
10 hours ago
- New York Times
Woman Was ‘Most Likely' Bitten by Shark at Jones Beach, Officials Say
A 20-year-old woman was most likely bitten by a shark on Wednesday at Jones Beach on Long Island in New York in what an official said was the first such attack of the season at a beach at a New York State park. The woman, who was not publicly identified, was waist deep in the water around 4:15 p.m. at the Central Mall beachfront of Jones Beach State Park when she reported being bitten by 'unknown marine wildlife,' the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation said in a statement on Friday. The woman sustained minor cuts to her left foot and leg, the statement said. Lifeguards and emergency workers responded, and the woman was transported to a hospital. Her injuries were not life-threatening, according to the statement. She did not see what caused her injuries, but biologists from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation concluded that the bite 'most likely' involved a juvenile sand tiger shark. The bite was the first of the season at a New York State park beach and 'hopefully the last,' George Gorman, a regional director for the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, wrote in an email on Friday. Swimming at Jones Beach was suspended for the rest of the day on Wednesday as the authorities used drones to search for dangerous marine life. Before reopening the beach on Thursday morning, park police and staff used drones to search for large schools of fish and other marine life. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Post
11 hours ago
- New York Post
Long Island swimmer ‘most likely' bitten by shark at popular beach: authorities
A 20-year-old woman was 'most likely' bit by a juvenile shark at a popular Long Island beach while trying to beat the blistering heat this week, park officials revealed on Friday. The swimmer was wading in waist deep water at the Central Mall beachfront at Jones Beach State Park on Wednesday when something chomped on her foot and leg just after 4 p.m., according to a release from Parks, Recreation and Historic preservation. The woman couldn't see what attacked her, but parks officials determined it was most likely a juvenile sand tiger shark, according to an investigation from the Department of Environmental Conservation. Advertisement The 20-year-old woman was waist-deep at the Central Mall beachfront when she was bitten by something that officials believe is a juvenile shark. Getty Images Lifeguards sprung into action and treated the woman who suffered minor, non-life-threatening lacerations to her lower extremity and was treated at Nassau County University Medical Center Hospital. Swimming was shut down at Central Mall following the presumptive shark bite, but resumed Thursday morning. Advertisement Park officials suggest the best way to avoid shark encounters is to keep out of the water at night, steer clear of murky water, stay away from appetizing schools of fish, and always follow instructions of lifeguards. The toothsome aquatic terrors have been spotted several times as folks make their seasonal return to Atlantic Coast beaches. Sharks have been sighted at several locations across the Atlantic Coast since the summer weather started to turn. Dave – An 11-foot-long, 761-pound, great white shark named 'Dold' popped a fin off the coast of New Jersey earlier this week, according to Ocearch. Advertisement On Memorial Day over on Block Island, Rhode Island, what was reported to be a 20-foot shark trailed a tiny boat in a pond in full view of diners chowing down at a local eatery. These sightings come as the classic Steven Spielberg shark thriller 'Jaws' celebrates the 50th anniversary of its release.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Elderly tourist falls to death while hiking New York state park
An elderly Illinois tourist plunged to his death while hiking at a New York state park after he fell from a rock ledge onto stone steps below, according to state authorities. Married father Jack Wersching, 70, was walking along a waterfall path at the Kaaterskill Wild Forest in the Catskills Friday evening when he fell onto a trailway below, the New York State Police said Tuesday. Park rangers rushed to the scene and extricated Wersching from the trailhead around 6:45 p.m., the state Department of Environmental Conservation said in a press release. The state park is in the Catskills. Albany Times Union via Getty Ima The rangers then tried to stabilize the Illinois native so first responders could airlift him to a hospital, but he died from his 'severe injuries' at the scene, officials said. Wersching, who lived in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, was remembered as someone who lived 'fully, passionately, and on his own terms.' 'He embraced each day with an Epicurean spirit – always chasing adventure, seeking knowledge, and finding joy in the little things,' his daughter said in a heartfelt Facebook post. 'His final days were spent doing what he loved most: exploring, learning, and being in awe of the world.' The 70-year-old was hiking with his wife and daughter. shilo__shalom/Instsagram A witness who helped Wersching said he heard screams for help and saw the victim lying on the ground with serious injuries. Shilo Shalom said he tried to help him, and used shirts to slow the bleeding. Shalom, an Israeli native, initially ran into Wersching, his wife and daughter earlier in the day while he was hiking with his little sister. The two groups even took photos of each other before Wersching's fall. 'I just tried to save him and I couldn't,' he said in an interview. State police said the investigation is ongoing.
New York Post
09-06-2025
- General
- New York Post
Proposal to OK swimming in notoriously polluted Harlem River won't stop 2B gallons of sewage from being dumped there: activists
What a dump. Bronx activists are fuming that a proposal aimed at opening up the notoriously polluted Harlem River to swimming won't do anything to keep raw sewage from being dumped there. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said it wants to make the most polluted waterway in the city — and possibly all of New York — clean enough for swimmers to be able to take a dip in it. Advertisement But clean water activists are boiling mad about the effort, claiming the DEC's plan will effectively lock in poor quality standards, continuing to allow nearly 2 billion gallons of raw sewage to spill into the river every year. 3 An estimated 1.9 billion of raw sewage is dumped into the Harlem River every year. The Harlem River's current classification, 'Class I,' means it only needs to be clean enough to allow for 'secondary contact recreation,' like boating and fishing. Advertisement The crux of the activists' outrage lies with a proposal released by the DEC in April to reclassify the river as a 'wet weather (WW) limited use' waterbody — that could allow swimming there on so-called dry days. When it rains, the river routinely gets flooded with raw sewage and other pollutants because the overstrained systems cannot handle the additional stormwater, according to environmental advocates. As a result, the activists are calling out state and city officials for the plan to open up the river to swimming — without investing time and money into overhauling the Bronx's outdate sewage systems that overflow when it rains. It would cost around $9 billion to fix the outdated 'Combined Sewer Overflows' systems, which the DEC has ruled too costly. Advertisement 'By using an all or nothing argument to sewage pollution reduction, the city and state are attempting to justify maintaining the status quo of poor water quality for the Harlem River generations to come, and that improving water quality really is not all or nothing effort,' Ruby said. 'They're trying to say this is an upgrade when it's not,' argued Ruby. 'They're not proposing to do pollution reduction. This 'reclassification' is going to take generations to come. They need to set the goal as swimmable 100% of the time.' 3 A reclassification for the waterway would mean that the state would suspend all required water quality standards up to 36 hours after it rains. More than a dozen state and city politicians have already penned a letter to DEC Acting Commissioner Amanda Lefton demanding that the agency reconsider the proposed reclassification and replace it with a loftier goal — namely, to institute initiatives that would require the river to be swimmable at all times. Advertisement Two public hearings on the proposal are slated for the end of the month. Other New Yorkers also accused the DEC of throwing the towel on cleaning up the river, including kayaking and rowing groups groups who currently try their best to avoid touching the polluted water during their excursions. 'This is not making anything better. It's essentially observing that if it hasn't rained in a while, the river might actually be clean enough to swim in — maybe. I wouldn't swim in it by choice,' said Joy Hecht, a member of the Harlem River Rowing Community. 3 'We know the status quo is not good. The Harlem River deserves better,' said Em Ruby. metpromo_40733 'It's essentially saying, 'We give up. We're not going to try and improve it.'' A DEC spokesperson did not address the claims, saying the proposed 'landmark regulatory changes are unprecedented, building upon decades of ongoing progress to transform the Harlem River and other waters in and around New York City.' 'Collectively, New Yorkers are making significant progress in improving water quality, and the new requirements would provide additional ecological benefits and positive impacts to the region's fishing, boating, and swimming conditions,' the statement said. Chauncy Young, a coordinator at the Harlem River Coalition, griped that the proposed change marks another injustice that the borough has been dealt, pointing to other waterways throughout the city that boast free, city-run kayaking and canoe programs in their cleaner-by-comparison water. Advertisement Even the Hudson River has numerous swimming spots and opportunities throughout the year. 'We definitely feel like the forgotten borough,' Young said. 'We've been advocating for access to the river for decades and decades and decades …We definitely feel like the Bronx and upper Manhattan have been left out of development and resources that have been provided to communities in terms of access and programming and just beautiful parks.'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Alaska Railroad work train derails north of Talkeetna with no injuries
Jun. 7—An Alaska Railroad train derailed north of Talkeetna early Friday morning with no injuries reported. Three crew members were aboard the work train at the time of the incident, according to a spokesperson for the railroad. The cause of the derailment was not immediately clear, they said. Catherine Clarke, an Alaska Railroad spokesperson, said the derailment led to a puncture on the derailed locomotive's 2,600-gallon diesel fuel tank. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is responding to the incident. "The damaged fuel tank has been secured and initial containment strategies put in place, as efforts continue to remediate the impacted site," Clarke said by email on Friday afternoon. Department of Environmental Conservation staff are coordinating with the railroad and other agencies on cleanup, officials said. In a situation report, DEC said Friday afternoon that the amount of fuel spilled "is unknown at this time." The derailment took place just after 3 a.m., approximately 22 miles north of Talkeetna on the Curry loop track — a section of the railroad that provides access to a quarry and is not accessible by road, Clarke said. The derailment occurred around 400 feet from the Susitna River. There are barriers between the fuel spill and river, DEC said. "The nearest culvert leading toward the river has been secured and blocked as a precautionary measure. No reports of impacts to surface water have been reported. No wildlife impacts have been observed," the agency said in its situation report. The Alaska Railroad typically transports around half a million passengers per year. The derailment was not expected to affect the railroad's main line, which operates trains between Fairbanks and Seward, Clarke said.
