Group for the East End to Celebrate Achievements at Maragritaville Fundraising Benefit
PROCEEDS TO SUPPORT CLEAN WATER ACTION CAMPAIGN
(Bridgehampton, New York… May 2024) Group for the East End [thegroup.org] will celebrate 52 years of protecting the East End environment at their Margaritaville benefit on Saturday, June 8 at 6 p.m. at The Bridge in Bridgehampton. The proceeds from this year’s fundraiser will be used to kick off a critically important campaign to clean up the East End’s bays, harbors, and drinking water. After the widely anticipated approval of the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act amendments by the NYS Legislature in the weeks ahead, the Group will immediately embark on a six-month advocacy campaign urging Suffolk County voters to support the largest clean water ballot proposition in decades this November. If passed on Election Day, the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act is expected to generate $4 billion over 35 years for clean water infrastructure throughout Suffolk County.
"Every successful and resilient civilization must have clean water to survive,” shares Group for the East End president Bob DeLuca. “Unfortunately, here on Long Island, the collective impact of our own sewage is now threatening the region’s bays, harbors, and drinking water.”
For more than ten years, the Group, working with a broad coalition of clean water advocates, has been pressing Suffolk County officials to develop and implement a comprehensive wastewater strategy that includes public support for the installation of innovative, nitrogen-reducing septic systems, which are critically necessary to restoring our water quality, and the creation of a stable and recurring revenue source to fund the program over time.
"Fortunately, the solutions we need to properly manage our sewage and restore our water quality for the future are now well understood, and the technology to do the job is readily available,” DeLuca continues. “The time is right to get to work and provide sustaining support for everyone who enjoys our Long Island way of life. This year, voters will finally have the opportunity to support the most ambitious plan for cleaning up our local waters in more than five decades, and it is our job to raise awareness and urge voters to cast their vote in favor of a clean water future.”
On Election Day, voters will decide if an 1/8-of-a-penny increase in the county sales tax is worth having new and vastly improved infrastructure, including direct support for the replacement of their own outdated or failing septic systems, that will dramatically reduce nitrogen pollution, which has been choking our coastal waters and killing marine life for years.
Learn more about this initiative at thegroup.org/initiatives/suffolk-county-water-quality-restoration-act.
The annual gala hosted by Stéphane Samuel and Robert M. Rubin of The Bridge will feature a tequila tasting bar and cocktails by Pantalones Tequila, a Champagne cart from South Flagler House with natural and biodynamic wines, beer from Top Hops’ Half Pint truck, lawn games, a paddle raise led by CK Swett, dinner, dancing, and casino games, not to mention the most spectacular sunset water views on the East End. Media support comes from Hamptons Magazine. Presenting sponsors of the event include First Stop News and South Flagler House.
