Safeguard Drinking Water

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 […]

Learn More

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 […]

Learn More

Albany, N.Y. — The New York State Legislature voted to close the oil & gas waste loophole after nearly a decade of advocacy from Riverkeeper and our partners. The oil and gas industry enjoys a special exemption from New York State requirements governing the treatment of hazardous waste. Although waste from oil and gas operations – including extraction using hydrofracking – can contain hazardous contaminants, it’s categorically excluded from hazardous waste treatment, storage, transportation and disposal requirements due to a legal loophole. Since 2010, more than 608,000 tons of solid […]

Learn More

Alarming pattern of delay in drinking water protection puts New Yorkers at risk Albany – Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried and Assembly Children and Families Chair Ellen Jaffee joined residents from impacted communities and leading environmental advocates today to call on Governor Cuomo and the NYS Department of Health to stop delaying protections for New York’s drinking water and set the most health-protective standards possible for three toxic chemicals that have polluted drinking water across the state: PFOA, PFOS, and 1,4-dioxane. The New York Department of Health (DOH) is […]

Learn More

Riverkeeper and Newburgh Clean Water Project today called on the Air National Guard to commit to an aggressive schedule to clean up PFAS pollution at the Stewart Air National Guard Base, as a new agreement is negotiated with New York State that will influence the next two years of remediation.

Learn More

The following is a statement from Riverkeeper’s Director of Legal Programs, Richard Webster, regarding the abandonment of the Constitution Pipeline project by Williams Partners: “Riverkeeper is gratified that it has been announced that the Constitution Pipeline project has been scrapped. This pipeline would have carried fracked natural gas across 251 waterbodies — including 89 trout spawning streams — and through many unique and sensitive ecological areas such as old-growth forest and undisturbed springs, which provide vital habitat and are key to local ecosystems. Over many years, Riverkeeper and our partners […]

Learn More