Toxic sewage leak repaired in Peekskill

Riverkeeper serves as the Hudson River's chief citizen-based pollution enforcement organization. Our legal team serves a diverse population, from urban dwellers residing in New York City to local fishermen and working class families who live and work in the rural Hudson Valley. Because of Riverkeeper's widespread reputation for taking on polluters, whether large or small, we are increasingly deluged with requests for our services.

Pollution enforcement is not new to Riverkeeper. Since the 1960s, Riverkeeper has solved hundreds of pollution problems. However, despite the great gains in water quality on the Hudson and its tributaries, we continue to observe and receive complaints about pollution problems. River stewardship demands eternal vigilance.

Riverkeeper has doubled the size of its legal team during the past four years, and hired a staff investigator to respond to citizen pollution reports. Investigations and cases usually start with a simple phone call or e-mail, or someone hailing our patrol boat out on the river with a tip. On the river, our Boat Captain, John Lipscomb may investigate the issue himself or call into the office for support. Then, our investigator, Basil Seggos, will be dispatched to the suspected site or to meet with the complainant or to meet with a volunteer citizen "watchdog". Once we have sufficient information we can determine if a violation of federal, state, or local laws is occurring. In many cases we will be able to guide the person, or group, that informed us of the violation in what their rights are, and often stop the problem right there and then. When the case is more complicated or grievous, we will decide how we can bring the appropriate legal resources to bear. Some particularly polluted waterways demand a top-down, proactive approach. Here, we will take a bird's eye look at the scope of problems and devise a campaign to protect or restore the waterway, often using a combination of outreach, education, collaboration, and litigation.

In the more complicated cases, we must decide what resources will be needed and how to build the team. Polluters rely on two things: first, that mounting a legal challenge to their activities will cost far more than most individuals can afford; and second, that it often takes a long time to win a case against a polluter. Riverkeeper has shown its ability to overcome both of these obstacles. We have become expert in building strong alliances with key partners and broad-based coalitions that greatly improve our likelihood of success. When we enter a case, Riverkeeper assembles a team of experts in law, engineering, biology, hydrology, economics and energy policy. Combining fund raising to cover expenses, use of pro-bono services and keeping overhead to a minimum, Riverkeeper has proven to be the David who successfully topples many a polluting Goliath.

Often, the alliance we forge includes the invaluable contributions of the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic.

Riverkeeper combines a unique set of strengths that make such alliances attractive to many groups: a professional reputation, a grassroots base of public support, a powerhouse of attorneys, and strong interlinking partnerships with key organizations expert in law, engineering, biology, hydrology, economics and energy policy.

We achieve much of our success through the help of volunteer watchdogs in communities around the Hudson. We also greatly rely on the team of dedicated legal, college, and high school interns we are fortunate to assemble each semester.