Water Quality

Riverkeeper responds to the Trump Administration Rollback of Stream and Wetland Protections and applauds freshwater wetland protections proposed in Governor Cuomo’s 2020 Executive Budget.

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced a proposal to ban the distribution and use of single-use food containers made with expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam). The proposal also bans the sale of Styrofoam packaging materials, known as packing peanuts. This effort builds on the groundbreaking legislation going into effect in March 2020 to ban single-use plastic bags in New York. Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay said: “Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is making a great call by proposing a ban on Styrofoam packing peanuts and takeout containers from restaurants, which do tremendous harm […]

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Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic files lawsuit against NYC DEP on behalf of eight national, regional and local organizations to ensure the public is warned when city sewers are discharging.  Groups say that New York City’s lack of compliance puts the public’s health at risk.  NEW YORK — The Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic sued the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for not complying with a state law requiring operators of public sewage treatment works to notify the public of sewage overflows within a reasonable amount of time.  The Pace […]

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Stopping water pollution is an untapped strategy to mitigate climate change, suggests a recently published Queens College study using data gathered from Riverkeeper’s patrol boat   Contacts: Shawn Rhea, The Graduate Center, CUNY, (212) 817-7180, [email protected] Leah Rae, Riverkeeper, (914) 478-4501 ext. 238, [email protected] Potent greenhouse gases are released from the Hudson River Estuary, especially in areas where city sewers overflow, a newly published study has found. Based on data gathered from Riverkeeper’s patrol boat, the study has the potential to alter the way governments prioritize strategies to manage sewage […]

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Riverkeeper statement on Department of Health’s proposed standards for drinking water   Riverkeeper commends the New York State Department of Health for proposing to set drinking water standards, or “maximum contaminant levels” (MCLs) for the toxic chemicals PFOA and PFOS. If adopted, New York’s proposed MCLs of 10 ppt for each would be the most stringent limits in the nation for PFOA and PFOS individually. However, the MCLs may still fail to protect the most vulnerable populations from these harmful effects of these contaminants. PFOA and PFOS are merely two […]

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Annual water quality report highlights water quality progress, importance of continued state investment in water infrastructure. On the eve of the Mohawk Watershed Symposium, Riverkeeper is releasing a new report that details the results of 915 water samples gathered from the Mohawk River and its tributaries since 2015 as part of an ongoing water quality monitoring project with SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Polytechnic. The Mohawk River is the largest tributary to the Hudson River, and much of the Mohawk is part of the Erie Canal. New York State and local communities in the […]

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