8 Bridges Swim in the Harbor

Yesterday we had the opportunity to meet up with the 8 Bridges Swim in New York Harbor as they approached their final destination at the Verrazano.  

Now in its second year, the 8 Bridges Swim ran for a week from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge near Catskill to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, covering 120 miles of river.  Part of the proceeds from the swim benefit Riverkeeper's water quality program.

There's something pretty magical about seeing all these folks in the water, swimming to raise awareness for the Hudson River as giant tugs and tankers go by. I always feel a bit like a bug in a bowling alley when patrolling through the Harbor, so I can't even imagine what it's like to be swimming!

Credit: Greg Porteus

Credit: Rob Friedman

Credit: Rob Friedman

Cheers to our friends at Launch 5 and all participants for another successful year of swimming for a clean Hudson River!

Cement runoff into storm drain in Brooklyn

About a week ago we received a watchdog report from one of our volunteers who lives in Brooklyn.  She reported that there was a cement slurry running into a storm drain from a cement facility near Newtown Creek in East Williamsburg.

We forwarded her report to DEC enforcement and an officer from DEC Region 2 was assigned to investigate.

This morning we received a call from the responding DEC police officer who issued a summons to the cement facility property owner for the concrete slurry running into the storm drain.

This is a great story of how effective watchdog reports can be. We obviously can't be everywhere at once, so receiving these types of reports from citizens throughout the region is crucial to protecting our waterways.

To learn more about how to be an effective watchdog click here.

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:

Water Quality Talk in Brooklyn

Last week Riverkeeper was at the Brooklyn Brewery discussing local water quality issues with a full room of area clean water advocates.

Riverkeeper staff and volunteers were joined by

City Councilman Steve Levin and other community leaders.

The "How Is the Water?" talk was sponsored by the Newtown Creek Alliance and the brewery. The Brooklyn activist network turned out in force, including folks from the New York City Water Trail Association and the North Brooklyn Boat Club, with great questions and comments on the state of the creek and a clear passion for its future renewal.

After Riverkeeper's presentation, City Councilman Stephen Levin announced that he has introduced Sewage Right to Know legislation for New York City. Welcome news, especially for the paddlers, swimmers and fishermen in the room!

If you missed this event you have another chance to catch Riverkeeper's "How's the Water?" presentation this Thursday at the REI Soho store in Manhattan at 7pm. We hope to see you there!

Newtown Creek Video

This video shows the Newtown Creek in 2006, at the time when Riverkeeper and our partners in the community were investigating ExxonMobil's Greenpoint oil spill, one of the largest in U.S. history, and other pollution.


(Video via Environmental Countdown)
Today, the creek has a brighter future, thanks to the November 2010 settlement with ExxonMobil that requires the company to clean up its pollution in the soil, water and air, and to spend nearly $20 million on environmental benefit projects in the area. Riverkeeper continues to investigate pollution, ranging from sewage to oil; and we will continue to bring polluters to justice until the creek is restored.

Non-Point Source Pollution

You’ve heard people say that the River has suffered “death by a thousand cuts.”  Here is what one looks like.

I was in NYC a while back and there was a stream of water with fuel or oil in it running down alongside the curb into a storm drain. Source unknown.

Imagine all the fuel and oil leaks from vehicles and machinery all across the nation. I once read that each year in the US, fuel from non point source spills like this one equal the 11 million gallon EXXON Valdez spill in 1989.