News - Press Releases

Congress passes significant environmental restoration funding and expansion of U.S. Army Corps coastal risk studies to better address sea level rise and community needs; major climate victory for the region.

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In response to demands from the public, Congress has agreed on significant improvements to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study on coastal flood protections for the New York - New Jersey region.

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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 […]

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OSSINING, N.Y. — Riverkeeper is extremely troubled that the NRC has announced its imminent approval for the sale of the Indian Point Energy Center to Holtec International without addressing its contention, and the numerous serious concerns raised by local, state, and other interested groups. This approval puts the public at risk by transferring responsibility for Indian Point’s decommissioning to a company that lacks integrity, experience, and financial stability. Since the NRC has once again neglected its responsibility to properly scrutinize Holtec’s qualifications, Riverkeeper calls upon New York State to step in to […]

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Plan outlines the mission, goals, vision and core values needed for future success   With new plan in place, Paul Gallay to end his 11-year run as President and Hudson Riverkeeper in June Riverkeeper, looking to build on its 55-year history of fighting to reclaim the Hudson River and ensuring that over 10 million New Yorkers have clean, safe drinking water, has adopted a new Strategic Plan, which articulates a new mission, vision and core values. Riverkeeper’s new Strategic Plan is both a recommitment to the ideals that have historically […]

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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 […]

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Climate change is happening. It has increased the temperature of the Hudson River by four degrees Fahrenheit, and the river level by one foot over the past 100 years. The river and its communities are already experiencing more intense storms, water quality impacts, and ongoing sea level rise — all of which are predicted to continue to get worse over time.

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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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NYS is attempting to walk back protections for water recreation that were established in 2015. ALBANY, NY — Riverkeeper, represented by the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, filed suit late yesterday to prevent the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation from attempting to roll back human health protections for recreation in New York City’s waterways, initially established by regulation in 2015. The 2015 water quality standards for swimming and other “primary contact recreation” would require the state to set scientifically accurate sewage pollution limits for the City’s waterways. To meet […]

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