Politics & Government

Plum Island Going Up for Sale

The government can sell the island but a New York town can limit its use.

The government recently released its final environmental study of Plum Island, which recommended that the 860-acre island just 12 miles off the coast of Connecticut, which is home to an biological research facility, should be sold and developed to help pay for a new facility in Kansas. 

The island’s governing municipality, Southold, N.Y., is OK with the idea but is  moving swiftly to make sure “hundreds of acres” of the coveted land is kept for open space, according to a report in the Hartford Courant. And they want to keep the 200+ jobs provided by the research facility. 

The facility in Kansas may not be finished until 2021 but Southold’s Zoning Commission will have the island’s zones worked out and in place by the end of the summer. 

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The Courant reported that “the primary diseases studied on the island are hoof-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, and Vesicular stomatis virus. But workers there also study more than 40 animal diseases, such as hog cholera and African swine fever, according to the government report.” 

Click here to read the full report in the Hartford Courant.

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