Spring 2019, Volume XXII, Issue 1
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Hackensack Spring 2019, Volume XXII, Issue 1 ® TIDELINESTIDELINESHackensackRIVERKEEPER — Celebrating over twenty years of clean water advocacy. Powerplant Update: Defending the River and Democracy Our ongoing opposition to North Bergen proposal takes on new urgency. By Hugh M. Carola Most Tidelines readers know that Hackensack Riverkeeper works tirelessly to bring our river ever closer to the fishable, swim- mable and livable reality it – and you – deserve. Sometimes that work becomes a fight – as it did last year thanks to Diamond Generating Corporation, the Activists and public officials gather to protest the additional air and water California-based subsidiary of the pollution this proposed project will hamper our local communities with. Mitsubishi Corporation. Now in 2019, that fight not only contin- the-sky promises, and get the If built, the proposed North ues; it’s gotten hotter and heavier. go-ahead to shoehorn a gas-fired Bergen Liberty Generating project You see, the company thinks it powerplant onto 15 acres of ille- would produce electricity for – get can come into our Meadowlands, gally-filled wetlands located along this – New York City exclusively. deliver a laundry list of pie-in- the banks of Bellman’s Creek. Continued on page 3 Public Access Update: Defending the Public Trust We testify to, and advocate for, REAL access for all. By Michele Langa flowed lands in trust for the public tions to the Public Trust doctrine, In 2015, Hackensack River- to use and enjoy. was agreed upon by the League keeper won an appeal of New Jer- Shortly after our appeal, the of Municipalities, the business sey Department of Environmental Senate’s Environment and Energy community and environmentalists. Protection’s (NJDEP) poorly Committee, led by Senator Bob It (S. 1074) sailed through the written Public Access Rule Pro- Smith (D-17), convened a task Senate Environment and Energy posal. The proposed rule would force to help the legislature de- Committee unanimously and was have stripped back protections for velop a Public Access Bill. Much referred to the Assembly after a the public under the Public Trust needed legislation, which would nearly unanimous floor vote in Doctrine, an ancient concept that codify and strengthen state obliga- Continued on page 4 a governing body holds tidally Inside Passaic River Eco-Cruises 10 At the Helm 2 Watershed Field Notes 11 Meet our 2019 Interns 4 Thank You to Donors 13 EarthFest/Recycled Regatta 5 Ambassador Update 22 Volunteer Appreciation 6 World Series of Birding 23 2018 Eco-Program Schedule 7 Upcoming Events 24 Page 2 Hackensack Tidelines-Spring 2019 231 Main Street Hackensack, NJ 07601-7304 Phone: (201) 968-0808 Fax: (201) 968-0336 Hotline: 1-877-CPT-BILL At Captainthe Bill H Sheehanelm [email protected] www.hackensackriverkeeper.org Board of Trustees Hackensack Riverkeeper Embarks on Rob Gillies, President Robert Ceberio, Vice President New Citizen Science Project Dr. Beth Ravit, Secretary Litter Survey of the Hackensack River Watershed Brendan Reskakis , Treasurer Lawrence E. Bradford Coming this Spring Craig M. Dorsett Susan L. Golden Despite the passage of the of garbage and debris each year. Susan Gordon Clean Water Act in 1972 – federal There also exist many like-minded Virginia Korteweg law which included regulatory groups that perform cleanups Ivan Kossak, CPA tools for states and local govern- in our watershed in conjunction William R. Leggett Kelly G. Palazzi ments to address aquatic trash – with Earth Day, Slam Dunk the Ellie Spray The Hackensack River, as well as Junk, and the Bi-State Watershed Honorary Trustees the greater NY/NJ Harbor Estuary, Cleanup. However, these current Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. still has a trash problem. That’s efforts mostly deal with debris William “Pat” Schuber why, through a grant from the NY/ after the fact, so trash continues to Executive Director NJ Harbor Estuary Program, we impact our waterways. Captain Bill Sheehan, are preparing to conduct a trash While current efforts to clean Hackensack Riverkeeper survey in areas of concern in the up floatable debris will be neces- HRI Staff watershed, and crack into the sary for the foreseeable future, Hugh Carola, Program Director Caitlin Doran, Outreach Coordinator sources of all this garbage. there is a growing interest among Jennifer Gannett, Grant Manager In 2014, an estimated a wide variety of stakeholders to Jodi Jamieson, Project Manager $59,000,000 was spent on marine explore pollution prevention as a Michele Langa, Staff Attorney Mike Panos, Donor Relations debris waste management activi- more sustainable way of tackling Lisa Vandenberg, Office Manager ties in the Hudson-Raritan Estu- the issue. To borrow an analogy Russ Wilke, Paddle Center Manager ary. Federal efforts to reduce the from Jenna Jambeck, researcher g accumulation of trash include the and trash audit trailblazer at the Jodi Jamieson, Managing Editor Sanctuary Act (a.k.a. Ocean Dump- University of Georgia, “If you Hugh Carola, Copy Editor ing Act) and the Marine Plastic leave the water running in your We gladly accept submissions of articles, Pollution Research and Control bathtub and flood your house, you photography and advertisements from Act. There are also well-established don’t first start bailing out your the community; however, we retain edito- local control programs such as house. You turn off the tap.” rial discretion. We do not necessarily en- dorse any individual or company whose street sweeping, Adopt-a-Highway, The Hackensack River Wa- advertisements are found in these pages. Adopt-a-Catch Basin, etc. tershed Litter Survey will build For our part, Hackensack upon the framework of the 2017 Hackensack Tidelines is published quarterly on Riverkeeper operates our suc- “Stopping Trash Where It Starts” recycled paper. cessful River Cleanup Program, Passaic River survey, as well as Riverkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Riverkeeper, Inc. and is through which nearly 1,000 Columbia University’s 2016 litter licensed for use herein. volunteers join us at cleanups in survey which took place across the Waterkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. communities all along the water- five New York boroughs. A litter and is licensed for use herein. shed and help remove over 15 tons Continued on page 23 Hackensack Tidelines-Spring 2019 Page 3 Powerplant Update continued from page 1 New Jersey would get absolutely nothing from the plant, unless you count the nearly three mil- lion metric tons of carbon dioxide (which, based on the company’s own documents, would make it the single largest source of carbon pollution in the entire state! To counter that unequal mix of assets and liabilities, last fall the well-heeled developer stuffed This billboard above a building in North Bergen depicts the concern that local North Bergen mailboxes with residents have about the amount of air and water pollutants that will become the burden of the local communities, of whom receive no economic or power full-color, multi-page, bilingual benefit. propaganda pieces extolling the proposal’s purported tax benefits ened with having their commu- with you. Go to hackensackriver- to township residents. And ev- nity’s future county Open Space keeper.org and sign up for email ery one prominently featured the and state Green Acres grant ap- alerts. Join us at our next public smiling face of Mayor (and State plications denied. Of course while action and step up with us. Join Senator) Nicholas Sacco, who’s an there’s not a single ethical, legal or the fight to STOP this assault on unabashed supporter. official way to make good on such our river, the protected wetlands So in addition to the Japanese a threat, there are other ways. For of the Meadowlands and the air company and its California-based example… quality of millions of people – in- subsidiary (with their army of Imagine you’re a member of a cluding our eight million neigh- lawyers, consultants and ad- committee that reviews such ap- bors in New York City. men – and near-bottomless pot of plications and you get a late night The Hackensack River is our money) looking to compromise phone call from the career politi- river and we’re not going away. our wetlands and mess up our air cian whose patronage put you on Ever. We ended state-sanctioned quality to send 100% of its power that committee. Get the picture? wetlands destruction in the Mead- to NYC, we also have to deal with Of course you do. That’s what owlands. We ended the sell-off strong-arm politics. Or should we we’re dealing with now. of woodlands in the upper water- say “politics as usual”? Fortunately we’re not dealing shed. We reestablished river-based Fact: As of this printing, with it alone. Other groups have recreation in Hudson and Bergen two-thirds of Bergen County’s joined with us to create a united counties after a decades-long ab- 70 municipalities (split almost front opposed to the developer sence. And we provide upwards of evenly between Democratic and and its political supporters; groups 10,000 people each year with an Republican-led councils) have including Food and Water Watch, up-close and personal experience passed resolutions opposing the Sierra Club, Bergen County of their river. project. However not a single Audubon, 350NJ, and the Coali- Right now we’re working to Hudson County municipality has tion to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains. secure an equitable and just public joined them; although two of them Together we’ve conducted a series access Rule for everyone. And came close. of rallies, strategy meetings and we continue to lobby for a Super- First was Union City. The city public information sessions – all fund cleanup so the river’s fish council passed a resolution one of which are keeping this critical will finally be safe to eat.