Pollution Enforcement

For Immediate Release: September 16, 2009 Contact: Ramona Cearley 914-478-4501 x 235 [email protected] Water Pollution Campaign Combines Citizen Lawsuits and Coordination with Local Law Enforcement (Tarrytown, NY) Today, Riverkeeper announced the beginning of an enforcement campaign targeted at environmental law breakers on the highly polluted Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York. In the first wave of enforcement actions targeted at Canal polluters, Riverkeeper filed Notices of Intent to Sue against: 6th Street Iron and Metal, a scrap yard, for dumping metal, and debris into the Canal. Ferrara Brothers Building Materials […]

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August 25, 2009, while conducting a routine patrol of the Hudson River and conducting water quality sampling near Troy, NY, Riverkeeper observed a gray discharge with a strong sewage odor coming from a combined sewer overflow (CSO) pipe located between the Green Island and Congress Street Bridges in Troy. Water quality tests conducted by Riverkeeper revealed extremely high levels of Enterococcus, an indicator of raw sewage. On this date there had been no rain locally in more than 24 hours. A legacy of 19th century municipal engineering, CSOs occur mostly […]

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August 20, 2009, while conducting a routine patrol of Newtown Creek and conducting water quality sampling, Riverkeeper observed shredded glass, plastic, and other debris falling into the creek from a barge located in front of Sims Metal Management in Long Island City. Riverkeeper alerted the New York State DEC and issued a warning letter to Sims pointing out that such discharges are illegal under the federal Clean Water Act. While not a formal “notice of intent to sue” this letter informed Sims that this type of activity is unacceptable and […]

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(Tarrytown, NY) Riverkeeper has served the Accord Speedway with a notice of its intent to sue for continuously polluting a nearby stream and connected wetlands with turbid water, which Riverkeeper believes is laced with pesticides, anti-freeze, oil, grease and other petroleum products. Citing violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Riverkeeper is now preparing to file a case in federal court.

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On May 19, Riverkeeper served the Accord Speedway with a notice of its intent to sue for violating the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by polluting a nearby stream and connected wetlands with turbid water. Riverkeeper believes the water contains pesticides, anti-freeze, oil, grease and other petroleum products.

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LONG ISLAND CITY - Today, Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens), Chairman of the City Council Committee on Oversight and Investigations, and the environmental watchdog group Riverkeeper announced that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will take legal action against NYCON Supply Corporation. The company has been allegedly discharging concrete waste illegally into the Dutch Kills, a tributary of the heavily-polluted Newtown Creek. The DEC's action comes shortly after Riverkeeper and Gioia announced their intent to file a lawsuit against NYCON. Newtown Creek, the site of a massive oil spill, is one of the most polluted waterways in the United States.

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Riverkeeper served notice of its intent to sue Lehigh Cement Company for ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) at the company’s Catskill, NY facility on July 10. A 2006 helicopter patrol of the Hudson River revealed three gold colored ponds adjacent to the Hudson on Lehigh’s property and sparked Riverkeeper’s investigation into the facility.

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After Riverkeeper received an anonymous report through our “report a polluter” hotline that 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel had been spilled at Metro North’s Croton-Harmon facility, we contacted the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). We were informed that the spill had been reported by Metro North as being only 5 gallons. Riverkeeper’s report of the true size of the spill led to a DEC spills investigator visiting the site.

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