Editing Sag Harbor, New York (section)

=== The Sag Harbor Oyster Club ===
The Sag Harbor Oyster Club was formalized into a [[501(c)(3) organization|501-3c]] in 2020 with the mission of clean water advocacy up and down the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]]. Fully-funded by Simon Harrison Real Estate from its inception, the effort follows on from the Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery, an "[[oyster]] garden" under the Sag Harbor village docks funded and maintained by real estate broker and clean water advocate, Simon Harrison. The oyster farming endeavor was intended to put the shellfish to work cleaning the harbor's water.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kotz|first=Steven J.|date=December 17, 2015|title=Raising Oysters To Improve Water Quality|url=https://sagharborexpress.com/46620-2__trashed/|access-date=November 11, 2021|website=The Sag Harbor Express|language=en-US}}</ref>

In January 2016, after learning that oysters were being raised so close to the outlet pipe of the Sag Harbor sewage water treatment plant on the village waterfront, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ordered the Sag Harbor Harbormaster to shutter the operation. New York State prohibits cultivation of shellfish in uncertified waters – where harvesting of oysters for human consumption is banned. A further danger is oysters ingesting (and filtering) polluted water, as they too become tainted. Harrison stressed his oysters were not offered for human consumption.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kotz|first=Steven J.|date=February 10, 2016|title=Oyster Operation Catches Eye of DEC Enforcement|url=https://sagharborexpress.com/oyster-operation-catches-eye-of-dec-enforcement__trashed/|access-date=November 11, 2021|website=The Sag Harbor Express|language=en-US}}</ref>