An infestation of southern pine beetles in the forests and backyards of East Hampton has exploded since October, but efforts to fell infested trees and prevent beetles from spreading outside of hot zones are working, a land management staffer told the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday. 

“It's been growing, but we're trying to stay on top of it,” Andy Drake of the town's Department of Land Management told the town board on Tuesday. “The majority of our native pitch pine trees are infested.”

The problem has spread across 300 acres, with 7,720 infested trees found to date on both public and private land. Over 5,000 have been cut down, with the remainder marked for imminent takedown. 

About 800 trees on 61/2 acres of town land had been found to be infested with pine beetles when Mr. Drake first reported the problem to the board in early October; six days later, working with staff from the State Department of Environmental Conservation, the town discovered that 1,686 trees were infested. The problem had “more than doubled,” said Mr. Drake, and continued to grow. 

Originally, the beetles were largely in the Northwest area of East Hampton, but several infestations have been found in Wainscott. Almost 100 trees were taken down on Wainscott-Northwest Road, Mr. Drake said — an “edge” zone, where it is hoped tree cutting will stop the spread — and six trees on Daniel's Hole Road were felled.

Pine beetles left unchecked will reproduce inside an infested tree, resulting in a tenfold increase in their numbers the following season, Mr. Drake said. Taking down the trees and opening the bark, exposing the beetles, which don't fly far, results in a population the next spring of only 5 to 10 percent of the original numbers, said Mr. Drake. Data collected over several years in Southampton bear out the results. 

The D.E.C. recommends the “cut and leave suppression” method to prevent the pine beetles from spreading. It has been successful in other areas of Long Island, Mr. Drake said.

Four tree-cutting crews — private companies contracted by the town under a state of emergency declared last month because of the growing infestation — were out in the field continuing that effort, he said. The cut trees are being limbed to lay flat on the ground and are left in place.

“We really feel, at this point, that we’re getting it contained; we're getting ahead of it,” he said. “We can be done with this within the next few weeks; I believe we will be.”

His department has been fielding “hundreds of phone calls from private landowners,” said Mr. Drake. Those who suspect they have pine beetles on their property, or who want it checked, may call the land department and staffers will inspect.

Under the state of emergency, the town can, if authorized by property owners, have infested trees on private land cut down, and will bear the cost of cutting them down. The logs will be left on site according to the D.E.C. practice. The town is not paying to have them removed.

Call the White House, sign the online petition opposing the Republican tax legislation, which the Senate passed shortly before 2 a.m. on Saturday, and appeal to President Trump’s New York roots to get him to recognize how devastating it would be for Long Island, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said on Monday.

Expressing vociferous criticism of the so-called tax-reform measure, he said it would be “a potential catastrophe,” amounting to a multibillion-dollar tax increase for Long Islanders, driving down property values, and resulting in residents fleeing the region.

 The process, he noted, had moved “at breakneck pace, this so-called reform happening extraordinarily rapidly” with virtually no debate in Congress and last-minute, handwritten revisions added to win over skeptical Republican legislators. 

The public, Mr. Bellone said, does not fully understand the plan’s potential impact on Long Island, particularly the reduction or elimination of deductions for state and local property taxes. “But one thing that seems very consistent is that we’re looking at what could amount to a massive tax increase on Long Islanders in the billions of dollars that would have an . . . impact on our economy, on home values, on consumer spending, on small businesses.” 

The plan, he said, “runs contrary to everything we’re trying to do to become more competitive . . . to make the kinds of investments necessary for us to reach our economic potential. This would be a huge blow to all of those efforts and to middle-class families across the region.”

New York State sends about $23 billion more to the federal government in taxes than is returned, Mr. Bellone said, and the tax plan, should it become law, would add insult to injury.

“What are we talking about here?” he asked. Should the bill become law, “Long Islanders are now going to be, in addition, subsidizing a tax cut for communities across the country while we take a tax hit. . . . It is unconscionable, in our view, and must be stopped.”

When the sweeping rewrite of tax policy first appeared on his radar in the spring, the expectation, Mr. Bellone said, was that it was “so bad for Long Island and New York, and other areas as well, that this can’t . . . ultimately be adopted.” Now, with the legislation seemingly destined for President Trump’s signature before Christmas, the focus must turn to the Queens native, he said. 

“We make this appeal understanding that the president is a New Yorker, that he understands this region. . . . We believe he would understand that being a middle-class family on Long Island is far different than being middle class in Madison, Wisconsin, or Louisville, Kentucky.”

The Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan group, has estimated the bill would add $1 trillion to the national debt, even after taking into consideration the economic stimulus Republican officials say would be generated by tax cuts. Congressional Democrats are warning that Republicans would seek to lower the debt by cutting or eliminating entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. 

Mr. Bellone echoed those warnings on Monday. “If this is used as a pretext to cut Social Security and Medicare, that would be absolutely disgraceful because that would be an even greater hit to middle-class families, working-class families across Long Island.”

But, he said, “There is still time for the president to intervene on this legislation before Congress adopts it, and obviously, if they produce legislation that is really going to have this catastrophic or devastating impact on Long Island, the president has the opportunity to veto.” 

With no significant legislation passed in Mr. Trump’s first year, a veto is seen as highly unlikely. One reason for optimism, he said, is that “the president does seem to pay attention when . . . he’s made aware of things in the media, and I’m hopeful that if we gather enough attention, enough noise, this will get on his radar. Secondly, he is a New Yorker. That appeal to his pride and home is something we hope will bear fruit. We don’t know, but we certainly have to do everything we can to raise awareness, to urge the president to do the right thing here.” 

Mr. Bellone launched the online petition at a press conference in Hauppauge, where he was joined by Legislator Bridget Fleming, DuWayne Gregory, presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature, Matt Cohen, vice president of the Long Island Association, Laureen Harris, president of the Association for a Better Long Island, Gina Coletti, co-chairwoman of the Suffolk County Alliance of Chambers, and a group of small-business owners. The petition is at the website change.org. “We’re encouraging as many as possible to sign that,” he said.

Following revelations that water supplies in several Suffolk County locations have been contaminated by potentially cancer-causing industrial chemicals, the Suffolk County Water Authority filed suit last week against companies that manufactured and sold products containing three contaminants. 

Two separate complaints filed in Eastern District federal court seek to recoup the costs to the authority of treating tainted water in its wells. The contaminants were also found in several private wells in Wainscott.

A complaint stemming from pollution with 1,4-dioxane targets the Dow Chemical Company, Ferro Corporation, Vulcan Materials Corporation, Procter & Gamble, and Shell Oil, in connection with their use of that chemical in industrial degreasers, laundry detergents, and other household products.

The second complaint centers on the perfluorinated chemicals — perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA — that prompted the Suffolk County and New York State Health Departments to launch a testing program of private well water around the East Hampton Airport earlier this fall. 

The chemicals are used in firefighting foams and other degreasing applications; after they were found in water near several industrial sites in Suffolk, officials began checking wells surrounding other areas, such as the airport, where products containing them might have been used.

About one-third of the private water wells used by Wainscott residents in a designated area of concern have been tested so far, Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez reported at a town board meeting on Tuesday.

Lab results are in for 84 samples, she said, showing PFOA and PFOC present in water from 38 wells. However, the levels in all but one were below the threshold of 70 parts per trillion considered a level of concern by health authorities.  

According to the water authority, none of its wells in the Town of East Hampton have tested positive for perfluorinated chemicals. If found, they can be removed with granular activated carbon systems. 

The water authority said that 1,4-dioxane has been found in more than half of Long Island water supply wells. Removing it could cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The water authority is testing what it calls a landmark treatment system to remove the chemical, which would use an advanced oxidation process. 

There have been a “few isolated detections” of 1,4-dioxane in water authority wells here: at three in Montauk and one in East Hampton, a water authority spokesman said yesterday.

The cost of treating water for the contaminants in question, S.C.W.A. claims in its lawsuits, should be borne by the chemical companies.  

“The ratepayers of the Suffolk County Water Authority should not have to pay for the reckless behavior of companies who knew or should have known about these dangers,” said James F. Gaughran, the S.C.W.A. chairman, in a press release. “And we’re going to do everything we can to make sure they won’t.”

  The lawsuit over perfluorinated chemicals targets the 3M Company, Buckeye Fire Equipment Company, Chemguard Inc., Tyco Fire Products LP, and National Foam, Inc. It claims that the companies “knew or should have known that the firefighting foam they made, distributed or sold is dangerous to human health and contains unique characteristics that cause extensive and persistent environmental contamination,” according to the press release. 

The complaint notes that airports and military bases have used firefighting foams for close to 50 years to conduct firefighting and explosion drills. Those sites, the water authority says, “have been linked to the widespread contamination of groundwater not just in Suffolk, but throughout the country.”

“The production of PFOA and PFOS was phased out under pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by 2002, but the mobility and persistence of these contaminants mean that additional treatment will be needed for potentially decades to come,” the authority notes in its press release. 

  An independent, not-for-profit public benefit corporation, the water authority serves approximately 1.2 million residents of the county who are hooked up to public water mains. It recently announced a plan to add new wells and pumping stations along Stephen Hand’s Path in Wainscott. 

The State Department of Environmental Conservation, which is to investigate the source of the water contamination in the private wells in Wainscott, will present its plan to the public early next year, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said at Tuesday’s town board meeting.

The inquiry is expected to take six to eight months. It will include monitoring wells, soil tests, and information collection, all centered on activities and potential pollution at the East Hampton Airport. 

There was a large turnout at a Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee on Saturday at which the matter was discussed, the councilwoman said. 

A number of residents, some who have expressed concerns that any level of perfluorinated chemicals in the water supply is unacceptable, have raised questions about having Suffolk County Water Authority public water mains extended throughout Wainscott and suggested the town expedite that process. 

In a presentation this week, reported on separately in today’s Star, a representative of the Deepwater Wind company, which wants to land an undersea energy cable at Beach Lane in Wainscott, said that, among other offerings, it would provide a $1 million grant to the town for water quality infrastructure improvements in Wainscott.

The construction of a roundabout at what is known as the five corners intersection at Buell and Toilsome Lanes in East Hampton Village is well underway, but an initial forecast of completion by year’s end has been pushed back some months because of longer-than-anticipated, prerequisite utility upgrades. 

The New York State Department of Transportation issued a work permit for the project in September. South Fork Asphalt, the Southampton company that was awarded a contract to perform the work, mobilized to the site on Oct. 19 and subcontracted with Keith Grimes Inc. of Bridgehampton for excavation and drainage structure installation. 

The first stage of the project should conclude this week, Drew Bennett, a consulting engineer to the village, wrote in a Nov. 28 memo to the village board. That work includes the relocation, by PSEG Long Island, of one pole on Toilsome Lane. The relocation was completed in October, one month behind schedule, but the wire from the old pole to the new one has yet to be transferred, Mr. Bennett said, because of the start of drainage work and construction congestion at the intersection. The wire transfer is scheduled to happen this week, he said, but that will depend on weather conditions. 

National Grid was to replace a gas main by Labor Day, Mr. Bennett said. While that was done, individual house connections to the new main and the abandonment of the old main were not completed until Nov. 17. Potholes resulting from the work were the source of complaints to the village, he said, and National Grid’s restoration of the road is still in progress. 

In October, also one month later than planned, the Suffolk County Water Authority installed several hundred feet of new main at the intersection. Drainage structures, like pole bases and electrical conduits, and temporary asphalt to facilitate traffic diversions were also installed as part of the project’s first phase. 

The second phase, occurring over the winter, will see limited construction, according to Mr. Bennett’s memo. It is set to begin on Saturday and conclude at the end of February. It will include off-site fabrication of the granite curb for the roundabout’s splitter islands and circle, the latter already underway. Installation of the curb and of the concrete perimeter curb will be subject to weather conditions. 

In the project’s final phase, slated for March and April, installation of the granite curb and concrete perimeter curb will be completed and the center island installed. Sidewalks, light poles, fixtures, signs, and landscaping will also be installed. Temporary asphalt will be removed, new paving will be done, and the site will be restored. Final inspection by the Department of Transportation will complete the project. 

“I anticipate continued periodic partial traffic diversion in the intersection throughout the project,” Mr. Bennett wrote in his memo. “We are planning to limit total intersection closure to final asphalt and striping,” which he said would take four to eight hours on each of two days, “and possibly for portions of the center island install,” which would span up to six hours, also on two days. There will be no construction activity between Dec. 24 and 26, he said.

The Suffolk County Board of Elections on Wednesday certified results for the Nov. 7 election, and the winners remain unchanged in East Hampton Town, where absentee ballots could have tipped the results in the race for town trustee but did not after a final review.

On Election Night, before absentee ballots were counted, Diane McNally, a Republican who served as a trustee for more than two decades and was the board's longtime presiding officer, stood in 10th place for the nine-member board. Certified results released by the board of elections on Wednesday put Ms. McNally in 11th place.

The top nine vote-getters win a two-year term on the board, and all but two of them -- Jim Grimes, an incumbent, and Susan Vorpahl, a first-time candidate (in ninth and eighth place, respectively) -- are Democrats this time around.

Francis Bock, the trustees' current presiding officer, and his deputies, Bill Taylor and Rick Drew, were re-elected, as was Brian Byrnes. Democrats new to the board in January will be John Aldred, Dell Cullum, and Susan McGraw Keber.

Mr. Bock had 4,423 votes, Mr. Drew had 3,995, Mr. Aldred 3,808, Mr. Cullum 3,780, Mr. Taylor 3,733, Mr. Byrnes 3,648, and Ms. McGraw Keber 3,314. Ms. Vorpahl got 3,288 votes and Mr. Grimes had 3,178. Trailing them most closely were Rona Klopman with 3,027 and Ms. McNally with 2,907.

The Democratic candidates for town supervisor and town board easily won election. Final votes gave Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc 4,296 votes (62.8 percent) in the race for supervisor, against Manny Vilar's 2,544 (37.2 percent).

Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez won re-election to a second four-year term with 4,543 votes, and Jeff Bragman won his first term as a councilman with 3,707. On the Republican ticket, Paul Giardina had 2,464 votes and Jerry Larsen had 2,388.

With my boat now firmly planted on terra firma for the winter, it’s time to turn the page. The number of recreational boaters and those in the pursuit of finfish have now dwindled to the true hard-core types. While I plan to take a few voyages for codfish this winter out of Montauk on one of the few party or charter boats that will remain in the water, and get my clam rake out to dig up some hard and soft-shells on a good low tide, it’s generally a time for me to take a break and regroup before my boat re-enters the salt in April.

But for some hard-working commercial fishermen, the song remains the same, so to speak. These weather-worn skippers of the sea are not about to spend much downtime on the couch watching a football or basketball game by the glow of a warm fireplace during the “off-season” of winter. Nope, for them it’s game on, time to work and provide for a living, despite dealing with some hard punches from Mother Nature and other factors. Whether it’s taking their solid steel ship on a weeklong journey to the distant continental shelf in the pursuit of tilefish or dragging a well-used net for codfish, squid, or sea scallops east of Block Island, the season does not end for some who ply their time-honored craft.

“I really don’t take a break during the year, even during the winter,” said Capt. Chuck Etzel of the dragger Damariscotta out of Montauk Harbor on Monday afternoon, where he was unloading a catch of yellowtail and blackback flounder destined to be sold at the Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx the next morning. “My trips are local and I only go out for the day. Obviously, if the weather is bad, I will stay in port. But I fish pretty much year round.”

Capt. Vinny Damm, owner of the stout 43-foot Nova Scotia-built Lady K, reluctantly plans to bring in his 1,200 lobster traps over the next few weeks from his fishing grounds upward of 25 miles offshore.

“It has been a good year for lobster, but with the weather and in particular the large amount of sea scallop boats that are dragging in the area where I’m licensed to trap, I can’t afford to lose any of my gear.” Earlier this year, Damm upgraded his large arsenal of gear with new four-foot traps, which cost upward of $100 each. “It’s just too expensive. If I lose a trawl of 20 traps to a scalloper, that’s a big loss for me. Some days there are 30 or 40 boats where I like to fish. It’s too much of a risk.”

Later this winter, Damm will focus on gearing up to gillnet for monkfish until the early summer before he switches over full time to offshore lobstering. “There is always something to be done, even if you are not on the water,” said the 30-year commercial fishing veteran. “Whether it is maintaining and repairing your gear or work that needs to be done on the engine of your boat, it really never stops. Plus, with all of the rules and regulations enforced on all of us, it just does not get any easier. But I love what I do.”

Damm said that he would like to take a brief vacation later in February, but has yet to finalize any plans. “We’ll see how it goes,” he smiled.

For other die-hards who refuse to hang up their fishing rods, the action for black sea bass remains strong out of Montauk. As it has for many years, the annual Montauk Locals fishing trip took place aboard the Viking Star last week. The group of intrepid anglers experienced a fine day in good sea conditions while hitting a few deep-water wrecks.

“The fishing was really good, with lots of large sea bass and a few cod mixed in, too,” said Sam Doughty, who is actually from Amagansett. Doughty was also fortunate to land a 12-pound monkfish on the trip. A total of 13 different species, including a 12-pound amberjack, were landed that day. Now that’s a true mixed bag. The pool-winning fish was a fat 18-pound cod nabbed by Stan Dacuk, who grew up in Sag Harbor, but has since been a longtime Montauk resident.

Those focused on blackfish are finding some fine action too. Capt. Jamie Quaresimo, who runs the Miss Montauk II out of the Montauk Marine Basin, took some time out of the pilothouse on Friday to land a fish that tipped the scales at nearly 12 pounds, a personal best. The veteran captain reports that the blackfish are getting bigger as the waters continue to chill. Quaresimo is also mixing in some time fishing for sea bass and cod, in addition to the pursuit of tog. However, time is running out if you want to tangle with a large blackfish. The season comes to a close next Thursday. Don’t wait much longer.

“Still some stripers along the ocean beaches,” said Harvey Bennett, owner of the Tackle Shop in Amagansett. “Most of the fish are small, but there were a few fish that were of keeper size.” As for striped bass, the season comes to an end on Friday, Dec. 15.

Bennett alerted me that the annual Tackle Shop and Amagansett Sportfishing Association one-day “last chance” tournament for both fresh and saltwater fish, will take place on Saturday. “There is no entry fee and everyone is welcome to enter,” he said. “And the person with the largest fish will get to pick the lure of their choice from the store along with a Tackle Shop hat.” The cut-off to weigh in a fish is 2:30 p.m. at his establishment on Montauk Highway, but he will also accept a photo of the angler and their fish. Submissions can be sent to Bennett’s email address: [email protected]. No PhotoShopping allowed, he said with a wry smile.

For your holiday angling gift needs, Bennett will be open on Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., as well as by appointment. He will also be open the week of Dec. 25.

“Still plenty of striped bass in the surf, but the vast majority are shorts,” said Ken Morse of Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor. “I had a customer on Sunday come in to say he caught 30 bass, but most were in the 18-inch range.” He added that he had a few anglers who confirmed that there was solid sea bass fishing taking place out of Montauk, with plenty of jumbo-size fish making it back to the dinner table. At Morse’s shop all rods and reels are 10 percent off for the holidays. If you buy a combo of both, the discount is 15 percent. Tight Lines will be open Thursdays through Mondays through Dec. 21, before Morse takes a well-deserved rest.

We welcome your fishing tips, observations, and photographs at [email protected]. You can find the “On the Water” column on Twitter at @ehstarfishing.

“The Nutcracker” at Guild Hall

The Hampton Ballet Theatre School will present its ninth annual production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” at Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater in East Hampton. The show opens tomorrow at 7 p.m., with additional performances on Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. 

Each year, this beloved production promises to transport audiences of all ages to a land where angels, snowflakes, and flowers dance. The ballet is choreographed by the school’s director, Sara Jo Strickland, and includes costumes designed and sewn by Yuka Silvera. Sebastian Paczynski is the lighting designer. Adam and Gail Baranello of A&G Dance Company will join the production as the Arabian Prince and Princess. Holiday Bovio and Jillian Hear will share the role of the Dew Drop Princess, and Beatrice DeGroot and Devon Friedman will dance the role of the Snow Queen. Samantha Prince will be the Sugar Plum Fairy. All four are advanced dancers with the school. Three additional guest artists will appear in the production: Nick Peregrino as Cavalier, and Nicholas Ranauro and James Monroe Stevko sharing the roles of the Snow King, Dew Drop Prince, and Marzipan.

Advanced ticket prices range from $15 to $45 and performance day tickets are between $20 and $50, depending on the seating section. Group rates for all performances are available for 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 888 933-4287, or online at hamptonballettheatreschool.com. 

A Holiday Tree for the Birds

On Saturday at 10:30 a.m., the entire family can join Bridgehampton’s South Fork Natural History Museum’s annual tradition of making bird-friendly decorations for a holiday tree using seeds, suet, and dried fruits. Kids can learn about the importance of feeding wild birds during the winter on the South Fork, where development has hindered natural winter food resources for local birds. There is a materials fee of $5.

Holiday Spectacular 

Camp SoulGrow’s Holiday Spectacular will be held on Saturday between 2 and 4 p.m. at the Camp SoulGrow studio on Carl Fisher Plaza in Montauk. The party, co-hosted by the Candied Anchor and the Clamshell Foundation, will include an appearance by Santa Claus. Kids can play games, enjoy candy and hot chocolate, make crafts and ornaments, sing karaoke, have a dance party, and wrap gifts to send to Puerto Rico. Although the event is free, donations are appreciated and will benefit Camp SoulGrow’s programs.

Body Scrubs, Gingerbread, Hot Cocoa

Things warm, toasty, and tasty are on the schedules at the local libraries this week, all with a healthy dose of holiday cheer. 

Children 8 and up can stop by the Amagansett Library on Saturday at 3 p.m. to make three jars of a wintertime sugar body scrub: cucumber mint, lavender, and one custom blend. 

The unmistakable scent of gingerbread will be in the air on Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Montauk Library as families work together to build gingerbread houses using cookie cutouts, royal icing, and lots of candy. Every family takes home a completed house, but space is limited to 15 families, so advance registration is required.

At the East Hampton Library on Sunday from 3 to 4:30 p.m., high school students can decorate a coffee mug and then fill it with candy to give as a gift or keep for themselves. Or, on Monday between 4 and 5:30 p.m. they can use the library’s collection of holiday cards from last year to make their own gift boxes.

Sixth through eighth graders will assemble hot cocoa kits on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Kids can chose ingredients for their ultimate hot chocolate from peppermint, mini-marshmallows, extra chocolate, or all of the above.

Next Thursday’s family movie at the East Hampton Library is “The Polar Express,” which will be shown at 4 p.m.

At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton on Saturday from noon to 1 p.m., kids can decorate gingerbread cookies. Space is limited so registration is required. Also at the Hampton Library on Monday at 4 p.m., there will be a 3-D printing workshop for ages 7 to 12. After learning how the printer works, they will have the opportunity to print their creations.

Olive Oil for Hanukkah

Chabad of the Hamptons in East Hampton will be at the Children’s Museum of the East End next Thursday at 11:30 a.m. to share why olive oil is an important component of Hanukkah. Kids will learn how to use a traditional press and make olive oil together. The workshop is open to parents and caregivers with children of all ages. Admission is $12, free for museum members.

Young Cowgirls Set Sail

The participants in a Young Cowgirls theater workshop taught by Kate Mueth of the Neo-Political Cowgirls will showcase their talents in a performance on Monday at 7 p.m. in Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater. The girls, ages 8 to 13, have developed theater pieces based on their vision of the community and a plan to address a particular need they have identified in the ommunity. 

Nutcracker: The Mash Up

Studio 3’s annual holiday production, “Mixed Nuts,” will inject a bit of “Beauty and the Beast” into Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” this year, with performances running Friday, Dec. 15, through Dec. 17 at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. 

The production incorporates jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop themes into the classical ballet. Performances will be on Friday, Dec. 15, and Dec. 16 at 7 p.m., and Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at dancestudio3.com or at the door.

For the second time in four years, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has vetoed a bill that would have led to state recognition of the Montaukett Indian Nation. The bill, sponsored by State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, passed the Assembly and Senate easily during the summer, and they have said they are not giving up. 

Mr. Cuomo’s veto, on Nov. 29, and his 2013 veto of identical legislation “demonstrate a willingness to twist logic, to twist the facts, just to avoid recognizing the Montauketts,” Mr. Thiele said on Tuesday. 

A judge had declared the Montauketts extinct in 1910, citing dilution of the tribe’s bloodlines through intermarriage. The decision represented the culmination of a years-long effort to remove the Montauketts  by Arthur Benson, who had purchased much of Montauk from the East Hampton Town Trustees, and Austin Corbin, president of the Long Island Rail Road, who planned to extend the tracks from Bridgehampton to Montauk.

The Montauketts, according to the proposed legislation, “seek to restore their acknowledgement and recognition by the State of New York which was improperly removed.” 

A 1994 State Supreme Court decision described the 1910 decision as of “questionable propriety,” but it had no effect.

The Montauketts’ quest for state recognition is not about building casinos on sovereign land or redress for past misdeeds, Mr. Thiele said. The Montauketts “simply want their identity back, that was taken wrongfully by the state.” If that concerns the governor, “I think it’s unwarranted,” he said. “I think the veto is disingenuous. Two vetoes is almost as egregious as the original court decision.” 

 In vetoing the bill, the governor complained that the process of recognizing Indian tribes would be arduous and costly, echoing the argument he made four years ago, when he said he would conduct his own evaluation. 

Mr. Thiele rejected Mr. Cuomo’s rationale. “Basically, the governor said, ‘I don’t like your process, we’ll do our own.’ But the fact is, four years came and went. The governor, and the Department of State, to whom he delegated, didn’t do anything.”  

After the governor’s 2013 veto, Mr. Thiele continued, “I personally called the Department of State every month for more than a year, asking them what they were going to do. After about a year it was obvious they weren’t doing anything.” 

In the legislators’ second attempt, “We put the bill forward, and the governor said, ‘I’m going to veto because you’re trying to short-circuit my process.’ As far as I can tell, there really hasn’t been a process,”  Mr. Thiele said. 

The governor has engaged in several disputes with Native Americans, particularly with respect to gaming casinos. But in separate 2013 agreements, the Oneida Nation was granted exclusive rights to casino gaming in Central New York in exchange for sharing revenues with the state and local governments; the state also recognized the Seneca Nation and its exclusive casino operations in western New York in exchange for revenue sharing. 

Robert Pharaoh of Sag Harbor, who serves as chief of the Montauketts, said yesterday that he was not surprised by the governor’s veto. “Money, money, money. Looking out for the big guys,” was his assessment. “All you’ve got to do is turn on the news. This world is not for the poor. It’s all just a game.”

Promising not to give up, Mr. Thiele said, “We’ll attempt to come up with a strategy to pursue this. I don’t know exactly what the form of the legislation will be, but there should be a deadline. If the governor can’t come up with a substantive objection to recognition, it should become law.”

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has identified the East Hampton Airport as a potential inactive hazardous waste disposal site, according to a letter to the town, and will lead an investigation into the source of the chemical contamination in nearby wells. 

The detection of perfluorinated compounds, known as PFCs, in wells near the airport “may be attributable to current or past operations on your property,” the D.E.C. wrote in a Nov. 10 letter, as the compounds, listed as hazardous substances by the state, are components of firefighting foams. 

“This information leads us to suspect,” said the D.E.C. “that hazardous waste may have been disposed of” at the airport.

The state agency has asked that the town provide any relevant information, including “the locations of firefighting foam storage, use, and training activities.” 

Water contamination by firefighting foam has been tied to fire training facilities elsewhere on Long Island. A firefighters’ training facility run by the regional Fire Training Association operates on an industrial park lot at the airport, but Dan Shields of the Amagansett Fire Department, chairman of the association board, said earlier this fall that firefighting foam is not used there. 

Whether or not the foam has been used to fight fires in the area is a question; some recall a minor plane crash at the airport that led to a fire that was put out using the foam. 

The two perfluorinated chemicals of concern, known as PFOS and PFOA, are not regulated but are the subject of a federal health advisory designed “to provide information on contaminants that can cause human health effects and are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water.”

Research on the potential health effects of exposure to them is ongoing by agencies including the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, but they are believed to be linked to effects on the liver and immune system, and to kidney and other cancers.

Last Thursday, the town board approved a resolution designating the D.E.C. as “the lead investigatory agency into possible PFC contamination at the East Hampton Airport.” The town has been working with both the State Health Department and Suffolk County Health Department in efforts to have private wells tested within a designated area near the airport. The town is providing residents within the affected area, which includes some 400 properties, with bottled water upon request.

Officials have been urging owners of the more than 250 properties where the Health Department would like to sample water to authorize the test. As of mid-November, with about 50 tests concluded, PFCs had been found in 28 wells, though only one had levels higher than the 70 parts per trillion level set by the Environmental Protection Agency as a maximum safe level in water. 

The Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee is to discuss the water contamination at its meeting on Saturday, among other items on its agenda. The committee has been pressing for more information, including specifics on test results; the location of wells where the chemicals were detected, particularly in relation to the airport, the former sand mine, Georgica and Wainscott Ponds, and the Wainscott School; potential sourcesss; the efficacy of filtration systems that can eliminate the chemicals, and whether or not public water mains will be installed, and at whose cost.

Parents, if you haven’t heard of Juuls, read on, because even children as young as 12 are being lured by these sleek e-cigarettes, or vaping devices, small enough to be concealed and often mistaken for an innocuous flash drive. They come with disposable cartridges in kid-friendly flavors like peach, blueberry, creme brulée, and cotton candy. Yet each pod offers a dose of nicotine equivalent to that of a pack of cigarettes. What’s more, due to the inconspicuous appearance of this device — which can be plugged into a laptop to charge, and has commercial names like Cloud 2.0 and microG — it’s all happening right under the noses of unsuspecting parents and teachers. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4 of every 100 middle school students reported in 2016 that they had used some form of electronic cigarettes within the previous 30 days, while the United States Food and Drug Administration reported that e-cigarette use among high school students increased by 900 percent between 2011 and 2016. Last year, the Surgeon General reported, “E-Cigarette use among U.S. youth and young adults is now a major public health concern.”

Electronic cigarettes, which include Juuls, are small vaporizers that heat water, along with a flavor, nicotine, and other chemicals, to a boiling point so that the vapor can be inhaled. Psychologists and researchers believe that teens are attracted to vaping not just because it is a novelty and therefore has an inherent element of fun, but because it is considered more socially acceptable than smoking cigarettes or using other traditional tobacco products.

Today, “Juuling in the bathroom” is a problem so widespread in schools around the country that it prompted middle and high school administrators on the East End to send out emails warning parents about the dangers of e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, vape pens, and other discreet forms of inhalation. Many  schools have reported incidents of students being caught covertly using, or in possession of, these devices while at school; all of the apprehended students faced serious disciplinary consequences.

In an email from the East Hampton School District, Adam Fine, the high school principal, reiterated the district’s code of conduct, which forbids the “possession, use, or sale” of e-cigarettes on school property.

The Ross School sent home a similar email restating the school’s conduct policy, which prohibits the use, possession, or distribution of any e-cigarette or vaporizer paraphernalia, and reminding students and parents that “the school reserves the right to expel a student on a first violation of this policy.” 

Administrators are also urging parents and guardians to play a greater role in shaping teens’ attitudes about drugs and alcohol. “We all play a critical role in prevention efforts and setting clear and consistent values and rules,” wrote Jeanette Tyndall and Bill O’Hearn, the respective heads of Ross’s middle and high schools. “As such, it is vitally important that we remain informed and current with information about substances commonly used and abused by adolescents, and are aware of their legal and health implications.”

For many parents, the foremost concern is that vaping devices, including vape pens and e-hookahs, can be used to consume marijuana, cocaine, T.H.C. liquids, and other drugs, making substance abuse easier and less detectable. Vaping paraphernalia is also inexpensive and easily available online. On the Juul website, for example, a starter kit costs $49.99, and it appears the customer need only check a box to confirm he or she is 18.

Educators say that until the F.D.A. issues clear, updated guidelines and health warnings on e-cigarettes, it is primarily up to parents to educate themselves and their children. School administrators and psychologists, for example, suggest that parents let their children know that a vape pen, or a Juul, is just another name for an e-cigarette. (One Massachusetts high school sent out emails with the header “Here is a Juul device disguised as a Sharpie pen.”) Whatever the devices are called, parents are advised to inform their children that they deliver powerful hits of a very addictive drug: nicotine.

On Tuesday, Charles Soriano, the East Hampton Middle School principal, followed an earlier email urging parents to talk to their children with one that alerted the school community to the news that Ken Alversa and Chris Jack, police officers, will be joining the school’s educational support team to conduct “fireside chats” with each grade on Monday morning.

Dr. Soriano concluded his email by saying, “I have heard grapevine tales of some parents who are suggesting that [e-cigarettes] are harmless: Just vapor or just nicotine. This could not be farther from the truth. . . . Unfortunately, this sort of thing is enticing to youngsters, and the commercial marketing around them doesn’t help: It’s like the Marlboro man all over again, only now he’s become tech savvy.”

The photograph accompanying this article was taken by Lindsay Fox, the editor of EcigaretteReviewed.com