Clearwater
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Andy Mele, Clearwater executive director (845) 454-7673
x 121
October, 18, 2002 Margaret Gifford, Riverkeeper communications director (845) 424-4149 x 221
Jay Burgess, Scenic Hudson communications
director (845) 473-4440 x 222
Jeff Jones, Environmental Advocates of
NY communications director (518) 462-5526 x233
Heather Baker-Sullivan, League of Women
Voters (914) 667-3047
water quality specialist
Keep the Promise
of Clean Water!
Riverkeeper, Clearwater, Scenic Hudson,
Environmental Advocates and the League of Women Voters of New York State Launch
“Clean Water Agenda for the Hudson River
Valley”
Albany, NY – Today, on the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, Riverkeeper and Clearwater and other leading environmental and community groups including Scenic Hudson, Environmental Advocates, and the League of Women Voters of New York State joined together to celebrate the public health and environmental benefits of the Clean Water Act, to call on the Bush Administration to stop dismantling the Act, and to launch a renewed “Clean Water Agenda for the Hudson River Valley.” The groups outlined the most severe threats facing the Hudson River and surrounding communities and called on Gov. George E. Pataki and state agencies to enforce ongoing Clean Water Act violations and renew vigilance to uphold the Act throughout the Hudson River Valley and the New York City watershed areas.
“The last 30 years has taught us that the health of the river and of our communities is inextricably linked,” said Alex Matthiessen, executive director of Riverkeeper. “Cleaning up the Hudson River has brought economic vitality back to the Hudson River Valley and enriched the lives of everyone living along the banks of this magnificent river. The proposed Clean Water Agenda will help focus state officials on their public trust obligation to protect the health of New York’s waters.”
“Clean water has been established in law as a basic right
of all communities,” said Andy Mele, Clearwater executive director, “Yet the
Bush administration is quietly eroding the foundations of the Clean Water
Act. By placing cost-benefit tests ahead of the technology-forcing provisions
of the Clean Water Act, the Bush White House is tearing the heart out of our
best environmental laws. They are
making it easier for polluters to pollute.”
Keeping the Promise
of the Clean Water Act in the Hudson River, Estuary and Surrounding Watersheds
The Clean Water Act has been the
single most important tool in the Hudson’s remarkable recovery. The Act’s
goals were clear: to make all waters safe for fishing and swimming and to
end the discharge of pollutants into our waters. The Hudson River has seen
dramatic recovery since the 1960s. Back then, the River was considered an
open sewer. Today, it is the only large river in the North Atlantic that retains
spawning stocks of its entire collection of historical migratory species.
These fish support recreational and commercial fisheries along the
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Clean Water Agenda
for the Hudson River Valley
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Atlantic Coast worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet, 30 years after the passage of this Act and despite this progress, the Hudson still faces threats from polluters. Current state violations of the Clean Water Act include dumping industrial waste and raw sewage into the River, allowing antiquated power plants to continue killing aquatic life by the millions, destroying critical wetlands through overdevelopment and allowing unregulated stormwater runoff to pollute our watershed and threaten our drinking water.
We call upon the government of the state of New York to enforce compliance with the Clean Water Act in the following areas:
- Sewage and Combined Sewage Overflows – Upgrade the Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO) systems in New York City, Albany (and other cities along the Hudson) to eliminate the routine discharge into the Hudson of raw untreated sewage.
- Polluted stormwater discharges – Design and implement strong Phase II stormwater permits for construction sites statewide and for all regulated storm sewer systems, including a designation of the East-of-Hudson watershed as a regulated area, which reduces stormwater discharges to the maximum extent practicable.
- Power plant fish kills – Retire, or require upgrades to, old power plants using once-thru cooling water intake systems which, in violation of the Clean Water Act, kill billions of Hudson River fish each year.
- Wetland
destruction – Continue to strictly enforce NYS wetlands laws, with additional
efforts to prohibit all activities in wetlands and wetland buffers, to prohibit
artificially constructed wetlands, and to pressure the Bush Administration
to recommit to its “no net loss” policy on federally protected wetlands.
On this anniversary, we
must not only celebrate the successes of the Clean Water Act, but work to
ensure that our state remains firmly committed to achieving the Act's unmet
promise of clean water for all New York citizens. By working together, state agencies, environmental groups and public
citizens can identify polluters and bring them to into compliance.
Clean water is essential to our health, our economy, our environment, and our way of life. The 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act gives us a chance to renew the Act’s promise of clean and safe water for everyone. For our quality of life today and for our children’s futures, it is time to keep the promise of clean water in the Hudson River Valley and the New York watershed.
About Environmental
Advocates New York
Environmental Advocates of New York works independently and through coalitions to ensure that New York enacts and implements the measures needed to protect its natural resources and environmental health; and that the public is informed of, and participates in, important environmental policy debates. www.eany.org
About Hudson River
Sloop Clearwater, Inc.
The sloop Clearwater, soul of the Hudson River, has been sailing for 33 years.
More than 400,000 schoolchildren and another 250,000 adults have participated
directly in Clearwater’s ship-board and land based education programs.
Members of this “Clearwater Generation” are active and informed – and
they vote! www.clearwater.org
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Clean Water Agenda
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About The League
of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages
the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to
increase understanding of major public policy issues, and
influences public policy through education and advocacy. There are over
60 local leagues in New York State. For more information, please go to www.lwv.org.
About Riverkeeper
About Scenic Hudson
Scenic Hudson is
a 39-year-old nonprofit environmental organization and separately incorporated
land trust dedicated to protecting and enhancing the scenic, natural, historic,
agricultural and recreational treasures of the Hudson River and its valley. To date, we have protected 17,700 acres of land in 10 counties and created or enhanced
28 parks and preserves for public enjoyment. www.scenichudson.org
Support for Clean Water Agenda
Robert F. Kennedy,
President, Waterkeeper Alliance
"The 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act is, unfortunately, a time for deep concern. The Bush White House is more hostile to environmental legislation than any other administration in this century. This administration is attempting to eviscerate our most successful environmental statute in history. The Act’s results have been demonstrated in improved water quality in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters across this country. Our nation cannot afford to let our most precious resource – our waters – become increasingly polluted and dangerous. We need to reject the Bush administration rollbacks and move ahead with the work of cleaning up our waterways. Today's Clean Water Agenda for the Hudson River Valley is an important initiative to ensure that our state and local government enforces the Clean Water Act."
Pete Seeger, Folk Musician, Environmental
and Social Activist
"Recently, I have been disturbed by the right-wingers' efforts to water down all our environmental laws. They’re using nice words, but underneath the nice words are the same old bad ideas. Young people today need to feel that they are part of this movement. Even though their parents – in some cases their grandparents – may have started it, and may have written some of the laws, our young people are the future of the environment. We need to step aside and make some room for them, in fact and in spirit. The Clean Water Agenda calls on our leaders to keep the promise of the Clean Water Act for our young people."
Kay J. Maxwell, president, League of Women Voters of the United States.
"Since the 1960s, the League has been at the forefront of efforts to protect our natural resources. It was the League's pioneering groundwork that led government policymakers to approach environmental protection regulation as a seamless web. Instrumental to passage of the Clean Water Act thirty years ago, the League has been a tireless advocate since then working for effective regulatory programs that would further protect our nation's drinking water. We honor this anniversary and the support of informed and active citizenry that has ensured the vitality of this visionary legislation.”
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Eddie Scher, Director, Clean Water Network
"Today, as we recognize the 30th anniversary of one of our nation's most effective environmental laws, there is little doubt that all Americans want and deserve clean water. From the Bush administration to the individual state administrations, we are seeing neglect, outright lack of enforcement and continued under funding of environmental agency enforcement budgets. Today's Clean Water Agenda for the Hudson Valley calls upon New York's state leadership to commit meaningfully to ensuring Clean Water for all of New York's citizens."
Val Washington, Executive Director, Environmental
Advocates of New York
"Clean water is one of New York's most important natural resources. We count on clean water for the health of our families and the protection of our environment. Here in the Hudson Valley, real progress has been made over the past 30 years in cleaning up the Hudson River. The Clean Water Agenda for the Hudson River Valley is the kind of plan we need to keep moving forward. Environmental Advocates of New York is pleased to join Riverkeeper, Clearwater, Scenic Hudson and other environmental leaders to urge Governor Pataki and our state agencies to renew their commitment to implementing the Clean Water Act and to support the Clean Water Agenda for the Hudson River Valley."
Chris Meyer, Executive
Director, NYPIRG
“There is no better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary
of the Clean Water Act than by calling upon all levels of government to redouble
their efforts to enforce this critical environmental law. NYPIRG is
proud to join longtime environmental allies -- including Riverkeeper, Clearwater,
Environmental Advocates, the League of Women Voters, NRDC and Scenic Hudson
-- in promoting an agenda that will protect the Hudson River and all New York
State waterways. We have all worked hard to ensure clean drinking
water, rid the Hudson River of PCBs, protect vital wetlands and preserve marine
life. The Clean Water Agenda frames the issues for the next 30 years.
“
Katherine Kennedy, Senior Attorney, NRDC
"The Hudson River and the surrounding valley is an inspiring natural link to our historic past, one that is integral to our national and state heritage. Over the last thirty years, we have made enormous strides in cleaning the Hudson and restoring it to its former self. New York State can be proud of the work that has already been done to restore the Hudson. But more challenges lie before us and we cannot rely on the Bush administration to enforce the law and protect the Hudson. Today's Clean Water Agenda calls upon New York State to continue to partner with the environmental community to keep the promise of the Clean Water Act."
Ned Sullivan, Executive
Director, Scenic Hudson
"Scenic Hudson is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the scenic, natural, historic, agricultural and recreational treasures of the majestic 315-mile-long Hudson River and its valley. We are proud of the progress that has been made in cleaning up this great river and preserving the natural treasures of its surrounding communities, but more work needs to be done. Scenic Hudson is proud to join Riverkeeper, Clearwater and Environmental Advocates in launching the 'Clean Water Agenda for the Hudson River Valley to help us protect the Hudson for the next 30 years."
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