2010

THE NEXT CHAPTER:Riverkeeper, Clean Water and You!

DEAR FRIENDS,When I took the helm of Riverkeeper in 2000, we had a budgetof less than $1 million, ten staff members, a patrol boat thatwas on the river roughly 60 hours a year, and an enforcementprogram that was limited largely to the mid-Hudson Valley.

Even after rightsizing our operation in the wake of theeconomic downturn, Riverkeeper has grown into a $3.2 millionorganization with a strong professional staff of 22 and a patrolboat that’s out on the river six days a week, logging over 1,000hours and 6,000 river miles a year. Riverkeeper’s influence nowextends from Hudson Falls to New York Harbor, from Albany to City Hall and dozens ofmunicipalities in between.

When Riverkeeper founder Bob Boyle came up with the idea of putting a man orwoman out on the river to patrol its waters and collect evidence to bring polluters tojustice, he knew that a full-time presence would not only enable us to spot violators andforce compliance with environmental laws, but deter would-be polluters from polluting inthe first place. He was right then, and now.

Today, Riverkeeper is more than just one guardian, flanked by support staff. Withinstitutions like Pace Law School and Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty EarthObservatory as partners, we are a team of over 35 lawyers and advocates, scientists andgrassroots organizers, fundraisers and communications experts, each of whom possesses apassion for the river, all of whom dedicate themselves daily to our mission of ensuringclean water for every citizen of this world-renowned valley. And that doesn’t includeRiverkeeper’s army of volunteers and interns who are vital to our success.

In the last decade, Riverkeeper has racked up – alone and together with our environmen-tal partners – a slew of important victories: a No Discharge Zone designation for theHudson River; the start of General Electric’s long-overdue PCB cleanup; the most formida-ble challenge to a nuclear plant’s continued operation anywhere in the country, resulting inconcrete safety improvements; a settlement at Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills in which1,200 acres were set aside for permanent protection; a $60 million PCB cleanup settlementat the highly contaminated ARCO Hastings site; a record penalty against New York Cityfor failure to control turbidity in our drinking water supply; the establishment of theRiverkeeper-envisioned Hudson River Estuary Preserve, which will help facilitate landpreservation along the river for decades to come; Superfund designation for the long-suffering Gowanus Canal and a major reclamation effort underway on a long-blightedwaterway called Newtown Creek; the initiation of a statewide campaign to stop industrialgas drilling, which may be the biggest threat to safe and clean drinking water the state hasever seen; and the list goes on.

But despite the enormous progress we’ve made, we still have plenty of work to do. Weneed to make sure GE finishes the job it’s spent 35 years and over $100 million trying toavoid. We need to sound a clarion call to the federal government to reinvest in our failingsewage and storm water infrastructure that threatens a new era of declining water quality.And we need to rescue the Hudson’s fish, many of which are in a state of long-termdecline, despite past success in building up their populations.

While Riverkeeper has had to adjust to the “new” economy like everyone else, I amproud to say we have done so without losing ground in advancing the cause of clean water.2009 was a banner year for Riverkeeper and, as always, our members were critical to oursuccess – whether through your generous financial support or stalwart activism.

We are embarking on the next chapter in our fight for clean water. We will need you tocontinue to stand with us and help us further build our ranks so that we can meet a newdecade of challenges head-on. Many thanks for your unfailing support – both past andfuture. See you on the barricades!

— Alex Matthiessen, Hudson Riverkeeper & President

Dr. Howard A. RubinChair

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.Vice Chair

Peggy CullenSecretary

Jeff ResnickTreasurer

Alex MatthiessenPresident

Jed AlpertExecutive Committee

Amanda HearstExecutive Committee

George HornigExecutive Committee

John MooreExecutive Committee

John Abplanalp

John H. Adams

Joe Boren

Lorraine Bracco

Ann Colley

Hamilton Fish

David Kowitz

John McEnroe

Anne Hearst McInerney

Michael Richter

Dennis Rivera

Renee Rockefeller

Ronald A. DeSilvaEmeritus

Arthur GlowkaEmeritus

Henry Lewis KingsleyEmeritus

Richard R. KnabelEmeritus

PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER, NATURALLY

© RIVERKEEPER 2010. READERS’ LETTERS & COMMENTS WELCOME.RIVERKEEPER IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK AND SERVICE MARK

OF RIVERKEEPER, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WWW.RIVERKEEPER.ORG

Board of Directors

ALEX MATTHIESSEN

Hudson Riverkeeper &President

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, Jr.Chief Prosecuting Attorney

DEBORAH BRANCATO

Staff Attorney

ALLISON CHAMBERLAIN

Membership Services Manager

GWENDOLYN CHAMBERS

Communications Producer

RAMONA CEARLEY

Assistant to Hudson RiverProgram

TARA D’ANDREA

Major Gifts Manager

KATARINA DUPLESSY

Vice President & COO

ROSE MARIE GRANDE

Administrative Assistant

EMILY GRIFFIN

Development Assistant

JOHN LIPSCOMB

Patrol Boat Operator

STELLA LIROSI

Operations Manager

HEARTIE LOOK

Volunteer Coordinator

CRAIG MICHAELS

Watershed ProgramDirector

PHILLIP MUSEGAAS

Hudson River ProgramDirector

PAMELA PINTO

Membership andMarketing Manager

TINA POSTERLI

Press Officer

MARY BETH POSTMAN

Executive Assistant toRobert F. Kennedy, Jr.

JAMES L. SIMPSON

Staff Attorney

REBECCA TROUTMAN

Senior Counsel

JOSH VERLEUN

Staff Attorney &Chief Investigator

BILL WEGNER

Staff Scientist

Staff

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2Letter fromThe Hudson Riverkeeper

4Patrol Boat Log

6Hudson River Program

10The Docket

13Policy Updates

14Watershed News

18Cover Story:The Next Chapter:Riverkeeper, Clean Water andYou!

22Event News

Cover art © Kim BarronCover photo by GILESASHFORD.COM

Annual MembershipSign up for your 12 month membershiptoday by visiting Riverkeeper.org and“Take Action!”

Monthly InstallmentMembership (Sustainers)Become a sustaining member by usingyour credit card to spread your dona-tion into monthly installments in theamount of your choice. Membershipcouldn’t be easier or greener!

Become a ChampionChampions are members who bringnew members to the Movement. Thereare several simple ways to become aChampion:� Personal Fundraising Pages –

Create your own Riverkeeperfundraising page online, set yourgoal, then blast your page link toyour email contacts. Visit “Start aMembership Campaign” in theSpread the Word page of TakeAction at Riverkeeper.org.

� Host an event – A birthday,anniversary, block party or commu-nity meeting are great occasions toask your friends, family andcolleagues to make their gift amembership to Riverkeeper.

� Membership Drive – Join hundredsof other Champions in our annualspring Membership Drive, culminat-ing with a celebration at the ShadFestival and Hudson River Cele-bration. Sign up today for the bigDrive or start your own at school, atwork or with your congregation.

Special EventsRiverkeeper connects with its mem-bers and supporters throughout theyear with our one-of-a-kind events.Visit Events at Riverkeeper.org or signup for our monthly eNewsletter to besure you don’t miss anything!

SponsorshipCorporate partners and sponsor oppor-tunities benefit Riverkeeper and provideunparalleled access to communityrelations and corporate responsibility.

VolunteeringRiverkeeper depends on volunteers toshare their time and talent to carry ourclean water mission forward. Interns,Ambassadors, street teams, eventaides and phone bankers are just afew of the volunteers needed through-out the year. Contact us at (914) 478-4501 x252 or email info@riverkeeper.orgfor specific opportunities.

Employee CampaignsStart a new Earth Share campaign atyour workplace or choose Riverkeeperas the recipient of your company’sannual employee campaign. You canalso designate Riverkeeper to receiveUnited Way campaign contributions.

Tribute/Memorial GiftsHonor friends, family, or a specialoccasion with a Tribute Gift. Honor thememory of a loved one with aMemorial Gift.

Major Gifts – DesignatedCampaign GiftLarge gift donors have confidence thatRiverkeeper will use their gift to meetour greatest needs, or can choose todesignate their gift to a specific cam-paign. Gifts of stock can be made bycontacting National Financial Servicesat (800)752-7053, DTC 0226 Account #KPA-163759.

Planned and Estate GivingHelp Riverkeeper to plan for the futureby naming us as a beneficiary of yourestate, trust or other planned givingoptions today. Your generosity sustainsour mission and builds a lasting legacyin your memory.

Get it Going –We’d behappy to hear from you:Take Action Online at: Riverkeeper.org,By phone at: (914) 478-4501 x232By mail at: 828 S. Broadway, Suite 101,Tarrytown, NY, 10591

For additional information, call(914) 478-4501 x226 or emailinfo@riverkeeper.org.

>Take Action

Riverkeeper is the official publication of Riverkeeper,Inc., an independent, member-supported environ-mental organization. Riverkeeper is a registeredtrademark and service mark of Riverkeeper, Inc.All rights reserved.

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Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect the ecological integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries,and to safeguard the drinking water supply of NewYork City and the lower Hudson Valley.

ChooseYour

Impact

Fact: At Riverkeeper, a nickel a day helps to protect1,460,000 gallons of clean drinking water for an

entire year! Got water?

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Riverkeeper Patrol BoatOperator John Lipscomb

reports from the river.

Two wooden girls at CatskillSeptember: In June, Riverkeeperjoined the Henry HudsonQuadricentennial Flotilla up theHudson and conducted ourmonthly water quality samplingduring the nine-day passage. InSeptember, a dozen Dutch sail-ing vessels arrived in NY asdeck cargo on a ship fromHolland. The fleet spent a fewweeks cruising up the Hudsonto Albany. We spent the nightwith them at Catskill. The Dutchsailors were great fun! The “bot-ter” next to Riverkeeper is awooden vessel built in 1934.She’s still engaged in fishing inHolland’s shallow inland waters.

Combined Sewer Overflow(CSO)June: CSOs are one of theprimary reasons we still have dan-gerous spikes of sewagecontamination in the Hudson.Thisone is from Manhattan (there are500 of them in NYC alone), butwe see the same thing inTroyand CSOs exist at many commu-nities in between. Generally,CSOs only discharge untreatedsewage when there has been arain event that overloads the sys-tem – but not always.Thesesewage discharges are “permit-ted” by NY State, but it’s unac-ceptable that we still have theseproblems 37 years after the pas-sage of the CleanWater Act. Itdoesn’t have to continue this way.The public has to demand better– then polluters will lose permitsand funding to repair the systemwill be found. See related story,“How’s theWater?,” page 6.

More tires took their placeSeptember: We’re still findingdiscarded tires in the upper halfof the Harlem River. Althoughthe dumping from the “StoragePost” seems to have stopped,it appears that now there isanother site where waste tiresare being dumped to avoid thetire recycling fee. We have anidea where the new dumping isoccurring, but never see it takingplace. Must be at night, becausethe greatest concentration offloating tires is always in themorning. We’re working on it.Wish I had a time lapse camera.

Coal tar – Gowanus Canaland PoughkeepsieJune/August: Coal tar was aby-product of a process whichextracted gas from coal. The gaswas used for heating, cookingand lighting until the 1960s.Today, there are hundreds ofpolluted sites in NY State,including many in the HudsonValley, where the ManufacturedGas Plants (MGP) once operat-ed. On the Gowanus Canal inBrooklyn, we routinely see coaltar bubbling to the surface fromcontaminated bottom sediments.But it’s not just a NYC problem.The second photo shows coaltar on the water and in thereflection of the new RailwayBridge Park at Poughkeepsie.This one is about 4,000 feet fromPoughkeepsie’s drinking waterintake pipe. MGP sites are slowlybeing targeted for remediation byNY State DEC – which is a goodthing. See related story,“Superfund Update,” page 8.

Tires cleared from Harlem RiverMay: On the Bronx side justnorth of the 207th street bridge,we found hundreds of tiresdumped down the bank – cover-ing several hundred feet ofshoreline. The area is betweenthe river and “Storage Post,” aself-storage facility. Althoughwe observed no active dumping,we referred the case to NYState Department of Environ-mental Conservation (DEC)which investigated and fined thestorage property owner, resultingin the tires being cleaned up.Nice response.

5To view more patrol boat photography visit: www.flickr.com/hudsonriverkeeper

Tagging Atlantic Sturgeonnear Norrie PointJune:We came upon the DECfisheries team in the process oftagging six males – all about 6feet long. These fish are soastounding to see up close! OurAtlantic Sturgeon population hasbeen nearly wiped out by over-fishing. There are more malesnow because it was thefemales that were taken fortheir eggs/caviar. Any specieswhose eggs are a gourmet treatis in real trouble! Unlimited har-vest of a fish species justbefore they spawn is a prettyefficient way to exterminatethem. We did it to AtlanticSturgeon until 1997 and RiverHerring and American Shad aswell. This year however, theshad fishery has been suspend-ed – in the hope that the stockcan be restored. Our decliningherring population still has noprotection at all. See relatedstory, “Fishable River CampaignUpdate,” page 7.

ROAR at West ParkOctober: Religious OrganizationsAlong the Hudson River (ROAR)is a group of nine congregationswith property along the Hudson.We’ve had ROAR membersaboard on the Tappan Zee, atIndian Point and at Kingston –three outings with 22 guests.Their mission statement reads,in part, “we share kinship withall creation” and “human beingsand the natural world must gointo the future as a singlesacred community or both willperish.” Riverkeeper and ROARare working together on shadand herring protection andrestoration. They are wonderfulpartners and we are very grate-ful for their help.

Successful enforcement on Newtown CreekAugust:We observed glass and mixed paper and plastic labelingfalling off a deck barge at Sims Municipal Recycling facility onNewtown Creek. We contacted Sims management and within ONEDAY had a response from the facility manager and his staff. Theyimmediately shifted to deep hopper barges. Great response – prob-lem solved. We wish everyone behaved this way.

Riverkeeper as tow boatMay:On May 16th, southbound from Albany, we came upon a 30foot motor boat with 6 persons aboard which had drifted ashore dueto engine failure. We towed them off the bank and into CatskillCreek. Other “heroic” rescues by Riverkeeper include two kids and acapsized canoe near Stockport, a stranded sailboat near Norrie Pt.,two guys off a burning 40 footer near Piermont Pier, a bass boat, etc.

English Kills, Newtown CreekThe water in the inner reachesof urban waterways likeNewtown Creek and GowanusCanal is polluted beyond com-prehension. Yes, the white stuffin the foreground is water.These “out of sight – out ofmind” waterways are like giant,500 foot diameter pipes dis-charging a toxic mix of petrole-um products, heavy metals,chemical compounds andsewage pathogens into thewaters of NY Harbor and theHudson. We have much workahead to clean these cesspoolsup. See related story,“Superfund Update,” page 8. �

Sewage discharge atTroyOn August 25th, we found a dryweather sewage discharge atTroy. I contacted NY State DECvia cell phone. An Environ-mental Conservation Officermet me at Troy and we returnedto document the site together.DEC and Riverkeeper contactedCity of Troy independently andthe outfall was shut off. Thisevent will be part of the evi-dence used by DEC in a poten-tial enforcement action againstTroy. The sample bottle containssewage and toilet paper frag-ments – microbial levels weretoo high to measure – “off thechart.”

The Hudson RiverProgram team serves asinvestigator, scientist,lawyer, lobbyist and

public relations agentfor the Hudson Riverand its tributaries.

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hudson

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Thanks to the hard work of many individuals and organiza-tions, water quality in the Hudson River has improved dra-

matically since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Publicperception of the river has also improved. Once the butt of jokes,the Hudson River Estuary is now enjoyed as a 153-mile longrecreational destination.

The approach taken by state and local health agencies to moni-toring and reporting on water quality, however, has not kept pace.County departments of health in river communities are not testingthe water with the frequency needed to serve the public health.The results of the testing they conduct are often not released to thepublic, and when it is, the data is often averaged in ways thatobscure important local details.

In response to the growingneed for timely and consistentdata on sewage contamination,Riverkeeper started the WaterQuality Testing Program in2006. The program is a partner-ship with scientists fromColumbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory andCUNY’s Queens College. Theprimary program goal is to cre-ate a river-wide dataset thatbrings the problem of sewage

contamination to the attention of the public and the officials withthe power to address the causes. After all, ignorance is not blisswhen the health of the public and river ecology are at risk.

Now starting our fifth year of testing, with more than 1,500samples taken, we have meaningful findings to share that tell usabout water quality throughout the estuary in general, at specificproblem locations, and in relation to rain events and infrastructureshortcomings. We are also finding other potential areas for relatedresearch, such as sewage microbes persisting in river sediment orbeing aerosoled (released into the air).

One finding which has surprised many, is that the water qualityaround NYC is very similar to that in the mid- and upper-Hudson.All regions of the Hudson have clean locations and clean days aswell as hot spots and bad days. On average, the water has micro-bial levels exceeding federal guidelines 22% of the time, or 1½days out of the average week, throughout the river. But peopledon’t swim at an average time or at an average location. That iswhy Riverkeeper is calling for frequent local testing to be conduct-ed, with results made available to the public in a reasonably shorttime frame so that the public can evaluate the water quality at thelocations where they recreate. �

How’s the Water?Four years of water quality testing

Other findings of note:� 2009 was a worse year for

water quality than 2008

(29% of samples were

“unacceptable” in 2009

compared with 19% in

2008). It was also a wetter

year in terms of rainfall.� Rainfall is one of the con-

sistent triggers of sewage

overflows, however, it is

not the only cause. Other

causes include wastewater

treatment plant failures or

inadequacies, faulty septic

systems, illegal sewage

hook-ups, wildlife and

agricultural livestock.� Most importantly, sewage

contamination is usually a

local problem, caused by

discharges that local resi-

dents could address once

armed with the facts.

The good news is there are

locations in every part of the

Hudson River Estuary that are

largely free of sewage con-

tamination. If we invest in our

wastewater infrastructure and

persuade our local health

agencies to institute frequent

testing and reporting regimes,

we can increase the days and

locations where our citizens

can go in the water and enjoy

themselves without worry.

To learn more about

Riverkeeper's Water Quality

Program and the Swimmable

River Campaign that it

supports, please visit

www.riverkeeper.org.This

year you will see a new and

improved design for review-

ing our data using Google

Maps. We also now publish

monthly water quality reports

showing our findings broken

down by county.To receive

this report, simply sign-up

for the Riverkeeper

eNewsletter on our site.

Dr. Andy Juhl and Carol Knudsonfrom Lamont-Doherty EarthObservatory processing samples.

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“I sail and swim with my kids in the Hudson River and it's reassuring to me thatRiverkeeper’s efforts are tracked on the water testing area of the website. Thanksfor making your great work transparent.”

— Jonathan Flaks, M.C.C., Riverkeeper Ambassador

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In 2008, Riverkeeper releasedthe “Pisces Report,” a com-

prehensive analysis of the sta-tus of thirteen signature fishspecies in the Hudson River.The Pisces Report revealed thatten Hudson River species havedeclined in abundance since the1980s including shad, tomcodand white perch. Since therelease of the Pisces Report,Riverkeeper’s Fishable RiverCampaign has worked to haltthe decline of Hudson River’ssignature fish species andrestore their numbers to sus-tainable levels. This campaignhas advocated for comprehen-sive fish protection by address-ing the many negative impactson the health of the fish includ-ing: habitat loss and degrada-

tion; sewage overflows; powerplant fishkills; invasive species;ocean bycatch; and overfishing.

Despite emergency fisheryregulations enacted by the NewYork State Department ofEnvironmental Conservation(DEC) in 2008, populationshave continued to decline tohistorically low levels.

This year saw the closure ofthe historic Hudson RiverAmerican Shad fishery andincreased efforts to protect thespecies coast-wide through theAtlantic States Marine FisheriesCommission (ASMFC).Riverkeeper’s efforts to restorethe Hudson and East Coast’sdwindling shad populationsincluded: attending publicmeetings and speaking out on

By RebeccaTroutman

Up and down the shores of the Hudson River, power plantsdot the landscape, most of them continuing to use outdated

technology known as once-through cooling. These power plantswithdraw billions of gallons of Hudson River water each day inorder to cool their turbines and produce electricity. While gener-ating profits, they are extracting a large cost on our river’saquatic life. This enormous water use needlessly kills billionsof fish, eggs and larvae each year, by impingement (the fish are

slammed against screensand injured or killed) andentrainment (fish and otheraquatic organisms arepulled through the powerplant and exposed to lethalchemical, thermal, andphysical stress). Closed-cycle cooling, which hasexisted for decades, woulddrastically reduce water

Power Plants and Cooling WaterRiverkeeper’s HistoricWork to Save the Hudson’s Fish

Working to Protect the Hudson River’sDwindling Fish Population

F I S H A B L E R I V E R C A M PA I G N U P D AT E

behalf of shad protection andrestoration; petitioning theGovernor of New York to fullyimplement a comprehensiveshad recovery plan; submittingwritten legal comments to boththe DEC and the ASMFC;engaging member partnergroups to support shad withletter writing campaigns; andleading an effort to have com-ments read supporting shadprotection at the February,2010 ASMFC conference.

Riverkeeper also weighed inon coast-wide efforts by theASMFC to protect river herring.With populations along the EastCoast and in the Hudson alsoin decline, river herring isanother species in need of com-prehensive protection. The

ASMFC recently finalized anamendment to the coast-widemanagement plan for thespecies which requires that allstates that cannot demonstratethat their river herring fishery issustainable must close. NewYork State is currently evaluat-ing whether a sustainable fish-ery can be maintained.

In addition to shad and riverherring, Riverkeeper alsoweighed in on other fishery pro-tection efforts including submit-ting legal comments in supportof a proposal by the NationalOceanic and AtmosphericAdministration to list AtlanticSturgeon as endangered underthe Endangered Species Act. �

usage by 95–98%. This modern technology reuses water, result-ing in enormous benefits to the ecosystem, drastically reducingfish mortality. Riverkeeper continues the fight that began in the1970s to pressure the older plants to retrofit to this superiortechnology. Unfortunately, the power companies continue toemploy vast resources to vigorously resist any requirements touse the new technology, and instead seek to rely on far lesseffective measures to reduce fish kills.

Currently, Riverkeeper attorneys are in various stages ofpreparation for adjudications concerning this environmentaltragedy for the Indian Point, Bowline and Roseton power plants.The Indian Point plant, which alone withdraws up to 2.5 billiongallons of water per day, is scheduled for adjudication in the fallof 2010. The parties are in the midst of discovery during whichthousands of documents are being exchanged and experts arepreparing reports as to what constitutes “Best TechnologyAvailable,” the standard set forth in the federal Clean Water Act.Meanwhile, Riverkeeper continues its advocacy at the state andfederal level, working with both the federal EnvironmentalProtection Agency and the New York State Department ofEnvironmental Conservation to see that new implementingregulations adhere to the law and provide the needed protectionsfor the declining fisheries of the Hudson. �

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…The fragile river that carries the shad to us, is losing its battle against the forces of man’s endeavors. The river that flows two ways a gift of nature and a gift an oldfisherman can not save alone. — Excerpt from The Son of the Old Fisherman, a poem by Seamus Powell, son of Riverkeeper member, Jon Powell

by JoshVerleun

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By Deborah Brancato

Riverkeeper’s tireless efforts to prevent the relicensing of IndianPoint are quickly approaching a critical juncture. In an

upcoming landmark hearing, along with the State of New Yorkand Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, we will present evidencedemonstrating why Indian Point must not be allowed to operatefor an additional 20 years.

Much is at stake as we prepare for this momentous occasion:� Continued operation of Indian Point would generate at least

1,000 additional tons of highly toxic nuclear waste. With nonational permanent disposal solution forthcoming, this wastewould sit on the banks of the Hudson River indefinitely, posingongoing security and environmental risks;

� Relicensing the plant will continue to force the 20 million peo-ple living within 50 miles of the plant to bear the unfair risk ofa serious incident. With no workable emergency plan, a cata-strophic radiological release, not unthinkable given the frequen-cy of component malfunctions and unplanned plant shutdowns,would completely devastate the region. In May 2009, the U.S.Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposed a so-calledoverhaul of emergency preparedness regulations applicable tonuclear plants that would still fail to squarely address the insur-mountable difficulties which would prevent effective evacuationaround Indian Point in the event of an emergency;

� Allowing Indian Point to continue operating means that thefacility would remain a credible terrorist target, for whichinadequate protective measures are in place;

� Ongoing use of an antiquated cooling system will continue todestroy Hudson River fish populations;

� Continued operation will increase the risk of inadvertentradioactive releases into the environment. This would add tothe current plumes of contamination at the plant created byleaking spent fuel pools, which are slowly leaching into theHudson River. Both the owner of Indian Point and the NRCrefuse to properly assess the impacts of such contamination tothe surrounding ecosystems, even though it will persist for yearsto come.

Riverkeeper stands at the precipice, ready to face this last bigopportunity to shut Indian Point down for good and allay theconcerns that otherwise will continue to go unaddressed by thecomplacent oversight by agencies and multi-billion dollar corpora-tions only concerned with the bottom line. �

Last September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) announced it was considering designating Newtown

Creek a Superfund site, a move that could finally result in thecleanup of the Creek after decades of neglect. Newtown Creekis a tributary of the Hudson and East Rivers, located betweenBrooklyn and Queens. Over a century of industrial pollutionand raw sewage overflows have rendered the Creek one of themost highly polluted waterways in the United States. Riverkeeperfiled formal comments supporting the EPA in December, and afinal decision is expected in 2010. Under Superfund, the EPAwill bring its considerable legal and technical resources to bearto completely address the legacy of contamination that hasnearly obliterated the Creek’s natural systems and posed apublic health risk to nearby residents.

Riverkeeper has been active on Newtown Creek since 2002,when our first boat patrol discovered oil seeps, abandonedcars and floating garbage littering the Creek. We also helpedfound the Newtown Creek Alliance, a coalition of elected offi-cials, local residents, business owners and other non-profitorganizations working to improve the Creek and adjoiningneighborhoods. Over the past eight years, Riverkeeper hasalso established itself as the leading pollution enforcer on theCreek, exemplified by its citizen suits against oil companies,cement manufacturers and other polluters.

Newtown Creek

After almost 150 years of industrial use and decades ofraw sewage discharges from New York City’s combined

sewer system, the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY hasbecome one of the nation’s most contaminated bodies ofwater. The putrid sediments at the bottom of the canal con-tain PCBs, heavy metals, pesticides, volatile organic com-pounds, sewage solids and coal tar wastes. In April, 2009 EPAannounced that it had nominated the Canal for listing on theFederal Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). Since thisannouncement, Riverkeeper has been a vocal supporter ofSuperfund and a critic of attempts by the City of New Yorkand developers to derail the proposal.

In March 2010, the EPA made the decision to place theGowanus Canal on the NPL. The EPA has begun conductinga comprehensive study called the Remedial Investigation todetermine the extent of contamination in the canal. TheAgency will then move forward with a Feasibility Study andpropose several possible cleanup approaches for the Canal.Once a cleanup “remedy” is selected, work will begin to cleanthe Canal’s toxic sediments and halt pollution from propertyalong its banks.

Gowanus Canal

FIGHTING FOR A FUTUREWITHOUT INDIAN POINT PH

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SUPERFUND UPDATE

— By Phillip Musegaas and Josh Verleun

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By RebeccaTroutman

For decades, Riverkeeper and its allieshave fought for the removal of General

Electric’s toxic PCBs (polychlorinatedbiphenyls) from the Hudson River. Finally,on the historic date of May 15, 2009, thelong-awaited cleanup of the River began.However, this battle is far from over.

Although Phase 1 of the two-phasedplan to dredge the contaminated sedimentsconcluded in late October, and accordingto both the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) and GE, about 300,000cubic yards of sediment and debris wereremoved (exceeding the target amount),GE is now critical of many aspects of theproject. Moreover, GE’s recently released“Draft Phase 1 Evaluation Report HudsonRiver PCBs Superfund Site” states that cer-tain standards set for the project are in“inexorable conflict.” Although EPA’sreview of the data leads to many differentconclusions, unfortunately, pursuant to the2006 settlement agreement between EPAand GE, GE retained the option to refuseto perform Phase 2 – which includes ap-proximately 90% of the sediment removal!

GE’s PCBs:Dredging Begins but the Battle Continues

“My father and his father before him made a living fishing the Hudson. Maybe one day, GE will get this all cleaned up. Maybe the government will make them make it right.”— Jon Powell, Riverkeeper member

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Although Phase 1 of the two-phasedplan to dredge the contaminatedsediments concluded in lateOctober, and according to both EPAand GE, about 300,000 cubic yards ofsediment and debris were removed(exceeding the target amount), GEis now critical of many aspects ofthe project.

The remediation project is now in anevaluation phase in which GE and EPA areexchanging written reports on the datafrom Phase 1; a peer review panel will eval-uate those reports and issue its own find-ings; and, comments by other stakeholderswill be incorporated into the process. River-keeper plans to fully participate in thisprocess, working with an independent

expert to review the data and press for asafe and complete clean-up. According toEPA’s schedule, GE will state its intentionsregarding Phase 2 in the fall of 2010.

For over 30 years, General Electricdumped toxic PCBs into the Hudson Riverfrom two capacitor plants, in Hudson Fallsand Fort Edwards. Although in 1970 GEhad been warned by Monsanto, the manu-facturer of PCBs, to prevent PCBs fromentering the environment, GE dischargedPCBs until 1977. This environmental trav-esty, which led to the designation of a 200-mile stretch of the River as a federal“Superfund site,” caused the virtual closureof the Hudson’s commercial fisheries —historically one of the most productive inthe world, as well as the ongoing exposureof animals, other aquatic life, and humansto the toxic chemicals. Monitoring in recentyears has shown that PCBs from the con-taminated sediment in the Upper Hudsoncontinued to travel downstream, over theFederal Dam at Troy, as far as the Batteryin Manhattan at the rate of over 500 lbsper year. During this past year’s dredging, itwas learned that the Upper River contami-nation was even more extensive than hadbeen estimated, further underscoring theneed for large scale removal.

PCBs have been labeled as likely humancarcinogens by the EPA, and are suspectedof causing liver damage and cancer, andhave serious effects on brain chemistry,reproduction and infant development(linked to low birth weight, thyroid dis-ease, and learning, memory, immune sys-tem disorders). Exposure is mostly fromconsumption of PCB-laden fish.

Riverkeeper has long advocated for acomprehensive solution to the toxic legacyof PCBs in the Hudson and will continueto press both the EPA and GE to fullycomply with their responsibilities to endthis toxic legacy. EPA’s fact sheet on Phase1 can be found at www.epa.gov/hudson/EndofPhase1.pdf. �

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ExxonMobil Oil Spill (Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY): Riverkeeper continues to engage insettlement negotiations with Exxon and the State of New York to resolve Riverkeeper’s 2004citizen suit against Exxon under the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and RecoveryAct regarding the 17 million gallon oil spill that has contaminated a section of Greenpoint andNewtown Creek. The NY Attorney General’s Office filed its own suit against Exxon in 2007,and negotiations commenced over a year ago. Riverkeeper is represented by the PaceEnvironmental Litigation Clinic in this case.

Esopus Creek (Catskill Mountains, NY): (Catskill Mountains Chapter of TroutUnlimited, Inc., Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Inc., Catskill-Delaware Natural Water Alliance,Inc., Federated Sportsmen’s Clubs of Ulster County, Inc. and Riverkeeper, Inc. v. City of NewYork (“Catskill Mountains,” or “Esopus Creek”)As a result of Riverkeeper’s federal Clean Water Act victory against the city of New York inthe landmark case of Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited et al. v. city of NewYork (see Esopus Creek article on p. 15), New York City must now obtain a state CleanWater Act permit for its discharge of turbidity from the Shandaken Tunnel into Esopus Creek.During the state administrative permit process, Riverkeeper argued that the draft permit wasillegal because it included numerous exemptions, that allowed for violations of state waterquality standards. The state rejected Riverkeeper’s claims and issued the draft permit.Riverkeeper then sued DEC and in August 2008, the NY State Supreme Court, Ulster County,granted Riverkeeper’s petition against the DEC, finding that the Shandaken Tunnel permitexemptions were illegal. The court ordered the current permit to be vacated. New York Cityappealed this decision but in January 2010, the Appellate Division, Third Departmentaffirmed the lower court’s ruling that the City’s permit is illegal. The City has now asked forleave to appeal this case to the New York Court of Appeals. Riverkeeper is represented by thePace Environmental Litigation Clinic in this case.

Tilcon Clinton Point (Poughkeepsie,NY): In September 2009, the Departmentof Environmental Conservation (DEC)announced that stone quarry operatorTilcon had agreed to pay a $150,000penalty for pollution of the Hudson andHackensack Rivers. Environmental viola-tions occurred at several of Tilcon’s stonequarries and an asphalt plant and rangedfrom dumping stone aggregate into theHudson to illegal wastewater dischargesto air and mining permit violations.Riverkeeper has a long history of fightingpollution at Tilcon’s Clinton Point Quarryin Poughkeepsie. Over the course of amulti-year investigation, Riverkeeper peti-tioned the DEC to strengthen the facility’sClean Water Act permit and has put pres-sure on Tilcon improve facility operations.

Gowanus Enforcement Campaign (Brooklyn, NY): On September 16, 2009, Riverkeeperannounced the beginning of an enforcement campaign targeted at environmental law breakers onthe Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York. Riverkeeper filed Notices of Intent to Sue against:6th Street Iron and Metal, a scrap yard, for dumping metal, and debris into the Canal; FerraraBrothers Building Materials Corp, a cement plant discharging liquid cement and stone into theCanal; and 107 Sixth Street LLC and 36-2nd-J Corp., for operating an open dump and filling theCanal from a parking lot on their property. After filing our Notice letters, 6th Street Iron andMetal took steps to clean up their property and has been cooperating with the NYC SBSDockmaster Unit. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is currently pursuingenforcement against Ferrara Brothers and 107 Sixth St./36-2nd J Corp.

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Highlights of selectRiverkeeper legal cases

Lehigh Cement (Catskill, NY):In December 2009, the Department ofEnvironmental Conservation (DEC) finedLehigh Northeast Cement Company$150,000 for discharging landfill leachateinto the Hudson River, for failing to takereasonable steps to stop this discharge,and for failing to report this discharge tothe department. During the constructionof a leachate collection system for thefacility’s landfill, the volume of leachateincreased dramatically, overflowing reten-tion ponds and flowing into the river.This fine follows on a $50,000 fine leviedagainst Lehigh Cement for leachatedischarges from another landfill on theirproperty into a wetland and the HudsonRiver. In 2008, Riverkeeper filed a Noticeof Intent to Sue Lehigh after an extensiveinvestigation revealed landfill leachatewith a pH similar to bleach being dis-charged into a wetland and the HudsonRiver. Following Riverkeeper’s Notice,the DEC stepped in and issued the fine.Riverkeeper continues to regularly monitorthis facility to ensure that permanent stepsare taken to halt any future discharges.

U.S. EPA WaterTransfers Rule Challenge (USA): (Catskill Mountains Chapter of TroutUnlimited, Inc., Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Inc., Federated Sportsmen’s Clubs of UlsterCounty, Inc., Catskill-Delaware Natural Water Alliance, Inc., Riverkeeper, Inc., WaterkeeperAlliance, Inc., Trout Unlimited, Inc., National Wildlife Federation, Environmental America,Environment New Hampshire, Environment Rhode Island and Environment Florida v. UnitedStates Environmental Protection Agency)In June 2008, EPA issued its Water Transfers rule. This rule runs contrary to numerous judicialholdings (including the Second Circuit’s decision in the Catskill Mountains case) and states thatinterbasin water transfers do not require Clean Water Act permits. In response, Riverkeeper,along with the original co-plaintiffs in the Catskill Mountains case, sued EPA, claiming the newrule is contrary to the Clean Water Act and represents an abuse of discretion by the agency.Riverkeeper is again being represented by the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, who filedsuit in United States District Court of the Southern District of New York and the EleventhCircuit Court of Appeals. Nine states, including New York, and the Canadian province ofManitoba, also filed suits against EPA. Both cases have been stayed pending the outcome of aseparate enforcement action, Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water ManagementDistrict, which is pending in the Eleventh Circuit. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruledin favor of defendants South Florida Water Management District in the Friends of theEverglades case. However, with motions for re-hearing pending in that matter, the stay of theSouthern District of New York and Eleventh Circuit cases challenging EPA’s water transfers ruleremains in effect.

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RIVERKEEPERENFORCEMENT UPDATE:BRINGING ENVIRONMENTALLAWBREAKERS TO JUSTICE

Regular waterborne patrols of the Hudson River and its tributaries

are at the core of Riverkeeper’s mission as NewYork’s clean water

advocate. Several times each year, Riverkeeper’s boat presence is

enhanced by aerial patrols, enabling our investigative team to gath-

er evidence for important cases and campaigns; seeing behind

walls and fences to view new evidence of illegal activity or subtle

changes that are often undetectable from the water alone. Aerial

patrols have found: coal tar and petroleum sheens in NYC; a barge

leaking oil into the Hudson near Newburgh; illegal discharges from

a cement plant and quarry; bright yellow ponds of highly alkaline

leachate flowing into the River; and evidence used to prosecute

numerous other cases. �

RIVERKEEPER AERIAL PATROLS:TAKING TO THE SKY TO PROTECT NEW YORK’S WATERS

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Ever since a blue-collar coalition of commercial and recreationalfishermen, marines, factory workers, and carpenters banded

together in the 1960s to take the Hudson River back from theabuses of industrial pollution, Riverkeeper has been a watchdogfor the Hudson, enforcing the law and bringing environmentallawbreakers to justice.

Riverkeeper carries out our mission to protect the Hudson withregular boat patrols, and the help of concerned citizen “watch-dogs” who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves to defend ourwaterways. Whether it’s an anonymous tip to Riverkeeper’s ChiefInvestigator Josh Verleun through the “report a polluter” hotlineor a concerned citizen flagging down our patrol boat operatorJohn Lipscomb from the shore, Riverkeeper relies on our membersand concerned New Yorkers to be our eyes on the River.

This year, Riverkeeper launched a new enforcement campaign totrack down polluters on Brooklyn’s toxic Gowanus Canal, filingactions against a cement plant for illegal discharges of liquidcement and aggregate, a scrap yard for dumping metal into thecanal, a tour bus maintenance lot for operating an illegal dump,and warning an asphalt plant to improve barge loading operations.Riverkeeper also responded to watchdog tips and worked withEnvironmental Conservation Police Officers to: bust a tire dumperon the Harlem River; halt illegal dry weather discharges from acombined sewer overflow in the City of Troy; warn a large indus-trial operation on Newtown Creek to improve barge loading oper-ations; file an action against a mid-Hudson racetrack for pollutinga trout stream; and investigate dozens of additional tips and citizenwatchdog reports.

Riverkeeper’s efforts to bring environmental lawbreakers to justiceare greatly enhanced through collaboration with local, state, andfederal law enforcement agencies. During the last year, Riverkeeperwas invited to partner with the New York State Department ofEnvironmental Conservation’s Law Enforcement Division, workingwith officers and legal staff to investigate and refer cases.Riverkeeper also works closely with the Westchester County PoliceDepartment Environmental Security Unit, the Environmental CrimesUnit of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, the NYC SmallBusiness Services Dockmaster Unit, the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and participates in theNYC Clean Harbor Taskforce, which removes derelict boats fromNew York Harbor. �

Left to right: John Lipscomb,Josh Verleun and pilot James McVey

By JoshVerleun

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Riverkeeper works tostrengthen the laws andregulations that impact

our water resources.

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H.R. 4003, the Hudson River ValleySpecial Resource Study ActOn March 19, 2010 the U.S. House ofRepresentatives passed this legislation, whichwould fund a federal study to assess whether theHudson Valley should be made a unit of theNational Park Service. Unlike a traditionalNational Park, this designation would be found-ed on close cooperation between the NationalPark Service, state and local government and pri-vate landowners, with federal funding going tosupport and promote this unique region. ANational Park designation, done wisely, will pre-serve the region’s remarkable natural beauty byattracting tourism and supporting a strong, sus-tainable local economy. Riverkeeper has workedclosely with state and federal elected officials,state agencies and land preservation groups suchas Scenic Hudson, to improve management ofremaining undeveloped lands and river habitatalong the mid and upper Hudson River.

S1730/A4272, Citizen Suit Amendment toNY Environmental Conservation LawRiverkeeper strongly supports these companionbills introduced by State Senator Schneidermanand Assemblyman Brodsky to add a “citizensuit provision” to the Environmental Conserva-tion Law (ECL). Modeled on the Clean WaterAct and other federal environmental statutes,this would give citizens the right to bringenforcement actions against polluters in NewYork for violations of a wide range of stateenvironmental laws, including those thataddress water pollution and hazardous waste.The federal citizen suit provisions have beenextremely useful and beneficial tools for citi-zens and environmental advocates and wouldgive Riverkeeper a powerful new weapon in itsfight to protect the Hudson River and NewYork City drinking water supply.

SWIM CoalitionAs a founding member of the Storm WaterInfrastructure Matters (SWIM) Coalition,Riverkeeper is actively working with othermember groups to ensure that New York Cityaddresses the problem of combined sewageoverflows (CSOs) from its antiquated sewersystem. SWIM works to make sure that NewYork City maximizes the use of “GreenInfrastructure” such as street trees and greenroofs in its effort to adhere to its SustainableStormwater Management Plan (SSMP). The

SSMP is a key part of Mayor Bloomberg’sPlaNYC, which aims to “green” New YorkCity by 2030. Riverkeeper and SWIM share thegoal of returning the Hudson River to a “fish-able, swimmable” state in the near future, sothat all New Yorkers can enjoy a clean andecologically healthy river.

Newtown Creek Community GrantsRiverkeeper is partnering with state agencies,local community groups and the GreenpointManufacturing and Design Center (GMDC), alocal economic development organization, ontwo projects in the Newtown Creek area. Firstis a Brownfields Opportunity Area (BOA) grantfrom the State of New York, which Riverkeeperand GMDC are using to prepare an economicredevelopment study of Newtown Creek andthe neighborhoods adjacent to it in Brooklynand Queens. The goal of this study is to mapout the vision for the future development ofthis area that balances the needs of businessowners and local residents and “greening” theneighborhoods bordering the Creek.

Second is a joint partnership with the DEC todesign and construct a “Green Sewershed PilotProject” in the Newtown Creek sewershed,funded by the United States Forest Service, thatwill demonstrate the benefits of using greeninfrastructure, such as street trees and perme-able pavement, to reduce stormwater pollutioninto Newtown Creek and the Hudson River.

The NewYork State EnvironmentalProtection Fund (EPF)In the midst of the state’s worst budget crisis indecades, Governor Paterson is threatening toslash funding to the EPF, which includes fund-ing for the DEC’s Hudson River EstuaryProgram. The EPF provides critical funding forstate agencies and local governments to carryout environmental clean-up and restoration pro-grams. Riverkeeper is partnering with ScenicHudson, the Nature Conservancy and otherenvironmental groups to prevent GovernorPaterson and the Legislature from making shortterm budgetary decisions that will have longterm impacts on our environment. Riverkeeperstrongly believes that a healthy, clean environ-ment is a prerequisite to long-term economicprosperity, and is currently urging lawmakers tomaintain the Estuary Program’s $6 millionbudget and the EPF’s $222 million. �

The WatershedProgram uses publiceducation, advocacy

and litigation in orderto protect the unfil-tered drinking watersupply for 9 million

NewYorkers.

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Research during the past tenyears has found that phar-

maceuticals have been makingtheir way into our water sup-plies—including prescriptionand non-prescription drugs,steroids and hormones. Thesecompounds are released intothe environment throughwastewater treatment plantsand household septic systems.

A 2008 Associated Pressinvestigation showed that anarray of pharmaceuticals hasbeen found in the drinkingwater supplies of at least 41million Americans in 24 majormetropolitan areas. So far, thetrace concentrations detectedin surface waters have beenminute – parts per billion oreven parts per trillion. However,because pharmaceuticals aredesigned to alter our bodilyfunctions and systems, theymay pose health risks as theirconcentrations in drinkingwater supplies increase overtime.

While pharmaceuticals inour water resources may beharmful, it’s the hormonalcompounds that pose the mostsignificant health risks. Somebreakdown products of estro-gen compounds are highlytoxic to human cells and causeDNA damage in breast anduterine tissue. Even low-levelexposure to estrogen com-pounds alters normal hormonelevels in aquatic species.Studies report that male alliga-tors exposed to estrogen inFlorida wastewater failed todevelop full-sized genitals;other organic wastewater

contaminants have causedinfertility in Mississippi RiverPike, sex reversal in fish in GreatBritain and shellfish spawningtoo early or too late because ofProzac in their waters.

In addition to the directeffects hormones and otherpharmaceuticals have on ourbodies, when these compoundscombine, they can create evengreater toxic reactions. Otherthreats exist when antibioticsare released into the environ-ment, giving rise to the develop-ment of drug-resistant bacteria,and when pharmaceuticalsdegrade into more persistentcompounds and enter surfacewaters in addition to their par-ent compounds. Many pharma-ceuticals detected in wastewateroutflows (effluent) undergotransformation reactions duringchlorine disinfection, creatingnew compounds that havenever been tested and may poseunknown health risks.

Because pharmaceuticals arenot regulated by the U.S.Environmental ProtectionAgency under the Safe DrinkingWater Act, wastewater treat-ment plants regularly releaseprescription drugs into receiv-ing streams in their effluent.Treatment technologies exist toremove these organic waste-water contaminants, but mosttreatment plant operators havenot retrofitted their systemsbecause the expensive under-taking is not required by law.

In 2000, the U.S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS) surveyed phar-maceutical and other organicwastewater contaminants in139 U.S. streams in 30 states

and found detectable levels ofantibiotics, steroids, hormones,and other prescription andnon-prescription drugs. TheUSGS sampling included elevensites in the Croton Watershed.All but one of the stream sitescontained detectable levels ofvarious steroids and hormones,eight streams contained variousantibiotics, and all elevenstreams contained variouspharmaceutical compounds.

Many of these organiccompounds enter and persist insurface waters through humanexcretion and wastewater dis-posal. Hallocks Mill Brook,which receives treated effluentfrom the Yorktown HeightsWastewater Treatment Plant,contained seven steroid andhormone compounds, tenhuman pharmaceutical com-pounds and seven organicwastewater compounds. Thefact that these drugs wererecovered in wastewater efflu-ent streams demonstrates theirability to survive treatment andbiodegradation processes.

This past January, New YorkAttorney General AndrewCuomo announced a settlementwith five healthcare facilitiesthat flushed pharmaceuticalwaste into the New York CityWatershed. The five facilitiesare located in Delaware andPutnam Counties and withinthe New York City Watershed.Riverkeeper supported this ini-tiative and is actively monitor-ing this emerging issue andthreat to our waterMoreresearch is needed to fullyevaluate the potential human

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Drugs in our DrinkingWater:The Problem of Pharmaceutical Pollution

By BillWegner

(Continued on page 15)

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Victory on Esopus Creek BY CRAIG MICHAELS

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In January 2010, the NewYork State Appellate Division,Third Department handed down anothervictory for Riverkeeper in our decade-long battle to save Esopus Creek, a renowned trout stream

in the heart of the Catskills. Since 2000, Riverkeeper, Catskill Mountains Chapter ofTrout Unlimited,

Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, and other groups have fought NewYork City’s illegal discharges of

mud and turbidity into the Esopus.

As part of the NewYork City drinking water supply, the City has been operating the Shandaken

Tunnel since 1924 in order to bring water from the Schoharie Reservoir into Esopus Creek, which

then flows into the Ashokan Reservoir. From the Ashokan, the water travels via pipes and aque-

ducts towards the taps of nine million NewYorkers. Unfortunately, this operation results in massive

amounts of turbid, polluted discharges into the Esopus, which has turned the once pristine stream

into a muddy river that local fishermen now refer to as “Yoo-hoo Creek.”

This legal battle began in 2000 when the staff and students of the Pace Environmental Litigation

Clinic (the lead attorneys on this matter) filed a federal CleanWater Act citizen suit on behalf of

Riverkeeper and four other co-plaintiffs.This action resulted in a $5.7-million-dollar fine against the

City and an order for the City to obtain a permit for its illegal discharges. Once the permit was

issued, however, we were forced to file an action in state court against the City and State of New

York for issuing an illegal permit that allowed for the City to routinely violate water quality stan-

dards.The Supreme Court, Ulster County agreed with us that the permit was illegal and the recent

decision from the Appellate Division affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

While this latest ruling signals yet another important victory in our fight to protect the

Watershed, the mud continues to flow from the ShandakenTunnel into Esopus Creek and the battle

that started over a decade ago remains far from over. Hopefully the City will realize someday soon

that if it wants to use streams as conduits for our water supply, it must do so in accordance with

state and federal law, and not at the expense of important trout habitat. �

health impacts of long-term exposure totrace amounts of pharmaceuticals in drink-ing water supplies.

The New York City Department ofEnvironmental Protection began testingNYC reservoirs for pharmaceuticals in2009; results of that pilot study are pending.In the meantime and for the future, we canhelp by disposing of unused medications atdesignated take-back facilities instead offlushing them down our sinks or toilets. Ifno local collection areas exist, people shouldfollow federal guidelines established for theproper disposal of household pharmaceuti-cals wastes. These guidelines can be found at:www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/prescrip_disposal.pdf. Proper disposalof medical waste by healthcare facilitiesalso eliminates the unnecessary introduc-tion of these contaminants to surface watersupplies. These proactive practices willreduce the amount of pharmaceuticalsentering watershed streams until theirpotential health impacts can be adequatelyresearched and evaluated to protectconsumers and the environment. �

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Industrial Gas Drilling:The Fight to Protect NewYork’sWater Supply Continues

By James L. Simpson

The issue of Industrial Gas Drillingthroughout a significant portion of

New York State rose to the forefront dur-ing 2009. Deep below the ground in south-ern New York lies the Marcellus Shale, athin layer of sedimentary rock approxi-mately one mile underground, deposited byan ancient river delta. The vast MarcellusShale extends from Tennessee, throughmost of West Virginia, across Pennsylvaniaand eastern Ohio, and into the SouthernTier of New York, including the Catskillsand the West-of-Hudson portion of theNew York City Watershed. New York’sportion of the Marcellus Shale is approxi-mately 18,750 square miles.

Gas drilling companies want to tap intothis shale reserve and extract natural gas.To do so requires use of a resource-inten-sive procedure called horizontal drillingusing high-volume hydraulic fracturing.Staged from a massive platform (toweringhundreds of feet above ground), drillersdrill down vertically into the shale, turn 90degrees to drill horizontally (sometimes forover a mile in length), and then inject mil-lions of gallons of water, sand and chemi-cals under high pressure to release the gas.The pressurized water forms fractures inthe rock, which sand and chemicals thenprop open.

Since the summer of 2008, Riverkeeperhas said that industrial gas drilling is inap-propriate within the New York City

Watershed. The affected watershed area isthe Catskill/Delaware portion, a large areain the Catskills. Surface impacts alone makeindustrial gas drilling an unacceptable threatto the high quality of unfiltered drinkingwater for half the State’s population.

New York State recognized the potentialenvironmental impacts from this new tech-nology and directed the New York StateDepartment of Environmental Conserva-tion (DEC) to conduct a supplementalenvironmental review of impacts from it,and to propose measures to mitigate thoseimpacts. This process, carried out in accor-dance with the State EnvironmentalQuality Review Act (SEQRA), involves thepreparation and release of a draft environ-mental impact statement (EIS) for publicreview and comment.

DEC released its draft EIS in September2009. Upon our review, it became evidentthat DEC rushed to complete this processand is biased towards issuing drilling per-mits as soon as possible. Moreover, DEChas not demonstrated a willingness to con-sider certain sensitive environmental areas,such as the New York City Watershed, asoff-limits to industrial gas drilling.

Riverkeeper submitted significant com-ments on this draft document. Our com-ments totaled over 150 pages andidentified over 200 specific problems withthe draft EIS. Our comments also includeda case studies report that detailed instancesin other states where state regulators foundthat hydraulic fracturing caused drinking

water contamination. Furthermore, togeth-er with our environmental partners,NRDC, Earthjustice, and CatskillMountainkeeper, we retained expert con-sultants to prepare joint technical com-ments on DEC’s draft EIS.

DEC closed the public comment periodon December 31, 2009 and is now review-ing the over 13,000 public comments itreceived. We expect DEC to respond tothese comments in a final EIS and will con-tinue to follow this issue closely. For exam-ple, we are monitoring state and federallegislation that may affect where and howindustrial gas drilling moves forward.

In addition, in 2009 we issued five vol-umes of our Industrial Gas DrillingReporter, a sixth volume earlier this year,and more volumes to come. The Reportercompiles information associated with thisactivity from around the country – includ-ing reports of spills and contamination inother states, updates to New York’s ongo-ing environmental impact review, reportson new and pending legislation, and sum-maries of the latest information. Our goalis to educate our members and the generalpublic on this important and dynamicissue, and to help ensure that concernedcitizens make informed decisions beforeleasing their land to gas companies. Wewill continue our fight to ensure thathydraulic fracturing does not threaten any-one’s drinking water, whether it flowsdown from the Catskill Mountains or upfrom a local well. �

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“I am significantly concerned with industry efforts towards gas drilling within the watershed and the devastating implications it encompasses. Riverkeeper provides aninvaluable service in protecting our watershed against this and many other threats and I am grateful to assist in this effort.” —Janine McDowell, Riverkeeper Ambassador

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Since 2001, when Riverkeeper released Finger in the Dike,Head in the Sand: DEP’s Crumbling Water Supply

Infrastructure, we have been the primary watchdog over theleak in the Delaware Aqueduct, which supplies more than halfof New York City’s daily drinking water. In March 2009, weupdated this report with Preparing to Repair (available at:http://www. riverkeeper.org/campaigns/safeguard/dep-water/delaware-aqueductleak/). While the New York City Departmentof Environmental Protection (DEP) at long last has taken stepsto begin to prepare to repair the leak, there have been seriousconsequences to local residents. This past year, Riverkeeper hastaken an active role within local communities to help thoseaffected by the leak to take action.

More than nine million State residents enjoy clean, unfiltereddrinking water from the New York City Watershed. The 6,000-mile network of pipes, shafts and subterranean aqueducts car-ries approximately 1.2 billion gallons of pristine water each dayfrom 19 upstate reservoirs to the taps of half the state’s popula-tion. The vast majority of this water (90%) comes from theDelaware and Catskill Watersheds in the Catskill Mountains.The New York City Watershed and its distribution system are aremarkable engineering achievement and the single largest man-made financial asset in New York State. It is also, without ques-tion, the State’s greatest natural resource.

The Delaware and Catskill Aqueducts are the only two aque-ducts that deliver water from the Catskills, under the Hudson,to downstate consumers. The Delaware Aqueduct, stretching 84miles, is the longest continuous tunnel in the world. Waterflows through it via gravity, crossing 350 feet below theHudson River. Through this complex system, the DelawareAqueduct provides approximately 55 percent of the more thanone billion gallons of water New York City uses daily. It deliv-ers water collected in the Cannonsville, Pepacton, Neversinkand Rondout Reservoirs to the Hillview Reservoir in Yonkerswhere it enters the City’s water supply distribution system. TheDelaware Aqueduct, however, has been leaking for decades. Forover 20 years, DEP has known of leaks in the DelawareAqueduct. Specifically, DEP’s own leak investigations show thatthe Rondout West Branch Tunnel has been leaking up to 35million gallons of water a day at two known leak sites, orapproximately one billion gallons a month. This amounts toover one million gallons an hour.

By James L. Simpson

Reaching out to Communities Affectedby the Delaware Aqueduct Leak

PREPARINGTO REPAIR:

While the New York City Department of EnvironmentalProtection (DEP) at long last has taken steps to begin toprepare to repair the leak, there have been serious con-sequences to local residents. This past year, Riverkeeper

has taken an active role within local communities tohelp those affected by the leak to take action.

“Never have I questioned why I contacted Riverkeeper so long ago and reached out for your help and support. You have helped Wawarsing residents to not be forgotten.”—Julianne Lennon, Wawarsing resident

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There have been serious consequences to people living inareas near the leak. Specifically, in Wawarsing, New York(located east of the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County),the aqueduct leak has caused the flooding of homes, contami-nated local drinking water wells from flooded septic fields, andalso created sinkholes on private lots and adjacent to theDanksammer power plant in Roseton. The problem is so bad inWawarsing that DEP agreed to provide bottled water to resi-dents, gave them sump pumps for their basements, and installedultra-violet filters for their well water.

The residents of Wawarsing, together with DEP and otherstate and local officials, have formed the local Project AdvisoryCommittee (PAC) to update community members on DEP’s leakinvestigation, and to provide a forum to discuss ongoing issueswith the leak. Riverkeeper is a member of the PAC, and attendsmonthly PAC meetings.

At long last, DEP has taken steps to address the DelawareAqueduct leaks. DEP has begun planning for a third aqueduct tocarry water from the Catskill and Delaware Watersheds, under theHudson River. In fall 2009, DEP kicked off its 5-year project tobegin planning for this third tunnel. In 2008, DEP began a 5-year$240 million project to prepare to repair the leaks. DEP shutdownthe Delaware Aqueduct several times since then to do preparatorywork on the tunnel before DEP can begin to repair the leaks.

Recently, the New York State Senate passed a bill that wouldallow New York State to purchase flooded Wawarsing homes.As of this writing, the Assembly is considering this bill andRiverkeeper is supporting it. It would, at long last, provideWawarsing residents an end to their nightmare. Riverkeeperwill continue to monitor and report on this very important issueand work with residents in affected communities. �

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The Next Chapter:Riverkeeper, Clean Water & You!

Case #1 is opened:St. Lawrence CementJune 14, 2005JOHN: “Today I had a group of studentsaboard. We weren’t on a pollution patrol;I was just supporting their professor who isalso a friend and Riverkeeper member. Inpassing, he mentioned that as a young manfishing in Inbocht Bay, north of the St.Lawrence Cement (SLC) jetty, he remem-bered seeing grey plumes of what lookedlike dust in the water at the southwest cor-ner of the bay, and said ‘you ought tocheck on that sometime.’ I started a reportfile (our standard procedure), and made anote to come back late in the year whenthe water chestnut beds would be gone and Iwould have access.” [Photo 1]

December 6, 2005JOHN: “This is the last patrol of the yearbefore ice sets in. I anchored the patrolboat and launched the small skiff.I checked the southwest corner of InbochtBay where the member had told me to lookand found a massive pump station, whichmight have been the discharge point hesaw in his youth. Now it’s a decrepit,abandoned building, obviously, no longerin service. Nothing was found today, butthe file will stay open.” [Photo 2]

June 27, 2006JOHN: “We’re back in the area on ourmonthly standard northbound patrol.Riverkeeper attorney, Jay Simpson, aboardfor the day, spotted another building, thisone in Duck Cove, South of the SLC jetty.Maybe this is the discharge point themember was talking about. We have thesame problem here; the Duck Cove watersare very shallow and choked with floatingvegetation. We’ll have to wait for winterto investigate.”

November 18, 2006JOHN: “I’m southbound from Troy on amonthly patrol. I explored Duck Cove withthe skiff again and found another aban-doned pump building, once an intake sta-tion. Still nothing found, but I’ll keeplooking. Old pump houses sure are scarylooking things. It was more than a littlefrightening exploring here alone, I imaginea ladder breaking and getting stuck inside– underground. Glad to be back on thepatrol boat!” [Photo 3]

November 27, 2006JOHN: “Nine days later, we made ourannual helicopter patrol. All the leaves areoff the trees now, so we got a good viewbeyond what we can normally see from thewater, looking behind barriers that blockour view from the boat like railroad

By John Lipscomb,Tina Posterli & Josh Verleun

cover story

FOR OVER 44 YEARS, Riverkeeper has been working with concerned citizens todefend and preserve the integrity of the Hudson River and its watershed. It’sthis partnership with our members and community stakeholders that hasenabled us to bring hundreds of polluters to justice and force them to spendhundreds of millions of dollars remediating the Hudson.

One of the most powerful examples of this partnership in action is the storyof the investigation into St. Lawrence Cement and Lehigh Northeast CementCompany, and how working together to apply steady pressure on pollutersultimately wins out in the battle for clean water. It’s a story best told throughthe patrol logs of John Lipscomb, Riverkeeper Patrol Boat Operator, and JoshVerleun, Staff Attorney & Chief Investigator, the two people most in thetrenches during this 5-year, ongoing enforcement effort.

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PHOTOS BY JOHN LIPSCOMB UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

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trestles and hillsides and into shallow baysthat are inaccessible. Bingo! We discovereda huge plume of grey, murky water beingdischarged south of the jetty by SLC. Herewe go, hard evidence for case #1!” [Photo 4]

November 28, 2006JOHN: “One day later, Riverkeeper attor-neys send a Notice of Intent to Sue to SLCfor a Clean Water Act violation. The pol-luter has 60 days to comply. I imaginebeing on the receiving end of one of theseletters is like waking up to find a giantpython wrapped around you. With eachsentence you read, its coils squeeze youtighter and tighter. I love seeing the “Cc”list on these things. In this case, it’s theAdministrator of the United States Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA), the USAttorney General, EPA Regional Adminis-trator, the Commissioner of the New YorkState Department of EnvironmentalConservation (DEC), the New York StateAttorney General and the Regional Directorof the New York State DEC. The minutethis letter is sent to these parties, there’s noway for the polluter to ignore it! In addi-tion, when we reviewed the photographsafter the flight, we saw some grossly dis-colored ponds next to one of the kiln dustlandfills owned by Lehigh NortheastCement (LNC). So, we’ve been pursuingthe initial member tip for a year and a halfand not only did we hit pay dirt, but at thesame time, we found a new pollutionsource and opened a second investigation.”

November 29, 2006JOHN: “Two days after the flight, the TimesHerald-Record ran a front page story witha big photo of the SLC discharge. This ismajor for us. It’s absolutely necessary forlocals to understand our efforts on theirbehalf. This is the paper for communitiesaround SLC like Catskill, Saugerties,Athens and Hudson.”

December 4, 2006JOHN: “I called the member to thank himfor the tip he gave us back in June 2005.It’s wonderfully satisfying to be able tocall back and report success to a tipster ora member.”

January 25, 2007JOHN: “Fifty-nine days into the 60 daywaiting period, Riverkeeper received a let-ter from SLC attorneys and, as usual, theydeny any wrongdoing, but take greatpains to illustrate all the steps they’vetaken and will take to stop the problem.That’s great. We don’t care if they admitwrongdoing, what we care about is thatthe pollution source stops. We put ourClean Water Act lawsuit on hold, butwill be back to check and see if SLCcomplies—we’ll keep watching.”

April 28, 2007JOHN: “During my first patrol north inthe spring, I stopped to check the siteof the SLC pollution which we saw onNovember 27, 2006 and all was well,there is no longer any discharge intothe bay.” [Photo 5]

Case #2: Investigation into LehighNortheast Cement CompanyAugust, 2007JOSH: “My first day at Riverkeeper,fresh out of law school. Basil Seggos,Riverkeeper’s Chief Investigator, hand-ed me a file. It contained a copy of theNovember, 2006 Notice of Intent toSue SLC, and pictures of alien-lookingbright yellow ponds sitting right nextto the river. Because Lehigh and SLC sitdirectly next to each other on the westbank of the river, our first thought wasthat the ponds are part of SLC. As anewly minted Riverkeeper investigator,my job was to eagerly spend the nextseveral months digging though scientificstudies and working to figure out whatkind of pollution could be caused bycement kiln dust, which is what I discov-ered was in the landfill next to the ponds.John and I also decided that we needed tosee these ponds up close, and planned areconnaissance trip to gather evidenceand figure out what was causing theseponds to turn this shocking color.”[Photo 6]

November 27, 2007JOSH: “We set out today to begin ourinvestigation into the discolored pondswe saw from the helicopter last fall.

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We surveyed Duck Cove using theskiff and had a preliminary look. Itturns out that they are man-madesettling ponds carved out of a pre-existing wetland at the base ofLNC’s northern kiln dust landfill.Water percolating through thelandfill is picking up contaminantsand waste products and carryingthem into these ponds. The colorof the water is caused by superfine yellowish cement dust. All thetrees that once stood in the wet-land are dead. The only signs oflife are some small, dead fish in

one of the ponds. We’re appalled bywhat we see here. We did a preliminaryinvestigation and took an initial round ofphotographs. We’ll have to review theexisting permits in place for this landfillback at the office.” [Photos 7 & 8]

Case #3: More violations atSt. Lawrence CementJanuary 3, 2008JOSH: “Today we heard from an anony-mous “watchdog” alleging major environ-mental problems on the St. Lawrenceproperty. He’s given this same report tostate officials without success and becauseof the press coverage about the SLC dis-charge; he was compelled to contact us.This is now the third case related to thecement plants that started in 2005 and aperfect example of why this kind of mediacoverage is so critical for us. It engages thepublic and encourages them to speak upand come to us so we can independentlyinvestigate and report alleged violations tothe DEC. This kind of tip can sometimesslip through the cracks if reported directlyto a state official. The power of a reportfrom Riverkeeper is that our collectivevoice is very hard to ignore.”

Case #1 closes: Case #2 continuesApril 23, 2008JOSH: “We took our annual helicopterpatrol. Good news and bad news: the SLCdischarge site of November 2006 has trulyceased and all is well; the bad news is thatclose aerial photographs of the Lehighponds show a massive problem. This partic-ular case is a great example of how valuable

a helicopter patrol is. There’s no way to seethese ponds from the river because of thesmall hill, but they are draining into DuckCove and right into the Hudson.” [Photo 9]

May 14, 2008JOHN: “We returned with the skiff to fur-ther investigate the Lehigh landfill leachatecausing the yellow ponds south of DuckCove. Investigating this case reminds me ofhow important it is when you get an initialtip from a member not to close the fileuntil you figure out what it was about.Some tips we get are false alarms andsometimes we just looked in the wrongplace at first.”

June 21, 2008JOHN: “The problem with cement kiln dustleachate is that it often has a very high pH,so we needed to know what’s in those yel-low ponds. In the course of the monthlypatrol, I returned to the ponds alone in theskiff. This was my first time visiting theplace in the summer and it was miserable.Killer horse flies, deer flies, ticks and heat.I measured the pH in the pond closest tothe landfill and it’s 12.33. This is horrible!The typical pH of household bleach is12.5. No wonder there’s nothing living inthese ponds. In spite of this, Duck Coveitself is a beautiful place. I saw a bald eaglefishing at the edge of the shallows and agiant snapper near my landing place. It’sbeautiful, wild habitat that needs to beprotected.” [Photos 10 & 11]

Case #3 comes to a close: Action takenon anonymous watchdog tipJune and July, 2008JOSH: “The DEC followed up on the anony-mous report about SLC. This time, there’sbeen action. The DEC has entered into twoseparate Consent Orders with SLC on thesenumerous violations and fined them$85,000. I contacted the guy who gave usthe tip and he said, ‘Wow! This is excitingnews. I’m so happy to help. Protecting theenvironment is very important to us. This isthe community we live in and the river is aplace where we used to be able to take ourkids to swim and fish. Thanks for theupdate and your dedication to investigatingour report.’ Great! Case 3, closed.”

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Clock ticks for Lehigh in case #2July 10, 2008JOSH: “Back to case 2, the toxic, yellowponds. Riverkeeper sends LNC a CleanWater Act and Resource Conservation andRecovery Act Notice of Intent to Sue overthe leachate ponds. Our Notice alleges thatthey are causing an imminent danger to theenvironment and dumping pollution intothe river without a permit, in flagrant vio-lation of the Clean Water Act. Here we go,the 60 day clock starts.”

September 10, 2008JOSH: “The 60 day waiting period endsfor LNC. Lo and behold, on the final day,LNC and NY State DEC announcedthey’ve entered into a consent agreement.Lehigh will pay a $50,000 fine and beforced to design and build containmentand treatment for the leachate from thelandfill and remediate the ponds, whichare part of a natural wetland. So it’s kindof case closed, but really not case closedbecause a paper agreement often doesn’tequal a completed remediation. We’regoing to have to stay on this and makesure that the consent agreement isenforced.”

Enforcement handed down on case #4:More trouble at Lehigh Northeast CementNovember 10, 2009JOSH: “We did our annual aerial patrol andrechecked the area. SLC is still fine, whichis good, but there’s no remediation yet atthe yellow LNC ponds. We also found afourth case! There’s a new leachate out-break flowing into the Hudson, unbeliev-able! We photographed it and forwardedour photos to the DEC.” [See photo 12]

JOHN: “I realized after these patrols thatthis series of cases is a perfect example ofwhy Riverkeeper must exist. Over theyears, imagine how many state, federal andlaw enforcement officials have flown upand down the Hudson Valley and lookedonto these very shores, seeing these sameplumes of cement dust and yellow toxicponds. You don’t have to have any scientific

expertise whatsoever to recognize thatthere’s a major problem right in front ofyour eyes. All any one of them would havehad to do is make a phone call. Thesepeople have the duty and the authorityto deal with these problems. But noth-ing happened until Riverkeeper camealong and picked up these cases.”

December 23, 2009JOSH: “The DEC enforcement is handeddown on case #4 against LNC over theleachate in the southern landfill. TheDEC issued yet another Consent Order,fined LNC $150,000, and mandatedthem to set aside $75,000 to fund anenvironmental benefits project. Althoughspecifics are not finalized yet, this moneywill go to a project that will directly bene-fit the environment and the Hudson River.So, we’re up to four enforcements aftertwo citizen tips, nine boat patrols, threehelicopter patrols, two Notices of Intent toSue, six DEC Consent Orders and fiveyears of work. Who knows what we’ll seeor hear of next at these sites?”

JOHN: “We’ll be back upriver with the boatstarting in April, 2010 and will continue tomonitor this area. We’ll follow-up on theexisting enforcement actions, we’ll follow-up on the wetland remediation—we’llfollow-up until it’s done!”

So, take note Riverkeeper and com-munity members, remember this story.It shows your power to takeon some of the nation’s biggestcorporations and advocate forNew York’s most majesticnatural resource.

Although Riverkeeper has thepeople and tools to make these suc-cesses happen, we need the contin-ued support and collaboration of ourmembers and the public in order tocontinue to protect and restore ourwaterways. Together we have truegrassroots power! �

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Last year marked the 400th anniversary of HenryHudson’s arrival on our shores. Riverkeeper hon-ored this quadricentennial anniversary, along withthousands of New Yorkers, at special eventsthroughout the Hudson River Valley.

With a generous grant from the Austen-StokesAncient Americas Foundation, we designed atouring exhibit on the Hudson River–completewith videos, maps, and historic perspective–thattoured the length of Valley, visiting communitiesfrom Manhattan to Albany. We also created anonline version of the exhibit, and its companionbrochure, A Glimpse of the Lenape: the NightBefore, by author Daniel Wolff. If you haven’tseen them yet, visit the “Hudson River Journey”online today at www.riverkeeper.org/hudson-river/hudson-river-journey/.

Riverkeeper’s patrol boat set sail as a partici-pant in the weeklong Hudson River Flotillawhich retraced Henry Hudson’s voyage anddocked at towns along the way where thousandsof river lovers came out to welcome the fleet.Captain John Lipscomb, ever the Riverkeeper,was also pulling his monthly water samples asthe flotilla made its way upriver.

One of the highlights of the Quadricentennialyear was the coming together of the leaders ofRiverkeeper, Scenic Hudson and Clearwater. Thethree Hudson River organizations laid out theirshared vision for our region in the coming decade.That vision includes clean water, abundant fish, thecompletion of GE’s PCB cleanup, protected landsfor public river access, a heritage trail the length ofthe river on both shores, and an economic revivaldriven by investment in green jobs and sustainabledevelopment in our towns and cities.

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News aboutRiverkeeper events,volunteers, donors

and staff

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QuadricentennialCelebrations in 2009

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On Saturday, August 22nd, 2009, George and Joan Hornig welcomed more than 100 guests to theirhome in the Hamptons for Riverkeeper’s first EcoSalon event. The idea behind the EcoSalon is tointroduce the top environmental policy makers to thought leaders in the fields of politics, science, thearts, business and entertainment and to share perspectives on many of our most challenging issues.

After George and Joan welcomed guests, Christie Brinkley shared her personal reasons for beinga long-time supporter of Riverkeeper. Alex Matthiessen introduced Van Jones, President Obama’sformer Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on the Council on EnvironmentalQuality, as the special guest speaker.

Following an engaging talk and Q&A between the guests and Van, the co-host committee joinedGeorge and Joan for a delicious “green dinner,” featuring favorite selections of local fish and poultry,produce and desserts.

Hamptons EcoSalon

Alex Matthiessen, Christie Brinkley andVan Jones at the Hamptons EcoSalon.

Photos 1 and 2: Members of the public enjoying Riverkeeper’sHudson River Journey exhibit. Photo 3: Alex Matthiessen atjoint press conference in celebration of the Quadricentennial.Photo 4: Jeff Rumpf, Executive Director of Hudson River SloopClearwater; Alex Matthiessen, Hudson Riverkeeper & President;and Ned Sullivan, President of Scenic Hudson – proclaimed thatnow is the time to spur increased awareness of the HudsonRiver’s importance as a natural resource and a foundation forcreating a sustainable economic future for the valley.

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23Join our Riverkeeper Facebook Group at www.facebook.com

Junior Council co-chairs Amanda Hearstand Luigi Tadini were joined by BobbyKennedy, III, in hosting Blue on June 11,2009 at the Empire Hotel rooftop deck.The rainy night didn’t dampen the spiritsof the 120 metro-environmentalists whoattended to build upon their interest inRiverkeeper’s clean water mission whileestablishing new advocacy and socialnetworks. As the Junior Council embracesthe Membership call to action, watch forupcoming environmental advocacy andnetworking events.

The 2009 Fishermen’s Balllived up to being “one of NewYork’s liveliest and most antic-ipated events.” The eveninghonored legends and iconsfrom every walk of life. MayorMichael Bloomberg shared hislong term vision for the city’shealthy environmental future;Majora Carter reminded usthat an individual can have adirect impact imposing envi-ronmental solutions; GeorgeHornig and Howard Rubindemonstrated that Riverkeeper’sboard leadership is committedto confronting the most chal-

Mayor BloombergPHOTO © DOROTHY HANDELMAN

Fishermen’s Balllenging issues; and architectWilliam McDonough inspiredus with his coda on ecological-ly, socially, and economicallyintelligent planning.

The annual gala took placeat Pier 60 on Wednesday, April22nd, 2009, with ABC news-caster Sade Baderinwa wel-coming Hudson Riverkeeperand President Alex Matthiessen,board co-chair Robert F.Kennedy Jr. and 650 guests toChelsea Piers. After dinner,Tony Bennett entertainedguests with his legendary voiceand charisma, a fitting tributeto the success of the night,

which raised more than$1.25 million andattracted 60 newMembers to Riverkeeper’sMovement.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mary RichardsonKennedy, Majora Carter, Alex Matthiessen,Ham Fish.PHOTO © DOROTHY HANDELMAN

WestchesterEcoSalon

Richard Gere and Carey Lowell welcomed guests to their charmingBedford Post Inn on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 for Riverkeeper’sWestchester EcoSalon. Generously hosted by Howard and SusanRubin, the event welcomed renowned environmental expert JeffreySachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, tothe barn loft as the featured guest.

Following a thought provoking dialogue between Alex Matthiessenand Jeffrey Sachs, members and guests engaged in a Q&A session.Guests then moved to the Farmhouse, where Howard and Susanhosted a sumptuous dinner in Jeffrey Sachs’ honor.

Photos above, clockwise from top: EcoSalon at Bedford Hills Inn, Riverkeeperattorneys Rebecca Troutman and Phillip Musegaas (far left and far right), ProfessorJeffery D. Sachs and Alex Matthiessen. Host Richard Gere. Alex Matthiessen andProfessor Jeffery D. Sachs discuss issues ranging from water protection to the stateof American politics.

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Junior Council

JOIN US AT THE 20TH SHAD FESTIVAL ANDHUDSON RIVER CELEBRATION

A day of “green” family fun atBoscobel House and Gardens in Garrison, NY

May 16, 2010For ticket information, please visit Riverkeeper.org

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GIFTS OF $100,000AND GREATERGoogle, Inc.Moore Charitable FoundationThe John & Wendy Neu Family FoundationWallace Research FoundationMr. and Mrs. George HornigMr. and Mrs. David KowitzMr. and Mrs. John McEnroeMr. and Mrs. John MooreMr. and Mrs. Jeff ResnickDr. and Mrs. Howard RubinMr. and Mrs. Paul Tudor Jones

GIFTS OF $50,000AND GREATERAIG, Inc.AnonymousThe Louis and Gertrude Feil FamilyHess Foundation, Inc.Mr. and Mrs. Chris DavisMr. Jay McInerney and

Mrs. Anne Hearst-McInerney

GIFTS OF $10,000AND GREATER1199 SEIU New York’s Health &

Human Service UnionAnonymousArizona DrinksAusten-Stokes Ancient Americas FoundationThe Camarda Charitable FoundationCredit Suisse First Boston CorporationElisha & Lynn Wiesel Charitable FundLouise G. Harper Charitable Lead Annuity

TrustHearst CorporationHudson River Improvement Fund of the

Hudson River FoundationJohanette Wallerstein InstituteMarwood Group & Co. USA, LLCNew York Community TrustThe Philanthropic Collaborative, Inc.The Gage FundPier Sixty, LLCPolo Ralph LaurenPolo Ralph Lauren FoundationRobert Sterling Clark FoundationRockefeller Family & AssociatesSteiner Sports MemorabiliaMr. William Abranowicz and

Ms. Andrea RaisfeldMr. and Mrs. John AbplanalpMr. and Mrs. Paul AdlerMr. and Mrs. Bob AscherMr. James Attwood and Ms. Leslie WilliamsMr. Ron Blaylock and Mrs. Judy ByrdMr. Joseph BorenMr. and Mrs. Paul CamardaMr. James CavanaughMr. and Mrs. Craig CogutMr. Jonathan CoonMs. Leslie CornfeldMr. & Mrs. Tom CullenMs. Linda DanielsMr. Justin DerfnerMr. and Mrs. Douglas Durst

Mr. and Mrs. Tom FrestonMr. and Mrs. Drew GuffMr. and Mrs. Richard HandlerMs. Amanda HearstMs. Claudia HolzMr. Robert JohnstonMr. and Mrs. Sheldon KasowitzMr. Dale KutnickMs. Danielle LevyMs. Carolyn Marks BlackwoodMs. Judy McGrath and Mr. Mike CorbettMr. and Mrs. Klaus Morse von HeideggerMr. David MurphyMr. Michael Novogratz and Ms. Sukey CaceresMr. and Mrs. Peter O’HaganMr. Glenn PacchianaMr. Robert PewMr. and Mrs. Robert PittmanMr. and Mrs. Michael RichterMr. and Mrs. Mark RockefellerMr. and Mrs. Charles G. Ward, IIIMr. Peter Witko and Mrs. Janine Beni Witko

GIFTS OF $5,000AND GREATERAcclaro, Inc.AnonymousBloomberg, LPButler Conservation FundThe Hyde and Watson FoundationIn Demand NetworkMacy’s, Inc.Ports America, Inc.The Scherman Foundation, Inc.Sports IllustratedVanity FairThe Vervane FoundationMr. Vickram BediMr. Bruce Blank and Ms. Jill KalmanMr. and Mrs. Robert ButlerMr. Roberto CamachoMr. Yvon ChouinardMr. Kenneth Cole & Mrs. Maria Cuomo ColeMs. Bridget CookeMs. Hillary CullenMr. Roger DavidsonMs. Joan DinowitzMr. and Mrs. Jonathan DurstMr. Edward EmersonMs. EsmeeMr. Hamilton FishMr. Harrison FordMs. Katie FordMr. and Mrs. Paul GuentherMs. Angela HoMs. Donna KaranMr. and Mrs. John KloppMr. Craig Klosk and Mrs. Tricia Kallett KloskMs. Sarah KreitmanMr. Alan MiltonMs. Laura Moore and Mr. Gregory OlsenMr. William O’ReillyMr. and Mrs. Joseph PerellaMr. and Mrs. Jane PreiserMr. Rory RiggsMs. Michele StuartMr. Frederick Tanne

GIFTS OF $2,500AND GREATERThe Alexander Family FoundationAnonymous DonorCommon Sense Fund, Inc.Eileen Fisher, Inc.HBONational Hockey League Alunmni AssociationSchloss Family FoundationTrout Walk FundWhole FoodsMr. Zack Bacon, IIIMr. Andre BalazsMs. Clara BinghamMr. Tonio BurgosMr. Edmund Carpenter and

Ms. Adelaide DeMenilMr. Tom ChaunceyMr. and Mrs. Joseph CohenMr. & Mrs. Mark DaltonMr. and Mrs. Ron DelsenerMr. Peter DeNeufvilleMs. Andrea FilipponeMr. Lawrence Friedman and Ms. Michele HertzMs. Linda Rothenberg GelfondMr. and Mrs. John GilbertMr. and Mrs. H. Peter Haveles, Jr.Mr. Joseph Kahn and Ms. Shannon WuMr. Chris KennedyMr. Robert LessinMr. & Mrs. Peter LevyMr. Gary LippmanMr. & Mrs. John Macfarlane, IIIMs. Sharon MahnMr. and Mrs. Michael MandelMs. Frances ManziDr. and Mrs. John McGrathMr. and Mrs. Dennis MehielMrs. Ann Mesnikoff Crystal and

Mrs. Wendy MesnikoffMr. Brent NicklasMr. and Mrs. Travis O’BrienMs. Susan SarandonMr. and Mrs. John SargentMr. Lee ShawMs. Connie Steensma and Mr. Richard PrinsMr. and Mrs. David SternMr. Stuart SundlunMr. William WalshMr. Peter WolfMs. Joelle Wyser-PratteMr. Steven Yanis

GIFTS OF $1,000AND GREATERAndrew Sabin Family FoundationAronovitz Family FoundationBeatman FoundationBrownington FoundationThe Carl Marks Foundation, Inc.Dickler Family Foundation, Inc.Dixon Talent, Inc.Foundation For Fairer CapitalismHelen Keeler Burke Charitable FoundationIf Hummingbird Foundation, Inc.Johnson Ohana Charitable FoundationKahn Charitable FoundationKPMG

Lend A Hand Foundation, Inc.Lostand FoundationThe Masters School, Inc.MattelMicrosoft Matching Gifts Program/

Giving CampaignMoore Capital Management, LLCNapo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.National Audubon Society, Inc.Natural Gourmet Institute For Food and HealthNorcross Wildlife Foundation, Inc.The Pannonia FoundationParagon Athletic Goods Co., LLCThe Round River FoundationStarwood Hotels & Resorts WorldwideThendara FoundationThe William & Mary Greve Foundation, Inc.Ms. Wendy AbramsMr. Dan AllegrettiMr. Jed AlpertMr. and Mrs. Randolph AltschulerAnonymous DonorMr. and Mrs. Leo ArnaboldiMr. Christopher Bartle and Ms. Eva GartnerMr. Norman BaumanMr. Leonard Benowich and Ms. Ruth RaisfeldMr. and Mrs. Seth BergsteinMr. and Mrs. Robert BesharMr. and Mrs. Kenneth BuckfireMrs. Julia Vance CarterMr. and Mrs. Gary ColelloMr. and Mrs. George ColonyMs. Diane DavisMs. Amy DesmondMr. and Mrs. Larry DivneyMr. Jason DuranMr. and Mrs. Daniel EhrlichMr. and Mrs. David ElenowitzMr. and Ms. Stephen FlavinDr. Nathaniel Maclyn Floyd, Jr.Mr. Ethan GarberMr. and Mrs. Larry GrafsteinMr. and Mrs. Jeffrey GreenblattMs. Deborah HarryMs. Gillian Hearst-ShawMr. Edmund HollanderDr. Mady Hornig and Dr. Ian LipkinMs. Clarice HunterMr. and Mrs. Robert JacobsonMs. Patricia JaramilloMs. Anna S. JeffreyMr. and Mrs. Cal JohnsonMr. and Mrs. David KatzMr. George KaufmanMs. Yukako KawataMs. Jean Kenna HeinsMr. William LauMr. Jason LauterMs. Lyn Leone, Esq.Mr. Robert Lessin and Ms. Clara WongMr. and Mrs. Scott LindsayMs. Linda LucaMr. and Mrs. Christopher MalloyMr. and Mrs. Timon MalloyMs. Kristin MannionMr. and Mrs. Peter MatthiessenMr. and Mrs. John McCooeyMr. Raymond J. McGuire

With Gratitude and AppreciationRiverkeeper gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions of our private corporate and public supportersand members, who number more than 5,000 a year. Space limitations and eco-wise production standards allow usto present donors of $500 and greater in this presentation.This listing reflects contributions received betweenJuly 1st, 2008 and June 30th, 2009. We are grateful to all our members. For a full listing, please visit Riverkeeper.org.

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Mr. and Mrs. Sanjeev MehraMr. and Mrs. Anthony MelchiorMr. and Mrs. Donald MeltzerMs. Florence MilchMrs. Nicole Miller and Mr. Kim TaipaleMr. Michael MitchellMr. Allen MonksMr. and Mrs. Garrett MoranMr. Andrew MorseMs. Ingrid NagyMr. and Mrs. Alvaro NoboaMr. Nels OlsonMs. Barbara PearceMr. Alvin Perlmutter and Ms. Joan KonnerMs. Leslie Peyton GordonMr. Michael Reeber and Mrs. Nicole GirouxMr. and Mrs. Ira ResnickMs. Dee Dee RicksProf. and Mrs. Nicholas RobinsonMr. Hartley Rogers and Mrs. Amy Fall-RogersMr. and Mrs. Jonathan RoseMrs. Mary Calder RowerMr. and Mrs. Eric RudinMs. Eva RuzinMr. and Mrs. Paul ShafferMr. and Mrs. John ShemiltMr. Scott ShermanMr. Michael Shimkin and Ms. Barbara FioritoMr. and Mrs. Allan ShopeMr. Jay Snyder and Ms. Tracy MaxwellMs. Martha StewartMr. Andrew StoneMr. David StoneMs. Carolyn SummersMr. Jack R. Swain, IIIMr. Jeffrey Tannenbaum and Ms. Nisa GellerMs. Laurie TischMs. Grace Lyu VolckhausenMr. Tim WallachMr. and Mrs. Steven WeinsteinF. WhiteMr. Thomas WoltzMr. Robert Zimmerman

GIFTS OF $500 ANDGREATERBlue Sky Studios, Inc.Capital Trust, Inc.First Unitarian Congregational Society in

BrooklynGarrison Station Plaza, Inc.Goldman Sachs & Co. Matching Gifts ProgramJewish Communal FundMTB Group of FundsPREZ Land Charitable TrustRobert & Jane Harrison Family FoundationThe Esther and Morton Wohlgemuth

Foundation, Inc.Vallot ConsultingMr. Jon AlagemMs. Kathryn AlexanderMr. and Mrs. Robert BatemanMr. and Mrs. Robert BelauMr. Tony Bennett and Mr. Danny BennettDr. Joyce Brown and Mr. Carl McCallMr. and Mrs. Cass CanfieldMs. Aimee CarrollMr. Don Casturo

Mrs. Ellen Chesler and Mr. Matt MallowMs. Judith ChiaraMr. Paul Childs and Ms. Berit SchumannMs. Sarah Cogan and Mr. Douglas EvansMr. John ComasMr. John Travis ComptonMs. Anna Coxe ToogoodMr. and Mrs. Robert CunninghamMs. Ann Dexter JonesKatarina and Arnaud DuplessyMr. and Mrs. Douglas DurstMs. Leah EdmundsMs. Janet FisherMr. and Mrs. William GeorgesMr. Jerome GewirtzMr. Patrick GrantMr. Robert Greenfield and Ms. Lesa LevineMs. Elizabeth GrimaldiMr. Jeffrey GutzwillerMr. Graham HansonMr. and Mrs. James HarrisMs. Michelle Hobart and Mr. Justin PeyserMr. Peter Hurwitz and Ms. Donna PylmanMs. Anne IsaakMr. Mark JanssensMs. Kristina JohnsonMr. George KellnerMr. and Mrs. Michael KempnerSenator and Mrs. John KerryMr. Fred KoelschMs. Brooke LaughlinMr. and Mrs. Nicholas LudingtonMr. Dean MaffeiMr. and Mrs. John Scott MatthewsMr. Alex MatthiessenMs. Patricia McGovernMs. Carolyn McGuireMr. and Mrs. Jason McManusMs. Judy MillerMr. and Mrs. Toby MyersonMr. Jeffrey NachowitzMr. John NawrockiMr. William PlotchMr. Michael PoserMs. Maria RagucciMr. and Mrs. Robert RileyMr. and Mrs. Charles RosenthalMr. Martin RottmannMr. Alex SchmelzerMs. Frances SchultzMr. Arnold Schwarzenegger and

Ms. Maria ShriverMr. and Mrs. Robert SorosMr. Kevin SpathMr. and Mrs. Marc SternMs. Janet StonerMr. Salvatore StrazzulloMr. Luke SullivanMr. and Mrs. Mark TaylorMr. and Mrs. Joseph TonettiMs. Jacqueline UrraMs. Laveen VenugopalanMr. Francois VuilleumierMr. Roger Weisberg and

Mrs. Karen FreedmanMs. Nadine Witkin

During 2009, John Lipscomb, Riverkeeper Patrol Boat Operator,and Sr. Carol De Angelo, SC, a member of Religious OrganizationsAlong the River (ROAR), coordinated three boat trips to educatemembers to issues that affect the life and quality of the HudsonRiver and the many communities that live within and along it.During these river journeys and conversations with John, we sawclearly the need for the “long view” and developed a deeper aware-ness of what we expressed in our 1998 ROAR mission statementand which we strive to live out: “we share kinship with all creation”and “human beings and the natural world must go into the future asa single sacred community or both will perish.” These quotes fromROAR’s mission statement are from the writings of Thomas Berrywhose life and work have greatly influenced the members of ROAR.

ROAR has been involved in many Hudson River issues over theyears. Yet, for those on these Riverkeeper trips, time spent on theHudson River offered new perspectives and insights. We realized weknew little about the shad, the eel, the Altantic sturgeon, and thecomplexity, diversity and wonder of life in the waters of theHudson. We felt drawn to educate ourselves and advocate on behalfof life forms living in the Hudson River who are voiceless and haveneed for someone to speak for them, especially the young of specieswho are in peril. ROAR’s mission statement calls us to support oneanother in using our lands (and we include water in this) with anattitude of respect for the beauty and integrity of Earth. So, ROAR,through its Hudson River Issues Subcommittee, is educating itself onshad/herring issues and advocating on behalf of them.

ROAR is a network of religious congregations and organiza-tions, many of whom have property in the Hudson Valley of NewYork State. Representatives from member congregations/organizationsmeet four times a year and communicate regularly through emails,phone and subcommittee work. We collaborate with many groups(one of which is Riverkeeper) who share common concerns andvalues. We have been especially inspired and challenged by JohnLipscomb’s dedication and commitment to the Hudson River andits communities of life. He has helped put a face (the shad) on thatpart of our mission statement that reads, “human beings and thenatural world must go into the future as a single sacred communityor both will perish.”Written by Carol De Angelo, SC, on behalf of ROAR, February 19, 2010.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT

PHO

TO

BY

GIL

ESA

SHFO

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.CO

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ROAR members aboard the Riverkeeper patrol boat.

A Statement From ReligiousOrganizations Along the River

VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT:

Riverkeeper Ambassador andChampion Programs Set SailBy Heartie Look

Over the past year, Riverkeeper’s volunteers have truly exem-

plified what it means to be a guardian of the Hudson and

its surrounding watershed areas.With the help of volunteers,

we were able to tour our Hudson River Journey exhibit

throughout the spring and summer, educating the public about

the local water resources we protect.

Our time spent in

areas as far north as

Albany and as far

south as the Big

Apple spurred us to

think of ways we

can make our ties

within these com-

munities stronger

and build a greater

network of support.

To achieve these

goals, we started

the successful Community Ambassador and Champion pro-

grams this past fall. Ambassadors are the community organiz-

ers and representatives of Riverkeeper, while Champions help

to raise the necessary financial support for Riverkeeper’s advo-

cate activities on the water, in the courts, and at our headquar-

ters. Our current Ambassadors and Champions are made up of

a team of 15 leaders from all walks of life.Two of our

Ambassadors are authors who take Riverkeeper with them on

the road, speaking about our mission at their book signing

events, and giving out Riverkeeper bookmarks with each book

they sell. Another Ambassador will become a Champion this

April when she opens a collaborative eco-retail shop in

Manhattan, donating proceeds to Riverkeeper. And yet another

Ambassador will be connecting us to the fishing and yacht

clubs along the Hudson, imparting crucial knowledge about the

health and history of the river to its members.

In addition to our Ambassador and Champion programs,

our other activities continued to provide invaluable support,

including our Ring up the River program, in which “River

Ringers” made friendly calls to our members to ensure we had

their correct contact information and thanked them for their

ongoing support. Riverkeeper volunteers are shining examples

of how people can roll up their sleeves and work together for

clean water.

26

Volun

teerCorner

Visit www.riverkeeper.org and sign-up for our E-Newsletter and E-Alerts to stay current on news and events.

BY TINA POSTERLI

At the end of 2009, Riverkeeper launched itsfirst-ever logo design contest in order to cast awider net for a fresh, new perspective to sym-bolically represent the essence of who we are asan organization.

We received nearly 500 entries, which wereboiled down to a final few in a very close com-petition. The winning design was by Sabine Reichert, a Hastings-on-Hudson resident, whose image instantly captured the keyelements of what we stand for in one succinct symbol.

Sabine received her Masters in Illustration and CommunicationDesign from the HAW College in Hamburg, Germany. She hasworked as a Graphic Designer for 15 years in New York freelanc-ing for clients in the health and beauty packaging and softwareand engineering sectors. Some of her more prominent clients haveincluded Unilever, Colgate and Del Laboratories.

Following is a Q&A with Sabine about her experience:

What made you decide to enter the Riverkeeper new logo contest?“I’ve been on the Riverkeeper mailing list, and in one of theeNewsletters, I followed a link to the contest. I’ve never been bigon contests and haven’t entered one since much earlier on in mycareer, but this one caught my interest. I felt that if I won, I couldreally make a contribution to an organization I believe in.”

How did you come up with the concept of your design? “I likeclean, simple ideas. The Riverkeeper logo was a challenge, as itneeded to represent a spectrum of elements in one symbol. I knewit was important to correctly identify these elements and definewhere the emphasis should be. For my final version of the logo,I started dividing a water drop that symbolized water in general,with a zigzag line for the river. I then built in the importance of thefish. By colorizing and shaping the left side, I symbolized the impactof our water on the people living communities on the land.”

What did winning the contest mean to you? “I enjoyed thechallenge of the contest and the opportunity to design a logo foran organization that is so relevant to me. Because of my Germanorigin, I have a tendency to be an environmentalist. I am aware ofhow important the work of Riverkeeper is and am honored tohave my design chosen to represent this organization.”

}Meet Riverkeeper Logo ContestWinner Sabine Reichert

OurNewLook

Riverkeeper volunteers at Reflected Lightart auction.

©D

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27

BALANCE SHEET* As of June 30, 2009

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION* Year ended June 30, 2009

LIABILITIESAccounts payable $ 268,388

Total liabilities $ 268,388

NET ASSETSUnrestricted $ 1,252,265Temporarily restricted $ 372,038Total Net Assets $ 1,624,303

Total Liabilities and Net Assets $ 1,892,691

67%Cash and cashequivalents25%

Pledgesreceivable

6% Property & Equipment

66% Unrestricted

20%Temporarilyrestricted

14% Accounts payable

SUPPORT AND REVENUEContributions $ 1,409,961Special events $ 1,289,419Donated legal services $ 370,571Other revenue $ 40,654

Total support and revenue $ 3,110,605

EXPENSESProgram services $ 2,964,940Management $ 199,331Fundraising $ 698,960Total Expenses $ 3,863,231

Surplus/Increase in Net Assets $ (752,626)

45%Contributions

42% Special events

12% Donatedlegal services

1% Other Revenue

77%Program services

5% Management

18% Fundraising

*BASED ON THE AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2009REPORTS PREPARED BY KATARINA DUPLESSY, VP/COO

ASSETSCash and cash equivalents $ 1,279,753Pledges receivable $ 472,349Property and Equipment (net) $ 106,939Prepaid expenses and deposits $ 33,650

Total Assets $ 1,892,691

2% Prepaid expensesand deposits

828 South BroadwayTarrytown, NY 10591

Getting in touchwith Riverkeeper

Address828 South BroadwayTarrytown, NY 10591

Phone914.478.4501 / 1-800-21river

Websitewww.riverkeeper.org

E MailInfo@riverkeeper.org}

Nonprofit Org.US Postage

PAIDWhite Plains, NYPermit No. 7033