Oil Sheen on Newtown Creek

Perphaps this sign should read "No Wake - Pollution in Progress".

Newtown Creek

Patroled Newton Creek with Riverkeeper staff and the Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Stranded Containment Boom Retrieved

12th: Patrol from Nyack to Ossining. Check stranded containment boom on village waterfront. Confirm that the boom is not oil contaminated before retrieval.

17th: Retrieved a section of stranded containment boom from the village shoreline and towed it to the public launch ramp. Pulled it ashore with help from several members of the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club. The village DPW agreed to dispose of the boom once we got it to the ramp.

Photos by John Lipscomb

Dumping in the waterways around Manhattan

Re-photograph site where trash is being dumped into the Harlem River at a property owned by a church in the Bronx. Riverkeeper is trying to negotiate a cleanup without resorting to litigation.

Also, photographed three wrecked pleasure craft at Dykeman Marina on Manhattan. Poor management at this marina results in one or two boats becoming stranded or sunk each season. The marina is owned by NY City Parks.

Photos by John Lipscomb

Water Quality Monitoring Study 2006

Water quality and sewage indicator sampling with Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University team - lower estuary from Nyack to NY Harbor. Sample at Sparkill Creek and Piermont, the mouth of the Saw Mill River, at the Yonkers sewer plant discharge, in the Harlem and East Rivers, in Newtown Creek at two locations and at the Battery. This pilot sampling program began during the summer. The preliminary data collected will be used to seek funding for a long term, full estuary study which Riverkeeper and Lamont-Doherty hope to begin early in 2007.

Photos by John Lipscomb

Painting Riverscapes and Collecting Trash

Patrol Nyack to Black Beach at Haverstraw. Picked up 5 cubic yards of trash and tires collected and bagged last month by students from the Greenmeadow School.

George Washington Bridge

Patrol from Nyack to Yonkers with landscape painter John Deerman. Research and photograph several areas for large scale riverscapes which John intends to paint.

Large Styrofoam Blocks found in lower estuary

Patrolled Nyack to Newtown Creek.

En-route to Newtown Creek found approximately one hundred and fifty 12" by 12" by 8' white styrofoam blocks washed up on the shore between Riverdale and Hastings. Begin investigation.

Patroled the creek with Basil Seggos and a film crew from "Court TV."

Dredging Fix at Alpine & Englewood Boat Basins

Patroled the Alpine and Englewood Boat Basins. Both are owned by the Palisades Interstate Park (PIP). In the past PIP has been conducting maintenance dredging at both marinas in a manner which appears to capture dredged sediment, but in fact, releases it right back into the Hudson through hidden discharge pipes. Riverkeeper has succeeded in pressuring the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to tighten controls. Today we photo-documented changes being made to the dredge settling ponds to comply with the new permit.






Photos by John Lipscomb

Flooding in Catskill

Patrol southbound from Waterford to Kingston and then from Kingston to Nyack. Conduct our usual pollen transport sampling and CTD profiles (salinity levels and temperature throughout the water column at approx 5 mile intervals). It was a pretty windy and rough ride home this time.

Swans heading south. Upper Hudson near Catskill

Photos by John Lipscomb

Working with DEC Fisheries Scientists

Boat docked at Albany

Riverkeeper Boat Captain John Lipscomb, Riverkeeper President Alex Matthiessen and Andy Kahle, Fishery Scientist from the NYS DEC

Patrol from Hudson to Waterford with Alex Matthiessen aboard and Andy Kahnle from NYS DEC Fisheries. Andy has been studying Hudson River fish and underwater habitat for decades. The more Riverkeeper can learn from people like Andy the better we can help the river/estuary ecosystem.

Collapsing House Barge Investigated

Esopus Creek houseboat barge

Patrol from Kingston to Hudson with Alex Matthiessen aboard. At Saugerties we launched the skiff and photographed an abandoned “house-barge” about which we have received a number of complaints. We also investigated the sewer plant outfall/discharge inside Catskill Creek which is also the subject of numerous complaints.

Photos by John Lipscomb

Beauty and the Beast

Swan at Newtown Creek sewage treatment plant.

Finding more sewage and trash from Combined Sewer Overflows on the creek – NYC alone has 700 of them.

Watchdog

Photos by John Lipscomb

Buster gets to be a "Watch Dog" for a day, on a trip to fuel up in Tarrytown.

Riverkeeper's New York WaterFest

Photos by John Lipscomb

The start of the kayak race.

Flotilla's on the move down the Hudson River to North Cove Marina

Towing the rafts back to Pier 96

Riverkeeper's New York WaterFest. We had great luck with the weather. In the morning the “Fletcher” followed the start of the kayak race with guests and press aboard. Then she escorted the raft paddle from Pier 96 to North Cove. After the awards ceremony she towed the rafts (17) back to Pier 96. The day worked out wonderfully.

Crane Barge at Clinton Point Quarry

9/20/06: Continue northbound patrol from Garrison to Saugerties. Begin investigation of a crane barge at the Clinton Point stone quarry found backfilling a underwater fissure adjacent to the quarry with large amounts of crushed stone. It is not clear whether the quarry has a permit for this operation.

Photos by John Lipscomb

Waterkeeper from Beijing, China patrols the Hudson

Photo by John Lipscomb

Laurence Luo, Beijing's future Waterkeeper on patrol on the Hudson.

Oil, Tires & MTV on Newtown Creek

Nyack to Newtown Creek. Patrol the creek with RvK staff, two still photographers and a MTV video crew. There is a lot of oil and sheen on the creek today.

Looking down over the deck edge at oil on Newtown Creek.

Trash, tires and debris falling (or being pushed) into Newtown Creek from a property owned by New York City. Riverkeeper is contactig the MTA which occupies the site.

DEC Fisheries onboard to retrieve Sturgeon tracking equipment

DEC Fisheries staff with their sturgeon tracking hydrphone on deck.

Nyack to Hastings. Assist staff from the NYS DEC Fisheries Unit to retrieve a sturgeon tracking hydrophone and its mooring. The float buoy had separated from the instrument which was lying on the bottom. The DEC is studying the feeding, spawning and wintering grounds of Atlantic Sturgeon to better protect them.

Oil at Metro North depot in Croton

Patrol the Croton River at the Metro North rail yard. Oil is percolating out of the sediment at a storm drain which runs under the railroad property. Riverkeeper has begun investigation/discussion with Metro North.

Kingston Lighthouse

Kingston Lighthouse at the entrance to Rondout Creek

Patrol southbound from Waterford to Nyack; overnight on Rondout Creek.

Some fish like it...

A fisherman catching bait fish at the Orangetown sewer outfall. This plant
is in violation and discharges "material" which attracts small bait fish.

Outing on the Tappan Zee with several new “Watchdogs” and Sabrina, our watchdog coordinator. Patrol Grandview, Piermont and the combined Orangetown / S. Rockland sewage treatment discharges near Piermont Pier.

Smells like a laundromat

GE Silicones discharge at Waterford and the DEC pollution discharge
permit sign. The discharge smelled like a laudromat.

Also patrol Fiona Island with the skiff. It’s a small island on the Hudson north of Waterford which was willed to RK several years ago as nature habitat – no problems noted.

Moodna Creek and biting flies

Early morning on Moodna Creek looking south at Storm King Mountain.

A man hole to access the sewer main which runs under/through the marsh at
Moodna Creek.

Patrol Moodna Creek with the skiff – we’ve had numerous reports of untreated sewage in this creek but there is none today. Afterwards, continue with the “Fletcher” north to Catskill. Air temperatures are over 100 degrees today and a swarm of small, heat crazed biting flies followed the boat all the way. We’re dreaming of winter.

Testing real time water quality monitoring

Patrol from Nyack to Garrison with Columbia University/ Lamont-Doherty microbiologists aboard to measure various water quality indicators including bacteria from sewage. This is the start of a pilot program to determine whether “real time” water quality monitoring is feasible using Riverkeeper’s patrol boat.

Church dumping into Harlem River

7/7/06

7/26/06

This is a Church owned property on the Harlem River at Highbridge. We're told it's used as a dog kennel for exotic hunting dogs and as a homeless shelter. Whatever - they're using the Harlem River as a dumpster. Police, DEC and DEP boats go by this all the time. We've included two photos to show that new material is being dumped all the time. RK has contacted the Church.