R.O.A.R. joins with RVK to protect Hudson River Fish

Religious Organizations Along the Hudson River (ROAR) is a group of nine congregations with property along the Hudson. We’ve had ROAR members aboard on the Tappan Zee, at Indian Point and at Kingston – three outings with 22 guests. Their mission statement reads, in part, “we share kinship with all creation” and “human beings and the natural world must go into the future as a single sacred community or both will perish.” Riverkeeper and ROAR are working together on shad and herring protection and restoration. They are wonderful partners and we are very grateful for their help.

Successful Enforcement on Newtown Creek

We observed glass and mixed paper and plastic labeling falling off a deck barge at Sims Municipal Recycling facility on Newtown Creek. We contacted Sims management and within ONE DAY had a response from the facility manager and his staff. They immediately shifted to deep hopper barges. Great response – problem solved. We wish all polluters behaved this way.

Industrial polluter near Saugerties busted!

These photos were taken at an industrial site north of Saugerties, where industrial by-products have been illegally discharged for years into a large secluded fresh water wetland, which flows into the Hudson. The pH of the effluent is 12.3, which is close to the pH of Clorox! The wetland is completely dead. This case started with a tip from a local resident in 2005. We conducted multiple boat and aerial patrols, which turned up TWO separate industrial pollution sources. Details are omitted here because these cases are active and being monitored by Riverkeeper. But you’ll be pleased to know that both polluters were BUSTED. Both discharges have been stopped and the wetland will be restored.

Lovett Power Plant

Lovett Power Plant. No gunderboom barrier has been rigged as required by the plant's permit to exclude fish, larvae and eggs. This plant has shut down because of multiple air and water intake permit violations.

There is no flow at the intake or discharge points. No steam venting at any stacks. No more air pollution and fish kills from this dinosaur.

Sunk boat pulled from river

Two boats were left anchored off Piermont this winter. During the one cold snap the power boat sank and overturned. No doubt the bilge water and pump froze so she filled enough to back flood through some hull fitting.

Riverkeeper investigated locally to find which marina had moored the boat. In partnership with Piermont Police Department Riverkeeper contacted the marina operator who at first denied ownership or responsibility. He said that the boat had been taken by a title search company and that the prior owners had moored it off the town for the winter to avoid storage fees.

The title search company did not return calls from Riverkeeper.

Riverkeeper persuaded the marina operator that it was very much in his best interest to refloat the wreck and haul it ashore to prevent a very imminent DEC spill response team response and subsequent law suit to recover costs for remediation and recovery.

3/8/08

The boat was refloated by the marina operator. The cabin is crushed because the boat overturned in shallow water and at low tide the cabin top was hitting the bottom.

3/12/08

Boat has been hauled ashore.

As a good will gesture to the marina RK arranged for free disposal of the wreck through our relationship with "Keep Rockland Beautiful".

The marina removed the fuel tank, engine, stern drive and all fluids - all items prohibited at the dump/transfer station. We are pleased that the wreck was quickly salvaged. This event sets a new, higher standard of marina responsibility in Piermont.

Illegal dumping in Garrison stopped

Photos by John LipscombHudson Riverkeeper & President Alex Matthiessen joined the patrol to check on pollution reports. He also met with citizens in Hudson seeking assistance with details in their Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP).

Before

We recorded this Garrison dumping site in April. After relaying the images to the office, Riverkeeper staff insisted that local Garrison officials require an immediate clean-up (or “stop work order”) on this construction site. Garrison officials agreed and the site was quickly cleared.



After

Checking the water quality in Newtown Creek

We did sampling in the East River with Lamont-Doherty's Greg O'Mullen and his crew, as part of our water quality pilot program. We also patrolled with City Limits Reporter and a PBS film crew.

Discovered a new oil absorb that Exxon installed at Meeker Avenue. This is at the eastern end of the original plume which is migrating. We suspect that the plume has found a new route into the creek.

At the east branch of Newtown Creek we found a discharge from a cement plant. We have had a successful prosecution of another cement plant on the Creek. This is a second plant we’re investigating. We’ve commented on this discharge and it ended. It has since started up again.

A small victory on Newtown Creek

Photos by John Lipscomb

On 3/27/07 we returned to Newtown Creek and found a recycling barge losing some plastic material through a tear in its protective netting. We called Basil Seggos at Riverkeeper who put us in contact with an executive with the company.

Within 15 minutes of contacting the executive we saw a crew board the barge to clean up the material and repair the netting.

What a great response! It's not often that industry responds so eagerly.

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

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.

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

Rockland shoreline cleanup

We partnered with volunters from "Keep Rockland Beautiful" to clean up three small beaches between Nyack and Haverstraw which are reachable only on foot or by boat. We collected about 10 yards of trash - mostly plastic drink bottles, plastic dock foam and tires with rims still attached.