Preserve River Ecology - Press Releases

In response to today’s vote by the New York Public Service Commission, Tracy Brown, President and Hudson Riverkeeper, said: “Riverkeeper is disappointed that the Public Service Commission has approved the Champlain Hudson Power Express project to receive valuable Tier 4 ratepayer subsidies. While we appreciate the thoughtful and exhaustive work of the Commissioners and staff of the PSC entrusted with this decision, we believe this project falls far short of meeting New York’s stated goals of providing a just transition to renewable energy while effectively reducing carbon emissions from our […]

Learn More

Canadian First Nations representatives speak out on impacts from hydro dams as Hydro-Quebec signals that even more dams could be built

Learn More

Today, the Department of Environmental Conservation and Canal Corporation responded to public calls to address the risk of invasive species traveling into new waters via New York State canals. The proposal doesn’t directly address the need to block invasive species from entering the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers via the Erie Canal. Scientists have called for such a measure for nearly a decade, and the Reimagine The Canals initiative has identified strategies that can and must be implemented. The following is a statement by Dan Shapley, co-director of Riverkeeper’s Science and […]

Learn More

Riverkeeper applauds the state’s decision to require further analysis of alternative actions, as well as impacts to the Hudson River drinking water supply, and the effects of climate change on the management of the city’s water supply. Decision follows public demands to “stop the mud” in Lower Esopus Creek. The State announced today that New York City must expand its study of alternatives to dumping muddy water into the Esopus Creek from its Ashokan Reservoir. The city must also further scrutinize how climate change will affect the proposed reservoir operations, […]

Learn More

New York Governor Kathy Hochul today announced two energy infrastructure projects to power New York City: the Clean Path NY (CPNY) project, developed by Forward Power (a joint venture of Invenergy and EnergyRe) and the New York Power Authority, and Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) project, developed by Transmission Developers, Inc. (backed by Blackstone) and Hydro-Québec. The projects were selected for contract negotiation as part of the New York State Energy Research Development and Authority’s (NYSERDA) Tier 4 renewable energy solicitation. Once finalized, NYSERDA will submit the negotiated contracts for […]

Learn More

Saugerties, N.Y. – Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan held a news conference in Saugerties today with other elected officials and advocates to draw attention to the impacts from New York City’s practice of releasing massive amounts of turbid water from its Ashokan Reservoir into Lower Esopus Creek. Read the news release here. Following is a statement from Paul Gallay, President and Hudson Riverkeeper: The New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s management of the Ashokan Reservoir is critically important to the 9.5 million residents of New York City and many […]

Learn More

Registration is open for 125 shoreline cleanups happening Saturday, May 1, throughout Hudson Valley & NYC.

Learn More

OSSINING, NY — Governor Andrew Cuomo has vetoed legislation that will extend the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Protection of Waters Program to class C streams intended to provide oversight to projects which may disturb stream banks or beds. Class AA, A, B and C trout streams already require permits for covered activities. Riverkeeper and our partner organizations have documented waterways across the Hudson River Estuary and New York that are misclassified, leaving our drinking water sources vulnerable to pollution. For example, Peekskill’s water supply source, Peekskill Hollow Brook, is misclassified […]

Learn More

Environmental and community organizations have sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo urging him to sign legislation that would extend environmental protections for 41,000 miles of streams across New York State. The letter highlights the urgent need for the legislation to become law in response to the Trump Administration’s rollback of the Clean Water Act’s Clean Water Rule. The rule change targets headwater streams and wetlands creating a potential gap in protections for tens of thousands of stream miles in New York. The bill, if signed, will extend the Department of Environmental […]

Learn More