The Advocate - $617M later, no clear picture of Sound's health: "Twenty years ago, Long Island Sound was practically dead.
An abundance of nitrogen - largely from sewage treatment plants - had fueled the growth of oxygen-depriving algae suffocating shellfish and fin fish across broad swaths of the Sound.
By 1994, New York, Connecticut and the federal government came up with a plan to restore the Sound's health. At the top of its list was solving the nitrogen problem. A few years later, officials set a timeline: By 2014, the amount of nitrogen flowing into the Sound would drop by 58.5 percent.
Nearly 15 years and $617 million in sewage treatment plant upgrades later, it's difficult to gauge how effective that nitrogen reduction plan has been - and there are still disagreements among experts on how best to restore the Sound...
.... "It's not even clear we have been making progress because there's been so much development," said Robin Kreisberg of Save the Sound. "It has to be a more holistic, or comprehensive, approach."
Although Tedesco said upgrading sewage treatment plants is still a top priority in repairing the Sound, he said a "holistic" strategy is what the Long Island Sound Study has been working on.
"I think everyone recognizes that restoring and protecting habitats is key," he said. "We need to improve how we're managing land use and development, so that we reduce runoff that gets into the Sound. That is all certainly very important."
