Riverkeeper on WRCR Radio: ‘We can’t do what we do without the community’

John Parker, Riverkeeper’s Director of Legal Programs, speaks with “The Many Shades of Green” on WRCR Radio as we get ready for two big events: Riverkeeper Sweep on Saturday, May 7, and the Fishermen’s Ball May 18.

“Riverkeeper, in its history of over 50 years, started out as a group of fishermen that were just fed up with what they started seeing on that river – pollution taking its toll, local communities impacted, oil literally coming out of the Croton train station, not far from where we are. These were regular folks that banded together. The river was the focal point of their lives. And today, what Riverkeeper does is not dissimilar to those efforts.”

“We have on May 7 what we call Riverkeeper Sweep. Citizens from Red Hook, Brooklyn, to Troy are going to come out and clean up our waterfronts. Last year we had some 2,000 participants, and 40 tons of stuff was removed along the shoreline.”

“It’s a testament to our roots and it’s a testament to what things like the Fishermen’s Ball make possible. We can’t do what we do without the community.”