News - Press Releases

Riverkeeper commends Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature for passing a state budget that allocates significant environmental funding and supports policy wins including significant staffing increases for the Department of Environmental Conservation. • $500 million for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act, which will help communities across the state upgrade their aging water infrastructure. The CWIA’s investment in New York’s water infrastructure has now reached $5 billion since the program’s inception in 2017. • $400 million for the Environmental Protection Fund, which will support a variety of environmental programs, […]

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In Riverkeeper’s annual day of service for the Hudson, more than 1,400 volunteers will remove trash and foster healthy vegetation along the shorelines. Contact: Leah Rae, [email protected], 914-715-6821 More than 1,400 volunteers are expected to turn out on May 6 for the 12th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep, a daylong effort to clean up shorelines throughout New York City and the Hudson Valley, from Staten Island to the Adirondack Mountains. An interactive map of 120 project locations is available at Riverkeeper.org/sweep. Riverkeeper organizes the annual event as a day of service to […]

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As one of Mission Blue's "Hope Spots," the New York - New Jersey Harbor Estuary is "evidence of what people can do when they care and when people put in the work for a better place for nature and for humans," Dr. Silvia Earle says.

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Holtec, the firm responsible for decommissioning the Indian Point nuclear plant, is holding off on its planned discharges of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson in May. According to the Decommissioning Oversight Board chair, the decision will allow time to independently analyze the spent fuel pool water before it is released, and allow time for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to answer important questions raised by Senators Schumer and Gillibrand. “Holtec’s decision to pause its hastily planned release of 1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River demonstrates the power […]

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Holtec adds insult to injury with early discharge plan Holtec, the firm responsible for decommissioning the Indian Point nuclear power plant, has informed the Indian Point Energy Center Decommissioning Oversight Board that it intends to begin releasing radioactive wastewater from the plant into the Hudson River in May, at the start of the recreation season. This is three months earlier than the timetable described by Holtec during a meeting February 2 with the oversight board. As public outrage increases over the planned discharges of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River, […]

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Commenting on Army Corps’ $52 billion proposal for storm surge protection, Riverkeeper urges a broader approach that avoids environmental harm and addresses the full combination of flood risks – sea level rise, tidal flooding, rising groundwater and heavy rainfall – not just storm surge.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it would set health-protective limits for several perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water at concentrations close to zero, establishing the first federal limits on pollution from the class of synthetic chemicals known as PFAS. Riverkeeper has supported health-protective PFAS standards such as those EPA proposed today. “We’ve seen that PFAS contaminate many drinking water supplies in New York State, especially in the lower and mid-Hudson Valley,” said Dan Shapley, Riverkeeper Co-Director, Science and Patrol. “Once in force, these new federal standards […]

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The settlement provides for independent oversight of waste transfer stations’ efforts to contain odor, noise, dust, and manage stormwater. New York, NY, January 4, 2023 – Two residents of Southeast Queens and environmental organizations Riverkeeper and NY/NJ Baykeeper, represented by New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and co-counsel Super Law Group, and local waste transfer stations operated by American Recycling Management LLC (American) and Regal Recycling Co., Inc. (Regal) reached a final settlement in a lawsuit intended to improve the quality of life for residents of Southeast Queens and help […]

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Contact: Jeremy Cherson, Riverkeeper Senior Manager of Government Affairs, [email protected]; 770-630-6790 Governor Kathy Hochul 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 a small number of Class C trout streams already require permits. Riverkeeper and our partner organizations have documented waterways across the Hudson River watershed and New York that are misclassified, leaving our freshwater habitat and drinking water sources vulnerable […]

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