Water Quality - Press Releases

Governor’s initiative to increase swimming requires continued investment in our critical water infrastructure

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In response to the Department of Environmental Conservation’s announcement of new water quality criteria for the waters surrounding New York City and up to the Bear Mountain Bridge, Riverkeeper, the leading environmental organization, and Save the Sound, call on New York State to seize the historic opportunity to stop sewage overflows that too often inhibit millions of New Yorkers from safely enjoying the water where they live.

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A coalition of prominent environmental organizations celebrates the passage of a critical bill to expand New York State’s protections for small streams, on the heels of a damaging Supreme Court decision that diminished the reach of the Clean Water Act

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Riverkeeper, NRDC, and Save the Sound, the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic submitted comments to the New York State DEC urging the agency to set new water quality standards for the coastal waters in and around New York City in a way that makes them healthier for recreation and restores ecological functions.

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Ongoing delay of law’s implementation threatens to exacerbate the opioid epidemic amid the Covid-19 pandemic Continued flushing of unwanted drugs endangers water quality across the state Albany, NY—A broad coalition of environmental, product stewardship, public health, solid waste management, local government, and fishing organizations recently sent a letter to the New York State Department of Health (“Department”) calling for final regulations and implementation of the NYS Drug Take Back Act within 30 days (see letter attached). The law requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to fund a statewide drug take-back program that provides […]

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Three Troy students will focus on community science and radio and podcast production to illuminate water issues that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Troy, N.Y. – Media Sanctuary and Riverkeeper announce the launch of the “Water Justice Lab.” The three-year project based at Media Sanctuary in North Troy will establish a water quality sampling lab and train students in both laboratory science and media arts skills in order to focus on environmental justice issues in the Hudson River Watershed. Three Youth Scientist Fellows from Lansingburgh High School, […]

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Coalition Urges Continued Action to Address Emerging Contaminants Albany – Today, the NY Department of Health (DOH) took the final step to establish Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and 1,4-dioxane, three toxic emerging contaminants found in drinking water across the state. DOH’s Public Health and Health Planning Council voted to set MCLs at 10 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA, 10 ppt for PFOS, and 1 part per billion (ppb) for 1,4-dioxane. The regulations will appear in the next State Register, at which time […]

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Albany NY – Today, the New York Senate took a historic vote to protect clean water across New York.It voted to add 41,000 miles of at risk streams to the protected class of waters within the DEC’s Protection of Waters Program. The legislation protects streams within the Class C designation and will require a permit for disturbing a stream already required for Class AA, A, B and trout waters. This legislation passed the New York Assembly in February. Now, New York has taken the significant step of ensuring clean water […]

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Riverkeeper responds to the Trump Administration Rollback of Stream and Wetland Protections and applauds freshwater wetland protections proposed in Governor Cuomo’s 2020 Executive Budget.

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