Troubled by Spreading Landfill Pollution, a Long Island Community Demands Action
Key takeaways
- At the meeting in late March, speakers criticizing the landfill’s operations were met with applause and shouts of support from the audience.
- Monique Fitzgerald and the organization she co-founded, the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, have urged the town to close the landfill.
- “I am disappointed,” Fitzgerald told town officials. “You just wasted our time with this presentation.”
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
June 8, 2026 Share This Article Republish. An aerial view of the Brookhaven landfill in New York. Credit: Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images Related Pennsylvania Publishes Long-Awaited Study on Radioactivity in Landfill Runoff A Toxic Landfill Was on the Brink of Expanding. Residents Fought Back and Won New York City Has a Trash Problem. A Packaging Reduction Bill Could Help Share This Article Republish Most Popular New BLM Grazing Rules Eliminate Tribal Buffalo From Public Lands An Iowa Town Spent $800,000 on a New Well. It Pumps Undrinkable Water. Dolphins, Sharks, Turtles and Workers Are All Victims of Unregulated Squid Fleets BROOKHAVEN, N.Y.—The crowd grew restless at Brookhaven Town Hall on Long Island as residents voiced their concerns about groundwater contamination from a nearby landfill that has spread beneath parts of their community.
At the meeting in late March, speakers criticizing the landfill’s operations were met with applause and shouts of support from the audience.
Monique Fitzgerald and the organization she co-founded, the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, have urged the town to close the landfill. Fitzgerald, a lifelong resident of North Bellport, a hamlet within Brookhaven, and other residents have been concerned about the contamination for decades.