Catch of the Day 4/22

Picked this up the other night in the Port of Albany.

It’s a big molded foam filled dock float. Bigger than most.

It’s partially full of water so it’s heavy – it was even a grunt for the winch.

There was a striper fishing boat standing by when I winched it aboard. One of them said “that’s a keeper.” Funny guy.

Landslide into Wetland at Residential Development in Milton

The above picture is of a development in Milton, just north of Newburgh, on the ridge above the river and a recent landslide.

Property owners often cut the trees on the bank, for the view, and then often the bank collapses.

Note that the CSX freight rail line runs along the shore here. A small marsh has been captured between the bank and the rails. There is a small culvert/outlet for the marsh, too small to keep the marsh healthy, just big enough to keep the marsh drained so the railroad won’t get flooded. Although really compromised, these little stifled marshes still provide much needed habitat. This marsh just got trashed by the landslide.

We’ve all heard the expression, “death by a thousand cuts.”

This is one.

Shoreline Dumping on the Harlem

Last week we were heading southbound on the Harlem River. WCBS Producer Mary McGeever was aboard interviewing Riverkeeper Investigator Josh Verleun for a story about illegal shoreline dumping. We were showing her sites on the Harlem River and on Newtown Creek.Here are examples on the Harlem River, Bronx side:

Patrolling Pays Off

Today was our first patrol of Newtown Creek for our 2012 season.  Over the years, we've dealt with a number of businesses which have seen fit to dump waste material into the creek.  This afternoon we came across a bunch of Styrofoam sheets discarded on the bank in front of a glass company.  

Phillip Musegaas, head of the Hudson River Program at Riverkeeper who was aboard today called the business and before we left, management was outside. 

"This stuff doesn't belong to us but we're going to take care of it right away."

Patrolling pays off.

Easter

On Easter Sunday we removed the winter cover and temporary building that was housing the boat during winter repairs. A more detailed winter repairs post is on its way but for now, we're super excited to be getting back out on the water!

Update on Sinking Staten Island Ferry in New Windsor

Last week we received another update on the sinking retired Staten Island ferry in New Windsor, near Newburgh. This time, our watchdog in the area took photos of the ferry from his boat. See those below.

From: BA
To: John Lipscomb
Subject: Ferry in Newburgh

John,

Returned to find the ferry in an even more precarious position, listing more offshore. Launched my boat today in Newburgh and took the attached photos. Took a close look inside the oil containment boom and could find no signs or smell of oil. aft, I heard that the owners had a salvage plan, I will keep my eye on it. 

To read more about this sinking ferry, click here.

Storm Drains Mitigate Pollution in Nyack

As the sampling season rapidly approaches, we're reminded of how much trash we pickup each time we're out on the river.  Trash often washes into the river during rainstorms from the streets and our communities through drains like the one below.

Nyack is replacing these traditional open-sided storm drains with these newer models which will prevent plastic trash from entering the river via storm drains.

Bravo and thank you Nyack!

Here's what they look like:

Hudson Valley residents can join cleanups in their own communities as part of the Riverkeeper Sweep on June 2. For more information, visit riverkeeper.org/sweep.