Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin has joined the fight against a plan to continue dumping dredged-up sediment from Connecticut in the Long Island Sound.

"We can't assume that just dumping these waste spoils into the Long Island Sound is environmentally benign," Zeldin says.

Environmentalists had already risen in opposition to the plan by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to continue their practice of dumping contaminated sediment from Connecticut rivers into the Sound.

"The plan that has been released is essentially a plan to make the Long Island Sound a landfill," says environmentalist Adrienne Esposito. "As a disposal site for the next 30 years."

For decades, materials dredged from rivers and harbors have been dumped in four designated areas within the Sound. Experts say that in theory, the material would sink to the bottom of those areas and settle.

But they also say there's no guarantee that actually happens.

Rep. Zeldin says that he supports dredging in general to unclog waterways, but that this particular project raises concerns.