CLEAN WATER • THE BLUE PLANET’S FIRST RESPONDERS • CITIZEN ACTION Waterkeeper Alliance WATERKEEPER 180 Maiden Lane Suite 603 New York, NY 10038

® WATERKEEPER

RECLAIMED. CANNOT BE MEASURED IN MEGAWATTS | CRISIS IN THE SUNDARBANS 100% PCW PAPER VOLUME 14 , ISSUE 2

In partnership with Waterkeeper Alliance, BIONIC® strengthens communities while cleaning up our Marine Environments. 2018

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® ® Waterkeeper Alliance’s Ocean Plastic Recovery Initiative mobilizes a vast network of Waterkeeper ® Organizations and Affiliates around the globe to establish recycling infrastructure and plastic recovery efforts to stop plastic pollution from entering our oceans. This network operates recycling facilities where recovered plastic is consolidated, sorted, and baled. BIONIC® acquires the processed plastics in exchange for a donation calculated at the baled commodities' fair market value that will provide much-needed support of the Waterkeeper Organization or Affiliate's ongoing work to protect and preserve their watershed. WATERWATER IS THE IS THE UNIVERSAL UNIVERSAL SOURCESOURCE OF OFLIFE. LIFE.

United Unitedas one aspowerful one powerful force, Waterkeeper force, Waterkeeper Alliance Alliance fights forfights every for individual’s every individual’s right right to drinkable,to drinkable, fishable, fishable, swimmable swimmable water, freewater, from free man-made from man-made toxins andtoxins pollutants. and pollutants. As a committedAs a committed Waterkeeper Waterkeeper Alliance Alliance partner partner for nearly for 20nearly years, 20 Johnyears, Paul John Mitchell Paul Mitchell SystemsSystems® is proud® is toproud join thisto join passionately this passionately dedicated dedicated organization organization in their inongoing their ongoing fight tofight keep to the keep earth’s the earth’sprecious precious waterways waterways clean for clean our forchildren, our children, and our andchildren’s our children’s children.children. The future The of future this beautifulof this beautiful planet isplanet in our is hands—treated in our hands—treated with care, with it care,will it will nourishnourish our souls our for souls generations for generations to come. to come.

TRUCKS HEADING TO THE RAMPAL POWER PLANT CONSTRUCTION-SITE

The image above was taken just before the scheduled start of construction of the Rampal power plant in March. Bangladesh and India are jointly undertaking the $1.7 billion project, slated to be completed by 2019-20. It is estimated that the plant could produce 38 million tons of highly toxic coal ash over the course of its operational life.

Lynne Buchanan is a fine art photographer who specializes in work on the environment. Her book, Florida’s Changing Waters: A Beautiful World in Peril, will be published by George F. Thompson Publishing in 2019.

Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 55 CONTENTS Volume 14 Issue 2

46

28 34 40

NEWS & UPDATES FEATURES

12: GHOSTBUSTING IN 28: I AM THE RIVER, THE RIVER IS ME SAN FRANCISCO BAY New Zealand’s Whanganui River is the first waterbody on earth to gain the same legal protections as an individual. The river’s Maori people, who have 14: THE LITTLE PATROL been fighting for the designation for 150 years, saw it that way all along. BOAT THAT CHANGED 34: THE SCOURGE OF SALMON FARMING THE WORLD Maule Itata Coastkeeper Rodrigo de la O battles a massive salmon aquaculture scheme along 30 miles of Chile’s magnificent Maule coast that would endanger its 20: BALTIMORE BANS beauty, marine life, and human communities. FOAM FOOD CONTAINERS 40: HEALING WATERS 24: PEOPLE BEFORE SWINE Six Pennsylvania inmates learn to look at the natural world like a Waterkeeper, BARONS and to change their lives in the process. 46: OUR LIVES CANNOT BE MEASURED 26: SPILLING THE TRUTH IN MEGAWATTS ABOUT ETP’S FILTHY The 1,320-MW Rampal coal-fired power plant being built near Bangladesh’s most PIPELINES AND FILTHIER LIES treasured region, the Sundarbans, threatens millions of the country’s people and its future.

4 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, times greater than that of original construction. This expense Cáceres, who championed efforts to protect the Gualcarque River of updating aging dams often exceeds the profit from the electricity from large-scale development projects such as the proposed Agua MARC YAGGI they generate. Zarca hydroelectric dam, was murdered while participating in a peaceful protest. In March 2018, the president of the company FREE FLOWING RIVERS INITIATIVE planning the Agua Zarca dam – a former Honduran military intelligence officer – was arrested for her murder. These worldwide negative impacts on waterways and communities Globally, according to The Guardian and Global Witness, spurred Waterkeeper Alliance to adopt a “Free Flowing Rivers approximately 200 environmental advocates were killed in both Initiative,” which opposes construction of new dams and diversions 2016 and 2017. It has been reported that most of these advocates or supports mitigation of their impacts where there is no other option, died while opposing mining, dams, logging, and the activities of and advocates for removal of dams wherever possible. The initiative agricultural interests. While many of the killers were never brought is designed to connect and support battles against dams wherever to justice, reliable sources report that most of them were hired by they are engaged. Below are a few of the most urgent examples: governments or corporations. In Southeast Asia, the Mekong River basin is being threatened by a spate of proposed mega-hydropower dams, including eight in HOPE FOR THE FUTURE China, nine in Laos and two in Cambodia, where Tonle Sap Lake Waterkeeper Senglong Youk is leading efforts to opppose them. Still, a number of factors help point to a better future. “Climate- These new dams would threaten the largest inland freshwater fishery friendly” energy sources are becoming more abundant and cheaper

PHOTO BY KATE BENKERT (USFWS) in the world, which provides food and economic security to 60 than traditional ones. New technologies and management practices

after the removal of the elwha dam in washington state million residents of those countries, as well as Burma and Vietnam. are dramatically increasing water conservation and mitigating — the largest dam removal in u.s. history — the elwha In the Middle East, Waterkeepers Iraq has joined a coalition of mismanagement and waste. Governments are responding to river is thriving. Iraqi and international groups in the “Save the Tigris” Campaign, citizen demands by shelving dam projects. As noted above, citizen which promotes the restoration of the Mesopotamian Marshlands resistance led Peru to enact a moratorium on dams. In 2016, after emissions is just shy of all emissions from Brazil, which is seventh of southern Iraq and opposes destructive projects such as the Ilisu years of opposition from a network of communities and advocates, on the list of greenhouse-gas-emitting countries. Other studies LET OUR RIVERS Dam on the Tigris in Turkey and the Daryan Dam on the Sirwan River, including Futaleufú Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance, the show that 79 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions from reservoirs an upper Tigris tributary, in Iran. electric company Endesa relinquished its plans to dam the Futaleufú are methane, which is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide In Canada, Grand Riverkeeper Labrador’s Roberta Frampton- River in Patagonian Chile. in accelerating climate change. RUN FREE: Benefiel is one of the grassroots leaders in voicing concerns about The most powerful and exciting factor pointing to hope for the Dams have long flooded people out of their homes. Studies Nalcor Energy’s $12-billion Muskrat Falls dam because of its future is that groups are organizing and working together to oppose A GLOBAL LOOK AT HOW DAMS ARE estimate that nearly 80 million people have been displaced production of methylmercury, a neurotoxin linked to heart problems, new dams and diversions, fight for mitigation of dams’ impacts, by dams globally. It is rare to find a case study that shows DESTROYING OUR WATERWAYS neurological damage to children, and also makes fish consumption and advocate for their removal. In Sweden, where virtually all a displaced community reaping all the benefits promised to dangerous and threatens traditional foods for First Nations’ power is now generated from fossil-fuel-free sources, Älvräddarnas There are many issues affecting the waterways that more than 340 them; in reality, they are more likely to face a long trail of broken communities. Waterkeeper, Swedish Baltic Rivers Waterkeeper, and others keep Waterkeeper Organizations patrol and protect in 44 countries. But promises. For example, according to the Geneva-based Internal In California, Yuba River Waterkeeper Melinda Booth is working fighting to eliminate dams, and last year, after seven years of protest, one issue is so pervasive that it affects rivers and their fisheries in Displacement Monitoring Centre, the Manwan Dam built by to stop the proposed 275-feet-high Centennial Dam in California’s a county board announced that it would remove the ancient sawmill nearly every corner of the world: hydropower dams. These dams are China on the Mekong River displaced more than 7,000 people, Sierra Nevada foothills, which would flood the last six miles of dam on the Emån, one of Sweden’s 16 Baltic salmon rivers, restoring sometimes touted as “clean energy,” but it is abundantly clear that who never received enough compensation to build adequate publicly accessible free-flowing river on the Bear River, destroying approximately one-third of the river’s habitat. they are not. Along with diversions and reservoirs around the world, replacement housing, while they suffered from landslides and fish-and-wildlife habitat, beloved swimming holes and historic These stories of citizens rising up to oppose dams or advocate dams cause immense harm to waterways, wildlife, economies, and water shortages. Native American sites. for their removal will continue to develop as residents become communities. This letter offers a global perspective on the damages Dams often cause damage to critical river habitat and In Peru, Marañón River Waterkeeper Bruno Monteferri, an increasingly aware of the truth about “clean” energy. And one day, they cause, but also presents a case for hope. destroy fisheries around the world, impacting the temperature, environmental lawyer and activist, has been on the front lines of our rivers will flow free again. quality, quantity, and frequency of instream flows, as well as the resistance against a proposal to build 20 dams on the Marañón IMPACT OF DAMS degrading or destroying adjacent floodplains and wetlands, River, the hydrological source of the Amazon. To date none of these which are crucial for healthy ecosystems. Futher, these impacts large dams has been constructed, and local opposition, in the face of Recent studies repeatedly have shown that dams and reservoirs are increase risks to already threatened and endangered aquatic corporate corruption and political lobbying, has led to a moratorium a major source of greenhouse-gas emissions. One of these studies, species. on all dams until 2021. published in BioScience in late 2016, calculated that, globally, And many dam and diversion projects involve repair, But make no mistake, engaging in advocacy against dams reservoirs are emitting the equivalent of one gigaton—or one billion replacement or relocation of infrastructure, much of which is dangerous business. This was tragically proven in 2016, when tons—of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. This level of may be a half-century old, if not older, at a cost of two-to-five Goldman-Prize-winning Honduran environmental activist Berta

6 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 7 CLEAN WATER • THE BLUE PLANET’S FIRST RESPONDERS • CITIZEN ACTION Waterkeeper Alliance WATERKEEPER 180 Maiden Lane Suite 603 New York, NY 10038

® WATERKEEPER ON THE COVER: Thousands of fishermen gather in Dublar Char WATERKEEPER village, in Bangladesh’s Sundarbans region, to MAGAZINE RECLAIMED. discuss the threat that the Rampal power plant CANNOT BE MEASURED IN MEGAWATTS | CRISIS IN THE SUNDARBANS 100% PCW PAPER poses to their livelihoods and their lives.

VOLUME 14 , ISSUE 2 Photo by Lynne Buchanan

In partnership with 180 Maiden Lane, Ste. 603, New York, N.Y. 10038 Waterkeeper Alliance, BIONIC® strengthens communities while cleaning up our Marine [email protected] for questions or comments Environments. Design by BoyBurnsBarn/John Turner 2018 www.waterkeeper.org VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2 $5.95

® ® Waterkeeper Alliance’s Ocean Plastic Recovery Initiative mobilizes a vast network of Waterkeeper ® Organizations and Affiliates around the globe to establish recycling infrastructure and plastic recovery The official magazine of Waterkeeper Alliance efforts to stop plastic pollution from entering our oceans. This network operates recycling facilities where recovered plastic is consolidated, sorted, and baled. BIONIC® acquires the processed plastics in exchange for a donation calculated at the baled commodities' fair market value that will provide much-needed support of the Waterkeeper Organization or Affiliate's ongoing work to protect and preserve their watershed.

55414IMPO.(PDF_D17).indd 1 7/20/18 6:51 PM MISSION: Waterkeeper Alliance strengthens and grows a global network of grassroots leaders protecting everyone’s right to clean water.

Tom Quinn Editor BoyBurnsBarn/John Turner Art Direction Robert E. Murphy Consulting Editor Lindsey Muzzio Photo Editor

Board of Directors Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Casi Callaway Kris Moore Chris Wilke Globally, the paper industry is the single PRESIDENT Karl Coplan Cheryl Nenn Gary Wockner Glenn R. Rink Grey C. Hecht Lessing Stern CHAIR largest industrial consumer of water and the Mark Mattson Terry Tamminen Wendy Abrams third greatest emitter of greenhouse gases. Waterkeeper Council Casi Callaway / CHAIR Margarita Diaz Kathy Phillips Getting the Paper (More) Right! MOBILE BAYKEEPER TIJUANA WATERKEEPER ASSATEAGUE COASTKEEPER You will notice that this copy of WATERKEEPER magazine is different from copies Mark Mattson Paul Gallay David Prescott produced in the last few years. Although we are very proud of the paper selection LAKE ONTARIO RIVERKEEPER SOUTH COUNTY COASTKEEPER WATERKEEPER choices we have made in the past, we have found that the industry has moved Sharif Jamil Fred Smith forward. Today we can print on a 100% Post Consumer Waste paper that provides Tonya Bonitatibus BURIGANGA RIVERKEEPER WATERKEEPERS BAHAMAS SAVANNAH RIVERKEEPER dramatically better environmental savings at lower cost, without sacrificing the print Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Theo Thomas quality that our readers expect. Kemp Burdette LONDON WATERKEEPER CAPE FEAR RIVERKEEPER Cheryl Nenn MILWAUKEE RIVERKEEPER Chris Wilke Now that WATERKEEPER magazine is printed on 100% Post Consumer Hartwell Carson PUGET SOUNDKEEPER FRENCH BROAD RIVERKEEPER Betsy Nicholas Waste, FSC-certified, chlorine-free Cascades Rolland Enviro100 Satin, our new WATERKEEPERS CHESAPEAKE Gary Wockner environmental savings metrics will be based on actual measurements and usage Sejal Choksi-Chugh POUDRE RIVERKEEPER SAN FRANCISCO BAYKEEPER Rodrigo de la O data at the mill. Using this paper more than doubles reductions of wastewater MAULE ITATA COASTKEEPER Hao Xin Karl Coplan / TREASURER QIANTANG RIVER WATERKEEPER created, solid waste generated and energy consumed. Because Cascades actually PACE UNIVERSITY Sam Perkins burns methane obtained directly from a local land fill, the green house gases CATAWBA RIVERKEEPER emitted are three times less than those of the previous paper manufacturer. This is done without purchasing either carbon offset or windpower credits, as our previous supplier Trustee Council Glenn R. Rink, CHAIR F. Daniel Gabel, Jr. Kris Moore William B. Wachtel Do your thing with SweetWater this summer and you’ll also did. We are very pleased with this new paper grade and anticipate you will be too. Wendy Abrams Tom Gegax Heather Richardson Kent Weed William S. Brennan Grey C. Hecht Howard Rubin Yvonne Zappulla be helping to protect our natural waterways and coastlines. Environmental Savings (compared to products containing 100% virgin paper) Gay Browne A. Judson Hill Laura & Rutherford Seydel Carla Zilka Ann Colley Ed Hubennette Lessing Stern James Curleigh Karen Percy Lowe & Terry Tamminen John Paul DeJoria Kevin Lowe Jami & Klaus von Heidegger Leadership Circle Amy Acker Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley Carrie Lee Bryce Perry HELP SWEETWATER HELP THOSE WHO PROTECT OUR PASSIONS 70 trees saved and James Carpinello Mark Feuerstein Karen Lehner CC Goldwater and David Sager Brian Acrish Murray Fisher Chad Lowe Nick Sangermano FISHING • SURFING • FLOATING • BREWING • SWIMMING • DRINKING • PROTECTING • GIVING • CONSERVING 67,095 gallons wastewater flow saved Dr. Alan Andacht and Rafael Fogel Kathryn MacLeod Dr. Michael Maher Sara and Hans Schiff Barnaby Furnas Dr. Michael Maher David Ansel John R. Seydel 8,481 lbs. solid waste not generated Kendis Gibson Camryn Manheim Gabriele Bertaccini Harper Simon Neil Giuliano James Manfredonia Gordon Brown Deanna Clarkson Smith Michael McCulloch 107,000,000 BTUs of energy not consumed Dylan and Emmeli Bruno Rachael Harris and and Bob Smith IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Christian Hebel and Chris Kafentzis Jason C. Chryssicas Dr. Willian E. Smith TJ Hill Nicole Miller 22,047 lbs. of CO2 gas emissions prevented Mira Coluccio Tore Steen Katherine Kendrick Diane Neal Sean Currie Don Thompson Bryan Koop Kristie Pellecchia Virginia Dadey Joe Tomlinson 107 MMBTU of energy saved Ilene S. Landress Lewis Perkins Geralyn Dreyfous Alexandra Weed 65 lbs. of nitrogen oxide (NOx) gas emissions prevented RobertStaff F. Kennedy, Jr. Sharon Khan SENIOR ATTORNEY RECRUITING DIRECTOR In other words, the savings from our new paper choice is equivalent to: Marc Yaggi Larissa Liebmann EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STAFF ATTORNEY The annual emissions from 3 cars Lesley Adams Donna Lisenby SENIOR ORGANIZER, WESTERN U.S. CLEAN AND SAFE ENERGY CAMPAIGN MANAGER AND the annual energy consumption of 1 household Christian Breen Katherine Luscher FIELD INVESTIGATOR TRAINING DIRECTOR Rachel Cook Bart Mihailovich A PORTION OF PROFITS FROM Waterkeeper magazine is printed on chlorine-free, FSC-certified Rolland Enviro FINANCE AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR SENIOR ORGANIZER, EASTERN U.S. 100 Satin 100% post-consumer recycled paper which is manufactured with biogas Rick Dove Sergio Moncada energy. This paper is certified by Ecologo and by Smartwood for FSC standards SENIOR ADVISOR ORGANIZER, LATIN AMERICA THESE PACKS WILL HELP PROTECT which promote environmentally-appropriate, socially-beneficial and economically- Malaika Elias Lindsey Muzzio ORGANIZER, CHESAPEAKE, GREAT LAKES, AND COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING viable management of the world’s forests. NORTH ATLANTIC COORDINATOR OUR NATURAL HABITATS. Daniel E. Estrin Pete Nichols Waterkeeper Alliance and Cascades Fine Papers are proud to reduce the GENERAL COUNSEL AND ADVOCACY DIRECTOR ORGANIZING DIRECTOR Kelly Hunter Foster Mary Beth Postman ------environmental burden related to paper production. SENIOR ATTORNEY DEPUTY DIRECTOR Heather George Tom Quinn GRANTS MANAGER SENIOR EDITOR FOR MORE INFO, CHECK US OUT AT Will Hendrick Maia Raposo STAFF ATTORNEY AND NORTH CAROLINA PURE COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING DIRECTOR FARMS, PURE WATERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER Gabrielle Segal SWEETWATERBREW.COM/SAVEOURWATER Kate Hudson OFFICE MANAGER ADVOCACY COORDINATOR, WESTERN U.S. Min Zheng ORGANIZER, ASIA © 2018 Waterkeeper Alliance. Reproduction of editorial content only is authorized with appropriate credit and acknowledgement. Basinkeeper, Beachkeeper, Channelkeeper, Creekkeeper, Lakekeeper, Shorekeeper and Waterkeeper are registered trademarks and service marks of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. Coastkeeper, Gulfkeeper and Inletkeeper are trademarks and service marks licensed by Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. Riverkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Riverkeeper, Inc. and is licensed for use herein. Baykeeper and Deltakeeper are registered trademarks and service marks of Baykeeper, Inc. and are licensed SweetWater Brewing Company • Georgia • SweetWaterBrew.com • +21 Please Drink Responsibly for use herein. Soundkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Soundkeeper, Inc. and is licensed for use herein. Printed in USA – Allied Printing

SWB-Waterkeeper-Ad-WTW-SOW-180503-01.indd 1 5/4/18 4:40 PM Who Is over 2.5 million Waterkeeper square miles of watersheds Alliance? 44 countries

Miami Waterkeeper’s mission is to defend, protect, efforts. “Our beautiful waterways are in the backyard and preserve South Florida’s watershed through citizen of one of the fastest growing cities in the nation,” says engagement and community action rooted in sound Miami Waterkeeper Rachel Silverstein, “and that brings science and research. Through its efforts, it supports a major challenges and opportunities. It’s been a privilege vibrant and resilient coastal community and environment to champion clean water and habitat protection initiatives for current and future generations. in our unique watershed.” more than 300waterways Miami Waterkeeper’s scope of work is diverse, with core Rachel joined the organization in June of 2014. Her issues including clean water, ecosystem protection, and passion for protecting the environment began at an early resiliency. Serving a population of more than 4.5 million age while growing up along the Southern California coast. people across Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Miami She got SCUBA certified at 14 and has been an avid diver Waterkeeper Alliance unites more than 300 Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates that are on the Waterkeeper’s approach combines education, community ever since. She received a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from frontlines of the global water crisis, patrolling and protecting more than 2.5 million square miles of rivers, lakes, and coastal waterways on 6 continents. outreach, scientific research, and legal advocacy to the University of Miami in 2012, focusing on the effects of achieve protected marine ecosystems and habitats, sea- climate change on reef corals. Rachel was named one of Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates defend our fundamental human right to drinkable, fishable, and level-rise resiliency, and clean and safe waterways. the Top 20 Environmentalists in South Florida and one of swimmable waters from the Great Lakes to the Himalayas, and combine firsthand knowledge of their Miami’s most interesting people by the New Times, was waterways with an unwavering commitment to the rights of their communities. Miami Waterkeeper has had significant victories, including recognized with the Diatom Award by the Mayor of Miami Whether they’re on the water tracking down polluters, in courtrooms enforcing environmental laws, in litigation over illegal coral reef damage during the Port Beach for excellence in environmental advocacy, and was advocating in town meetings or teaching in classrooms, the Waterkeeper movement speaks for the of Miami expansion that has already catalyzed the rescue awarded the Miami Herald’s Visionary Award. waters it defends with the backing of local communities. Waterkeeper Alliance ensures that the world’s of several hundred threatened staghorn corals adversely Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates are as connected to each other as they are to their local waters, impacted by this project. Miami Waterkeeper is working Follow Miami Waterkeeper on Facebook and learn more organizing the fight for clean water into a coordinated global movement. on preventing similar damage from occurring again, about Miami Waterkeeper’s work — and how you can help Everyone has the right to clean water. It is the action of supporting members that ensures our future and as well as a number of other water quality-monitoring — at www.miamiwaterkeeper.org. strengthens our fight for clean water. To join Waterkeeper Alliance, go to waterkeeper.org/donate and make a contribution to join as a supporting member. You can also join by mail. Send your check, payable to Waterkeeper Alliance, to Waterkeeper Membership, 180 Maiden Lane, Suite 603 New York, NY 10038. Thanks for your support!

Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 11 Ripples PHOTO BY SAN FRANCISCO BAYKEEPER

far left, the mothballed “ghost fleet” of decommissioned vessels slowly decayed, leaking fuel and shedding metals and toxic paint into san francisco bay for 40 years. top, as a result of san francisco baykeeper’s legal action, the ships in the worst condition “THE POLLUTION LEVELS WERE HIGH ENOUGH TO HARM BOTTOM-DWELLING were removed first. left, the cape borda was the last ghost SPECIES, LIKE GREEN STURGEON AND SACRAMENTO SPLITTAIL, WHICH MEANS fleet ship to leave the bay, seen here from the baykeeper THOSE TOXINS WERE ALSO INTRODUCED INTO THE BAY’S FOOD CHAIN.” patrol boat.

miami waterkeeper rachel silverstein PHOTO BY MATT KNOTH PHOTO BY ROGER CUNNINGHAM

SAN FRANCISCO BAYKEEPER SEJAL CHOKSI-CHUGH

leaking fuel, rusting and shedding metals called for measures that went beyond national environmental implemented the new pollution controls,” said Choksi-Chugh. and toxic paint – an estimated 20 tons of requirements. It mandated that the federal government first Most of the ships that were removed have been dismantled GHOSTBUSTING IN contaminants – into the bay. Pollutants remove paint chips and metals from the decks of all 57 ships. and recycled. Some were dismantled locally at a former naval in the mud directly below the Ghost Fleet Over 140 tons of paint and rust chips were collected in large shipyard on Mare Island, in nearby Vallejo. The last two ships, were found to be in concentrations that barrels and taken to a hazardous-waste-disposal facility. The the Cape Borda and the Cape Breton, were transferred to Mare SAN FRANCISCO BAY exceeded California’s hazardous-waste government was also required to clean the hulls in dry-docks Island for an initial cleaning, and traveled from there to Texas to toxicity criteria. in order to remove invasive species and peeling paint without be fully dismantled and recycled for parts. The “Ghost Fleet of Suisun Bay”– the decaying military ships “The pollution levels were high enough to harm bottom- harming the bay, as well as implementing annual stormwater- Since the cleanup began, more surplus military ships have that poisoned the San Francisco Bay ecosystem for 40 years – dwelling species, like green sturgeon and Sacramento splittail, pollution controls, such as water filters and maintenance been transferred to Suisun Bay for storage. But the federal is finally gone, as a result of legal action brought against the which means those toxins were also introduced into the bay’s sweeping, to keep rain from sending more contaminants into government is now required to comply with the Clean Water federal government in 2007 by San Francisco Baykeeper, Arc food chain,” said San Francisco Baykeeper Sejal Choksi-Chugh. the bay. Finally, the government had to remove the ships in Act and use pollution controls to prevent contamination from Ecology, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Suisun Bay and the adjacent Suisun Marsh – the largest the worst condition first, in order to clean up the most urgent these additional ships. “Moreover,” said Choksi-Chugh, “as a Removal of the 57 mothballed ships and cleanup of the bay brackish marsh in the western United States – provide critical pollution threats as quickly as possible. result of our legal action, the government indicated they would began in 2010 and was completed in late 2017. habitat for several species of endangered fish, including Chinook Representatives from Baykeeper, Arc Ecology, NRDC and also apply the same pollution controls they agreed to in San The Ghost Fleet was a group of long-defunct vessels from salmon and Delta smelt. The wetlands in the area are home the Regional Water Quality Control Board conducted an on- Francisco Bay on mothballed ships nationwide.” World War II and the Korean War, stored in Suisun Bay, a large to hundreds of native bird species, and they are an important site inspection each year. “Each time we found problems with Experts estimate that the cleanup and removal of the Ghost northern inlet of San Francisco Bay, for possible emergency feeding stop for thousands of migrating water birds each year. some of the remaining ships, we made recommendations for Fleet has prevented an additional 50 tons of heavy metals from reactivation. But, never again deployed, they slowly decayed, Baykeeper’s agreement with the federal government improvements, and to their credit, the federal government being blown and washed into San Francisco Bay.

12 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 13 Ripples PHOTO BY DON NICE

THE PATROLS HAVE NEVER STOPPED. HERE ARE 10 FAST FACTS ABOUT HUDSON RIVERKEEPER’S CURRENT BOAT AND ITS REMARKABLE CAPTAIN, JOHN LIPSCOMB, WHO HAS BEEN AT

PHOTO BY HUDSON RIVERKEEPER THE HELM SINCE 2000:

Hudson Riverkeeper was The R. Ian Fletcher is the second Since 2000, Captain Lipscomb and BUD HARDWICK THE the world’s first Waterkeeper 1 Riverkeeper patrol boat. The 7 the R. Ian Fletcher have patrolled Organization. Commercial Hudson River Fishermen’s Association New York Harbor and the Hudson LITTLE and recreational fishermen launched the first one from the Hudson Estuary to Troy, N.Y., 150 miles north. By founded it as the Hudson River River Maritime Museum in Kingston, 2014, its range had expanded to include PATROL Fishermen’s Association in N.Y., on May 14, 1983. 120 miles on the Mohawk River to Rome, 1966 in response to massive N.Y., and 35 miles on the Upper Hudson pollution from several The R. Ian Fletcher was built in 1983 to Fort Edward. BOAT industrial facilities. 2 in Bivalve, N.J., to work commercial In 1983, the association shellfish beds in Delaware Bay. Captain Lipscomb and the R. Ian hired former commercial THAT Fletcher log nearly 1,000 hours and fisherman John Cronin as the 8 CHANGED first full-time Riverkeeper, and 3 It’s built of cedar planking on oak 6,000 river miles a year. Her homeport launched a 25-foot wooden frames. is Westerly Marina in Ossining, N.Y. outboard boat to patrol the THE Hudson for polluters. On his Hudson Riverkeeper bought the The boat is also the floating lab for first patrol, Cronin discovered 4 boat in 1990, and it was refurbished 9 Riverkeeper’s Water Quality Testing WORLD Exxon oil tankers rinsing their and launched as the “R. Ian Fletcher” Program, and a platform for collaborative holds in the river and stealing in 1998. scientific research by EPA, Columbia above left, captain its water for use in the company’s University’s Lamont Doherty Earth john lipscomb watches as the r. ian fletcher refinery on the Caribbean island of Her engine is a Volvo Penta Observatory, Woods Hole Oceanographic is lowered into the Aruba. Exxon stopped these practices 5 six-cylinder diesel installed in ’98 Institution, Cornell University, Queens water after winter and paid $2 million in fines. Since then, maintenance. middle, by Captain John Lipscomb and his crew College of the City University of New john cronin, the Riverkeeper patrols have resulted in when he was the manager of Petersen’s York, and the State University of world’s first full- tens of millions of dollars in fines to Boatyard in Upper Nyack, N.Y. The New York College of Agriculture and time riverkeeper, polluters and led the Hudson River’s on patrol in the engine was donated by Volvo. Technology at Cobleskill. hudson river. right, remarkable resurgence. These patrols the first riverkeeper inspired a global movement that now Dr. R. Ian Fletcher was a noted Every winter during layup the boat, a 25-foot counts more than 300 Waterkeeper wooden outboard, expert in fluid dynamics, 10Fletcher is modified and improved Proud Supporter was launched in Organizations and Affiliates on six 6 1983. since then, continents and 44 countries. oceanography, physical ecology and under the skilled guidance of Chris riverkeeper patrols biomathematics who applied his Brennan of Brennan Boatbuilding, have resulted in tens of millions of dollars dedication to science and his great formerly of Ossining, N.Y., now based in of in fines to polluters knowledge to benefit the Hudson. He Wittman, Md. and led the hudson river’s remarkable helped Hudson Riverkeeper win many resurgence. historic cases, such as the battle against Waterkeeper Alliance Westway, a $2 billion plan to build a highway on pilings in the Hudson Prudential Center • Boston • Massachusetts River on the west shore of Manhattan. 14 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 www.bostonproperties.com Ripples

right, mobile baykeeper casi callaway collects water samples at a popular local swimming spot. far right, callaway is a frequent presence on local media, advocating tirelessly for the mobile bay watershed and keeping the public up-to-date. AFTER 20

YEARS, PHOTOS BY MOBILE BAYKEEPER It has been raining for two days, and three years now,” she tells one reporter. “Our findings THREATS the sewers across the city of Mobile, demonstrate that Alabama Power’s coal ash is polluting our Alabama, have begun to overflow from groundwater with dangerous levels of arsenic, selenium, ENDURE, the torrents, sending thousands of lead, and other heavy metals. gallons of untreated sewage into creeks “The worst case scenario would be a breach of the AND SO and rivers. dam. Imagine another BP Oil disaster, but with 20 times Casi Callaway, now in her the amount of toxins that were spilled into the Gulf instead 20th year as the Mobile Baykeeper, has spilling into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and eventually DOES THE already been on the line with a reporter downstream through the port of Mobile and Mobile Bay. from the local TV station. “Sewage in Alabama Power needs to be a leader on this issue and dig MOBILE our waterways is clearly a problem,” she up the coal ash and move it away from the river to a lined, tells him. She knows just where to point upland landfill.” BAYKEEPER her finger – at the municipal water utility Casi is also preparing testimony that she will deliver before the and its aging infrastructure. U.S. EPA in Washington, regarding its proposal to weaken “Since January 2017,” she continues, “the Mobile the very standards for coal-ash disposal that are protecting area has had more than 26 million gallons of raw sewage Mobile and many other communities from a possible disaster. discharged into local waterways – most often because of Later she meets with local decision-makers – first with aging lines incapable of handling rainfall. There needs to be the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that all environmental a solution to stop these overflows.” impacts are weighed before deepening and widening As the head of Mobile’s largest environmental advocacy the Mobile Ship Channel, and next with the Chamber of organization, Casi knows full well that she has to keep Commerce to advocate for restoration projects following pressing for improvements in the sewage infrastructure. from the BP oil disaster. But right now she must turn her attention to an even more To many, juggling so many things would be overwhelming, urgent matter – a 600-acre coal-ash pond on the banks of but for Casi, it’s another day on the job. Ask her the key to her the Mobile River at the Alabama Power Company’s James longevity and success and she’ll tell you it’s the willingness M. Barry Electric Generating Plant, about 25 miles north to collaborate. From elected officials and industry-leaders of downtown Mobile. This pond, unlined and with no to business-owners and local fishermen, there’s no one she protective barrier to groundwater, has received more than won’t work with to protect the Mobile watershed. But her 21 million tons of highly toxic ash from the plant’s coal-fired approach may be tested as never before in her confrontation units since 1965. with Alabama Power. She’ll have to convince local citizens to The facility’s location makes the situation even more send letters voicing their concerns; to work with leaders from dangerous, according to Casi. “The pond is surrounded by the shipping, seafood, tourism and real-estate industries, the Mobile River and sensitive wetlands in a low-lying area whose livelihoods would be severely damaged by a coal-ash prone to flooding. It is held together by a dam made of dirt, dam failure; and to educate fishermen, hunters, and boaters clay, and coal ash – making it susceptible to collapse from about the potential threats to their ways of life. the effects of a hurricane, heavy rain or structural failure.” Casi says that, over her 20-year tenure, she’s learned Mobile Baykeeper recently released a 232-page report that, above all, “you’ve got to stay positive and stay focused. describing the threats posed by the pond. Alabama Power Focus on that prize, no matter how far or distant it is. has just announced its decision to cap the pond in place. What we do isn’t easy, and being able to win is rare – really And Casi’s phone is ringing off the hook with requests win, stop something or build something or don’t build from local reporters to schedule interviews to discuss the something, it’s rare. But you can’t let that stop you. There’s breaking news. just too much at stake.” – Hanlon Walsh, Communications “We’ve been investigating this issue for almost Director, Mobile Baykeeper

16 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Ripples INVEST WITH AN IMPACT

Chesapeake Impact Equity

PHOTO BY JEN KALT PHOTO BY CLINTON STEEDS A unique investment strategy that focuses on public companies that make a positive impact on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed of laws to fight pollution. Baykeeper Jen Kalt, a MAKING botanist and long-time conservation advocate, has been there the whole time. She launched the WAVES organization’s Citizen Water-Monitoring Program in 2005, and was policy director for three years IN before taking the reins in 2014. Humboldt Baykeeper’s four Clean Water HUMBOLDT Act enforcement victories in 2017 resulted in the awarding of $130,000 to local nonprofit groups and municipalities to restore wetlands, monitor water BAY quality, and build public bathrooms to be used by the homeless. In late 2017 Humboldt As a result of its suit against the California PHOTO BY TODD KRAEMER, PACIFIC WATERSHED ASSOCIATES Baykeeper rode a tidal wave Redwood Company, alleging that the company of Clean Water Act victories was allowing contaminated stormwater from its aimed at reducing pollution in California’s second- wood chip dock facility and former mill site to enter “THE BAY EMERGES FROM A largest natural estuary, filing four court actions, and Humboldt Bay since at least September 2011, the LAND WHERE REDWOODS ARE winning each time. company contributed $35,000 to Friends of the Dunes to enhance wetlands beneficial to the bay’s LOGGED AND MARIJUANA IS The largest protected body of water on the West Coast between San Francisco Bay and Puget water quality. It also installed equipment to treat HARVESTED, CONTRIBUTING Sound, Humboldt Bay supports more than 100 stormwater and is conducting employee training to TO A VARIETY OF POLLUTANTS, species of fish, including green sturgeon, coho prevent stormwater runoff from entering the bay. INCLUDING LEGACY DIOXINS and Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, as well But despite Humboldt Baykeeper’s banner year, as Dungeness crab and more than 70 percent of Jen Kalt bemoans the current lack of enforcement FROM TIMBER MILLS AND California’s oysters. The bay’s bordering wetlands of environmental laws across the United States. For PESTICIDES FROM MARIJUANA provide habitat for millions of migratory birds that authorities to enable businesses to operate outside OPERATIONS, THAT HARM THE travel along the Pacific Flyway each year. of those laws, she says, is “an injustice to the people WATERS AND WILDLIFE” The bay emerges from a land where redwoods who believe in running their businesses in ways that are logged and marijuana is harvested, contributing follow the law and protect the environment.” to a variety of pollutants, including legacy dioxins The Clean Water Act has never been the only top left, humboldt baykeeper’s successful legal action against from timber mills and pesticides from marijuana instrument in Humboldt Baykeeper’s toolbox. the local waste management operations, that harm the waters and wildlife along Its “Toxics Initiative” includes a study to analyze authority’s hawthorne transfer California’s north coast. Fortunately, the Baykeeper levels of mercury in marine life, including lingcod, station will reduce pollutants in stormwater discharges into a organization, though just a “teenager,” is the area’s halibut, clams, and oysters, that are caught or humboldt bay saltmarsh. top right, spunky and visionary guardian. dug up in the bay. The organization also leads the fisherman’s memorial statue on woodley island in humboldt Spawned by an effort to stop a proposed motor boat and kayak tours of the bay to teach For more Information, please contact: bay honors those “whom the sea liquefied-natural-gas terminal, the Arcata-based local residents about ecology, stewardship, and sustained...and those it claimed.” Baykeeper was founded in 2004 to protect coastal pollution. “Industries come and go,” Jen Kalt bottom left, humboldt baykeeper jen kalt collecting bacteria samples for a resources for the health, enjoyment, and economic says, “but if we destroy the bay and rivers, they’re continuing source-identification study. strength of the surrounding communities, providing gone forever.” — Lesley Adams, Senior Organizer, Maryland Capital Management education, scientific research, and enforcement Western U.S.

18 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 www.chesapeakeimpactequity.com | 800 N. Charles Street, Suite 500 Baltimore, MD 21201 | (410) 547-2666

Ripples

kenya lake victoria waterkeeper leonard WHEN IT REACHES akwany is one of the nile basin region’s most WATERWAYS, IT fervent advocates for protecting wetlands, ABSORBS 10 TIMES freshwater ecosystems, MORE PESTICIDES, and biodiversity. FERTILIZERS, AND CHEMICALS THAN OTHER KINDS OF PLASTIC, INCREASING TOXIN EXPOSURE TO FISH AND OTHER AQUATIC ANIMALS, AND POTENTIALLY MAKING ITS WAY INTO PHOTO BY KENYA LAKE VICTORIA WATERKEEPER THE FOOD CHAIN. ALONG THE GREAT NILE, ALTERNATIVES TO TOO MUCH HYDROPOWER The Nile, restore, and promote sustainable use of water-

PHOTOS BY BALTIMORE HARBOR WATERKEEPER the world’s related ecosystems across the basin.” BAN TO longest river, “Through my consultancy work with the NBI above left, “no home for foam in baltimore” is vital to the survival of over 300 million people. on transboundary wetlands,” says Akwany, who reads one sign held high by a protester before Endowed with about one-third of the world’s fresh holds a master’s degree in Environmental Science, CLEAR a city council hearing on the bill to ban WORKING polystyrene containers. above right, gwynns surface-water, the river has been, for millennia, the Policy and Management from the University of run, a baltimore stream, shows just how TOGETHER ACROSS life source for grand and storied civilizations in an Manchester, UK, “I have been pushing for an BALTIMORE damaging an impact plastics are having on local waterways. NATIONS, THEY otherwise arid, almost unlivable desert. agenda that promotes truly environmentally HARBOR OF But today the river, which flows south to north sustainable solutions.” ARE FORMING and spans 11 countries, is the scene of a major Kenya Lake Victoria Waterkeeper was founded Soon, the only foam group of passionate public-school students and eight first-time water crisis, with conflicts constantly erupting in 2015 and is now one of three Waterkeeper FOAM FOOD in troubled Baltimore councilmembers willing to stand up to the American Chemistry A STRONG between nations around how the Nile River’s Organizations in the African Great Lakes Region Harbor will be sea foam Council and plastics-manufacturing companies to protect the GRASSROOTS water is used. Most recently, warnings have been that are protecting the headwaters of the Nile’s CONTAINERS thanks, in large part, to harbor and public health,” said Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper sounded of a potential water war between Egypt other branch, the White Nile. Lake Kyoga Waterkeeper the work of the Baltimore Angela Haren. VOICE FOR THE and Ethiopia, as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance in Uganda was launched in 2017, and Tanzania Lake Harbor Waterkeeper program of Blue Water Baltimore. The group Baltimore City students, organized by the student-led REGION, AND Dam nears completion on one of the Nile’s two Tanganyika Waterkeeper this year. and a coalition of other environmental, community, and student organization Baltimore Beyond Plastics, and the Baltimore Harbor ADVOCATING FOR main branches, the Blue Nile, where most of Working together across nations, they are organizations, declared victory this spring against the use of Waterkeeper team canvassed businesses, solicited letters of Egypt’s water comes from. forming a strong grassroots voice for the region, expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam containers for take-out food and support, and successfully swayed previously skeptical City Council SAFE, RENEWABLE Thus, it is alarming to see that the second and advocating for safe, renewable energy sources, drink after a unanimous vote by the Baltimore City Council to ban members. And at a rally prior to the council’s hearing on the ENERGY SOURCES of the six goals of the 10-year plan of the Nile such as solar and wind, that are absent from NBI’s the all-too-common plastic. bill, they brought homemade monster figures and masks made Basin Initiative (NBI), a partnership of 10 Nile 10-year strategy. The ambitious hydropower Unlike other forms of trash, EPS foam is impossible to fully of plastic foam lunch trays, and raised hand-painted signs. The Basin countries for the sustainable management plans that it lays out for the region may not clean up. It is petroleum-based and not biodegradable, so it hearing was packed with over 200 students from the second to the of the basin’s water, is to “enhance hydropower benefit the 60 percent of local communities crumbles into smaller and smaller pieces each time it is touched or twelfth grades, several of whom testified. Their zeal, coupled with development.” that are not connected to the grid. In fact the disturbed. When it reaches waterways, it absorbs ten times more expert testimony from members of environmental and community “For economic reasons and to remain NBI recognizes that demand for power “will pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals than other kinds of plastic, groups and personal accounts of supportive business leaders, plus attractive to state parties, there is an over-reliance eventually exceed hydropower potential” and increasing toxin exposure to fish and other aquatic animals, and hundreds of signatures from other businesses, won the day. in the 10-year plan on hydropower and multi- that there will be an eventual need for alternative potentially making its way into the food chain. The city’s foam ban will go into effect in the fall of 2019. purpose dams as investments,” says Kenya Lake power sources. “Blue Water Baltimore worked long and tirelessly with a Victoria Waterkeeper Leonard Akwany, Jr. He “Now is the time to pay greater attention and his team have been advocating regionally to safe, renewable energy, says Akwany. for greater attention to wetlands, freshwater “Governments do not need to fight over the sun ecosystems and biodiversity. They played a key role as a resource.” – Sharon Khan, Recruiting Director, in the NBI, also establishing as a goal to “protect, and Gabrielle Segal, Office Manager.

20 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Ripples

OUR EMISSION

“BEING A RIVERKEEPER STATEMENT. ISN’T JUST A JOB. IT’S A WAY OF LIFE.”

UPPER POTOMAC RIVERKEEPER BRENT WALLS

FIGHTING FOR THE PHOTO BY DAVID HARP, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL useful tool to help inform our neighbors about the importance of the work we do.” “NATION’S RIVER” Upper Potomac Riverkeeper Brent Walls (above) is a leader in the fight against a wastewater treatment plant run by the Upper Potomac River Commission George Washington could have built his home anywhere on that discharges foul-smelling brown fluid 24 hours a day the Eastern seaboard. He chose the Potomac River, forever into an otherwise pristine section of the river. This noxious identifying it as the “Nation’s River.” Today, the Potomac effluent, most of which flows from a paper mill, emits watershed, home to more than six million people, is at heavy amounts of nitrogen, at average temperatures of constant risk of damage, pollution, and poisoning. The 100 degrees, directly into a section of the river commonly three Riverkeepers from the Potomac Riverkeeper Network used for cold water fishing. face many challenges in protecting it. “Being a Riverkeeper is not just a job, it’s a way of “Keeping the Potomac – The Politics of Water,” winner of life,” Walls says. “The North Branch Potomac was once the 2017 Student Film Award of the American Conservation considered dead from acid mine-drainage but is now Film Festival, features these Riverkeepers’ efforts to bouncing back to support naturally producing trout, but address three big problems impacting the Potomac: the thermal and pollution impacts from the paper mill agricultural-nutrient pollution along the Shenandoah and the treatment plant are still keeping this river from River, a major tributary running through Virginia and West achieving its full potential.” Virginia; a wastewater-treatment plant in Allegany County, The Potomac River from Washington, D.C. to THE HYDROGEN-FUELED TOYOTA MIRAI. ITS ONLY EMISSION IS WATER. Maryland, that pumps effluent into the upper Potomac; Chesapeake Bay is served by Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks, and coal-ash disposal ponds at Possum Point Power who has struggled for years with the damage caused by ANOTHER GIANT LEAP TOWARD A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. Plant in Dumfries, Virginia. The film was produced by Dominion Energy’s coal-ash disposal ponds, particularly graduate film students at American University’s School of at the Possum Point Power Plant. The film depicts Dean’s Communication’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking. strenuous efforts to protect the river and the health of Farmland manure and phosphorus runoff from residents who are affected by this pollution. fertilizer breed algae that kill great numbers of fish in the “We wanted American University to convey the beauty Shenandoah, and present Shenandoah Riverkeeper Mark of the river as much as highlight the hard-hitting issues Frondorf with a continuing battle. He works tirelessly impacting the river and communities fighting for clean to encourage farmers to fence their animals away from water,” Naujoks says. “I think they captured both!” waterways, and has achieved much, but many farmers – Emily Franc, Vice President, Development/Philanthropy, LEARN MORE AT TOYOTA.COM/MIRAI still do not engage in practices to protect the river from Potomac Riverkeeper Network these dangers. He describes “Keeping the Potomac” as “a Available only in CA. ©2018 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

22 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2

113415_06337PA_FY19_Waterkeeper_Ad_8125x1075_em1_w1a.indd 1 5/10/18 3:56 PM SAATCHI & SAATCHI LOS ANGELES • 3501 SEPULVEDA BLVD. • TORRANCE, CA • 90505 • 310 - 214 - 6000 SIZE: Bleed: 8-5/8" x 11-1/4" Trim: 8-1/8" x 10-3/4" Live: 7-1/8" x 9-3/4" Mechanical is 100% of final BY DATE W/C DATE BY DATE W/C DATE No. of Colors: 4C Type prints: Gutter: LS: Output is 100% of final Traffic Diversity Review Panel Print Producer Assist. Account Executive CLIENT: TMS Advertising EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTORS: F. Costa Studio Manager CREATIVE DIRECTOR: M. D’Avignon Account Executive JOB TITLE: FY19 Waterkeeper Ad Resize Production Director ASSC. CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Account Supervisor PRODUCT CODE: 360811 MIR Art Buyer COPYWRITER: K. Samuels Management Director AD UNIT: PG4CB Proofreading ART DIRECTOR: J. Barry/E. Levin CLIENT TRACKING NO: 06337 PA Art Director PRINT PRODUCER: G. Olegario Ph: 310.214.6347 Ad Mgr./Administrator •Chief Creative Officer PRODUCTION DATE: May 2018 STUDIO ARTIST: D. Marquez Ph: 310.214.6175 National Ad Mgr. •Exec. Creative Director MECHANICAL NUMBER: ______PROJECT MANAGER: W. Hubbs Ph: 310.214.6142 VOG •Creative Director SHOT NO: MIR_MY18_0001_V002 •Assc. Creative Director Corp. Mgr., Mkt. Comm. Copywriter V.P. Marketing •Assc. Creative Director Legal/Product PROOF NUMBER SPECIAL INFO: Bill to: Bill to B1194-012737-00 ––––––––––––– Product TMS Diversity Binder Ripples

Waterkeeper Alliance’s of mediation, DEQ committed to “Pure Farms, Pure new policies to ensure compliance PEOPLE BEFORE Waters” campaign has with federal civil rights laws, long drawn attention including a language access SWINE BARONS to the negative effects program and the development of concentrated animal of a tool to identify and mitigate feeding operations discrimination by assessing (CAFOs) on public environmental, demographic, and health and the environment. Waste health factors. mismanagement at these facilities In addition, DEQ agreed to has fouled the air and polluted the a number of changes in the draft water in many communities across permit that will be considered in the United States. the upcoming stakeholder process Those effects are acutely felt for the next swine general permit. in North Carolina, which produces “While these changes may seem more pork than all but one state technical,” said Waterkeeper in the U.S. and houses the world’s Alliance staff attorney Will Hendrick, largest pork-processing plant. “they’re a big step in addressing air

PHOTO BY JOHN CARTER Industrial swine operations in that and water pollution from the swine state manage millions of gallons of industry.” waste by storing it in unlined, open- Naeema Muhammed, executive i n m a rc h 2017, submitting comments on bad air pits before periodically spraying director of the NCEJN, recognized waterkeeper a lli a n c e regulatory proposals, and more than it – often with large sprinkler guns the groundbreaking nature of the launched “Dive Into Democracy,” 3.5 million people did just that. that can aerosolize waste into tiny settlement but also cautioned, “The a weekly digital update of the Our readers are fighting for a well- droplets – onto nearby cropland. harmful effects of the hog industry unprecedented attacks by the pro- funded, effective U.S. Environmental To make things worse, they are on communities in eastern North fossil-fuel Trump administration Protection Agency, and helped clustered in eastern North Carolina, Carolina continue, and all of us on U.S. environmental laws and defeat a disastrous nominee for a key in low-lying, flood-prone counties involved in this struggle must keep Environmental Protection Agency with sandy soils and shallow the pressure on.” regulations, many of which have aquifers, where the numbers of Devon Hall of REACH added been in place since the 1970s. position. African Americans, Latinos, and that “for too long people living Native Americans living within in Duplin, Sampson, and other “We envisioned Dive Into There is still a lot of work to be three miles of an industrial swine counties in the heart of hog country Democracy as a way to help readers done — industrial polluters have a facility are nearly twice as high as have had trouble breathing when fight back at a time when our seemingly endless wishlist and will for non-Hispanic Whites. they go outside. Even small changes democracy is becoming increasingly keep pushing for federal legislative In May, Waterkeeper in the permit can be important, like corrupted by industrial polluters,” and regulatory decisions in their Alliance and two North Carolina making clear that DEQ has authority says staff attorney Larissa Liebman. favor. Unless we continue to be community groups, the North to inspect without prior notice. It’s Dive into Democracy highlights vigilant, we could see our bedrock Carolina Environmental Justice unacceptable that DEQ has been how federal legislation, regulations, federal environmental laws eroded. Network (NCEJN) and the Rural giving facilities advance notice agency staffing, and other decisions Trump’s EPA continues to unveil

PHOTOS BY WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE Empowerment Association for before conducting an inspection.” Community Help (REACH), reached Larry Baldwin, formerly impact our right to clean water. It new plans to weaken protections for a settlement agreement with the Waterkeeper Alliance’s N.C. CAFO also provides tools to take effective human health and our environment, North Carolina Department of Coordinator and now the Crystal action, such as talking points to use and these efforts must be opposed “IN NORTH CAROLINA, SWINE Environmental Quality (DEQ) Coast Waterkeeper, had the last when calling members of Congress at every step. of a 2014 civil rights complaint word, “For too many years, the and templates for submitting OPERATIONS ARE HEAVILY filed with the U.S. Environmental `lagoon and sprayfield’ system of effective comments on rulemakings. Our democracy is at a turning CONCENTRATED IN THE Protection Agency. The complaint waste management has allowed point. The public’s voice is alleged that DEQ allowed industrial feces and urine to blow through the COASTAL PLAIN, WHICH IS In our first year, we helped stop increasingly being drowned out swine facilities to operate with air and flow from the sprayfields over 20 federal bills that threatened by corporate wealth and power. PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO “grossly inadequate and outdated into our waterways and into nearby our environmental safeguards. We Only persistent, widespread citizen systems of controlling animal communities. There’s still a long THIS ARCHAIC APPROACH TO engagement will overcome this waste” resulting in an “unjustified way to go, but the provisions in also asked readers to help build WASTE MANAGEMENT.” disproportionate impact on the this agreement are a step in the an expansive record of opposition power imbalance. basis of race and national origin right direction and provide more to cutting public safeguards by against African Americans, Latinos opportunities than ever before for and Native Americans.” people in eastern North Carolina to PLEASE JOIN US AT WWW.WATERKEEPER.ORG/DIVEIN Under the agreement, which have a voice in decisions affecting was reached after more than a year their future.” AS WE FIGHT FOR A STRONGER DEMOCRACY, AND A CLEANER, SAFER FUTURE.

24 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Ripples

THE 527 SPILLS HAVE CAUSED AN ESTIMATED $115 MILLION IN PROPERTY DAMAGE, AND AT LEAST 67 OF THEM, AN AVERAGE OF MORE THAN FOUR EACH “ENERGY TRANSFER PARTNERS AND YEAR SINCE 2002, SUNOCO’S EXISTING PIPELINES CONTAMINATED WATER SOURCES. HAVE LEAKED EVERY ELEVEN DAYS PHOTO BY AMANDA J. MASON, GREENPEACE ON AVERAGE FOR SIXTEEN YEARS.” top, protesters in washington, d.c., march in support of the standing rock sioux tribe’s actions against the controversial dakota access pipeline. bottom, stakes mark

PHOTO BY OHIO EPA the bayou bridge workers at a spill site on the rover pipeline in stark county, ohio in april 2017. pipeline’s path of devastation through louisiana’s fragile and irreplaceable atchafalya basin.

“That’s a red flag for a SPILLING THE TRUTH ABOUT company that has an extensive network across the country and is building even ENERGY TRANSFER’S PIPELINES: more pipelines as we speak, in Louisiana, Pennsylvania 527 INCIDENTS IN 16 YEARS and other states.” The 527 spills have caused an estimated $115 In April, Waterkeeper Alliance and Greenpeace USA published a million in property damage, and PHMSA reports that at least groundbreaking report on the pipeline company Energy Transfer 67 of them, an average of more than four each year since 2002, PHOTO BY JULIE DERMANSKY, GREENPEACE Partners’ poor safety record, analyzing 16 years of operations contaminated water sources. for its hazardous-liquids and oil pipelines. Based on public “ETP and Sunoco’s track-record of spills, including data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety several striking examples of big spills, are indicators of a transition to renewable energy is imperative to dramatically endpoint is in the southeastern part of the state, in Saint James, Administration (PHMSA), the report – “Oil and Water: ETP constant threat to communities and water. As one example, in reduce these incidents.” a rural community of about 2,100 residents, mostly poor and and Sunoco’s History of Pipeline Spills” – and accompanying October 2014 the Mid-Valley Pipeline spilled 189,000 gallons ETP is also a partner, with Phillips 66, in the construction of African American. Once a bucolic village of pasturelands and interactive map show that the company’s pipeline network has of oil and contaminated a ten-mile section of Tete Bayou the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, which Donna Lisenby, Waterkeeper sugarcane fields on the banks of the Mississippi, St. James is experienced 527 pipeline spills from 2002 to 2017. The report near Mooringsport, Louisiana. This could happen again to Alliance’s Clean and Safe Energy Campaign Manager, warns, now a densely packed industrial zone in the heart of Louisiana’s also presents evidence of spills, as well as pervasive water communities along the pipeline routes,” Donaghy added. “represents a high risk to hundreds of waterways across the petrochemical corridor, commonly referred to as “Cancer Alley.” pollution, violations of permits, and stop-work orders during Sunoco and Energy Transfer Partners are also participants entire state of Louisiana. Extrapolating their abominable spill Pastor Harry Joseph of the Mount Triumph Baptist Church there construction of new pipelines. Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) in the much-publicized Dakota Access Pipeline, which aroused history indicates that Bayou Bridge pipeline would cause is opposing the pipeline as a plaintiff in a case filed by the Tulane and Sunoco Logistics Partners merged in 2017. vehement resistance from Native American communities. multiple spills during construction and at least eight significant Environmental Law Clinic. “Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco’s existing pipelines “Those Water Protectors were right,” said Donaghy. “That spills during its first five decades.“ “We fear that something will happen in Saint James,” said have leaked every eleven days on average for sixteen years,” pipeline alone leaked four times in 2017. There is no fail-safe The pipeline will span 162 miles, carrying almost half a Joseph. “It’s just a matter of time because of ETP’s history. We said Greenpeace USA Senior Research Specialist Tim Donaghy. way to transport fossil fuels and fully prevent spills. Rapid million gallons of oil a day across 700 water bodies. Its proposed don’t want ETP here.”

26 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 27 I AM THE RIVER

THE RIVER IS ME

NEW ZEALAND’S WHANGANUI RIVER IS THE FIRST RIVER ON EARTH TO GAIN THE SAME LEGAL By Gary Wockner PROTECTIONS AS AN INDIVIDUAL. THE RIVER’S MAORI PEOPLE, WHO HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR POUDRE WATERKEEPER THE DESIGNATION FOR 150 YEARS, SAW IT THAT WAY ALL ALONG.

ivers are made of water, and water comes from rain, and and night that the government shut the river down again, stranding New Zealand, is the first river on earth to achieve “personhood.” Zealander of European ancestry, and a hulking former rugby player. boy, did it rain! us in a hut on the riverbank. The Whanganui River has always been It’s a status gained after one of the longest legal battles in New After dinner, the women told us the compelling story of the struggle R We had come to the North Island of New an important communication route to the central North Island, Zealand history. to secure personhood status for the river, and explained the Maori Zealand in February and just happened to hit one of the both for Māori and for European settlers. It is, however, also a The night before our canoe trip began, we had dinner in the worldview that drives their claim to the river and the landscapes rainiest summer periods in local memory. It rained so hard that, the difficult river, with stretches of white water and rapids in its upper tiny town of Owhango with our hosts and outfitters at Owhango around it. day before our scheduled three-day canoe trip on the Whanganui reaches. The section we paddled, a little farther downstream, was Adventures, which runs guided cultural river trips on the Dianah talked from the heart, warmly and eloquently, about River, the federal government shut it down to recreational canoeing. wider and navigable by canoe. As we waited out the weather, we Whanganui. The meal was excellent – beef, potatoes, corn on the the power of the Maori women who live along the river. She Joining me were my partner, Catherine Ebeling, my friend, Colorado watched massive trees and logs careen down the waterway—along cob and salad. It was prepared by Maori sisters Dianah and Maki welcomed the prospect of my helping to “tell the story of the river to Riverkeeper John Weisheit and his wife, Susette Weisheit, and, from with several dead goats and sheep. Ngarongo, who were born on the banks of the Whanganui and work the world.” Australia, Yarra Riverkeeper Andrew Kelly. Yet the river, swollen and running fast, was alive. And how with Grant Lethborg running the outfitting company, conducting Prior to European colonization, the area along the river was one When our journey did begin, it rained so much on the first day fitting that was, since the Whanganui, the longest navigable river in the river tours and operating a lodge-restaurant. Grant is a New of the most densely settled parts of New Zealand, with more than

28 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 29 100 Maori villages, which gave birth to a network so that all others can understand that from our paddling on the Whanganui, and to experience first- of trade and communication stretching back at perspective treating the river as a living entity is hand the river that has become a person. least 600 years. European settlers began arriving the correct way to approach it, as an indivisible That stretch of the upper Whanganui is a narrow It’s not that we’ve in large numbers in the early 1800s. By the whole, instead of the Western model of treating rock-wall canyon with steep jungle forest spilling 1880s, the Crown government had established it from the perspective of ownership and down to the river. The rains had brought to life dozens a steamer service on the river, with little or no management. of large waterfalls, their clear flows crashing down the consultation with Maori tribal leaders, and “Rather than us being masters of the natural canyon walls into the muddy, swollen waterway. As changed our world mining operations had begun to extract minerals world, we are part of it. We want to live like that we raced along in the fast water, we were mesmerized from the riverbed, virtually destroying Maori as our starting point. And that is not an anti- by the massive ferns and forest canopy. Sprinkling fisheries and degrading the river’s ecological and development, or anti-economic use of the rain fell almost all of the first day but failed to dampen cultural value. river, but to begin with the view that it is a our spirits as we paddled toward the John Coull Hut, view, but people The Whanganui tribe petitioned the New living being, and then consider its future from which we reached in late afternoon. Zealand Parliament as early as the 1870s, that central belief.” During our day of paddling, we hardly saw continuing for decades to seek compensation The Whanganui Member of Parliament, another person on the river, but as we arrived at the and justice and to have their relationship Chester Borrows, added, “It’s not that we’ve hut, we watched as more than 40 canoeists steadily with the river officially acknowledged, but changed our world view, but people are catching streamed into it and the surrounding campground. are catching up with no success. up to seeing things the way we always have.” The evening that followed was filled with food and The river’s new status means if someone laughter as the rains came down harder and harder n March of 2017, the Maori finally abused or harmed it, the law now sees no all through the night. As morning broke, the hut won the battle. The victory gave difference between harming the tribe and harming manager told us the Department of Conservation, to seeing things “legal personhood” status to the the river because they are one and the same. which manages recreation on the Whanganui, had I again shut down the river to canoeists. We relaxed river, allowed the Maori to designate “The river has always been a living being a person to represent the river in for us,” Dianah said. “It’s sustained us physically, in camp all day, enjoying the company of the other court actions, and included land-settlement spiritually, and contains every essence of us as a international travelers and raptly watching the fast- the way we negotiations as well as a large financial settlement people. We want the water and river in its natural flowing river and the massive trees and logs carried for the tribes in the area. state. We want to live sustainably on the river.” along in its torrents. It had risen more than two PHOTOS BY GARY WOCKNER Gerrard Albert, the lead negotiator for the The next morning, Dianah and Maki joined meters overnight. top, poudre waterkeeper gary Whanganui tribe, had this to say after the bill’s us at the “put-in” and sang a Maori prayer that One section of the river passes through wockner, from fort collins, Whanganui National Park in the southwest corner colorado, has travelled the passage, “In Whanganui we have a saying: ‘Ko au welcomed us to the river. Our self-guided trip, always have.” world in support of wild rivers. te awa, ko te awa ko au’ – which translates into in three canoes, began as we slid into a small of the island, and is heavily protected and regulated above, maori sisters dianah and English as, ‘I am the river and the river is me.’ by the New Zealand government. The upper maki ngarongo, who were born tributary, which met the Whanganui a hundred on the banks of the whanganui We have fought to find an approximation in law yards downstream. We were thrilled to be stretch is open to canoeing and the lower stretch river, conduct river tours and operate a lodge-restaurant. below, the whanganui inlet at rakopi, new zealand.

28 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 29 PHOTO BY PHIL NORTON PHOTO BY KATHRIN AND STEFAN MARKS

accommodates well-attended jet-boat tours that speed large Our three-day adventure ended near Pipiriki, where Grant North numbers of tourists up and downstream. Lethborg picked us up and took us back to Owhango. At dinner New Zealand’s “Water Conservation Order,” a law similar to again with Grant and Maki at their lodge-restaurant that evening, we the U.S.’s “Wild and Scenic Rivers Act,” protects 15 rivers across chatted about the rain and the swollen, muddy river, and discussed the country, but not the Whanganui. The 2017 legal settlement the legal settlement and continuing negotiations between the Maori Island between the government and the Whanganui tribe protects the and the New Zealand government. river through a different mechanism because of its special, indeed These are developments that river-conservationists around the sacred, relationship to the Maoris. world should look to as exemplary and continue to watch, but also, if The situation on the Whanganui is legally and politically they choose to follow them, be prepared for complex, controversial complex, and it would be ill-advised to think of it as some sort of and long-term battles. “pristine native” victory. The Maori’s fight to get back their land And when those struggles have ended, perhaps our and water rights has been filled with conflict and controversy, grandchildren will reap the benefits of our efforts. not only involving the New Zealand government, but also among Maori tribes. As Dianah Ngarongo explained, “This is not about an Editor’s Note: Five days after the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River exotic tribal situation. We want self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self- Claims Settlement) Bill passed, India’s Uttarakhand High Court determination. We lost a lot of ancestors over the history of this fight. granted the same legal personhood to the river Ganges – indicating There’s a lot of bureaucracy. But we’re moving in the right direction.” just how influential and innovative New Zealand’s approach may be. W Day three on the river brought sun and more paddling. Although the flow had not decreased, the debris on the river had Gary Wockner is an international environmental activist and writer, disappeared. As we pushed off, we were whisked downstream as if member of the Waterkeeper Alliance board of directors, volunteer for The Whanganui we were aboard one of the jet boats. We relaxed and gazed in awe International Rivers, and author of the 2016 book “River Warrior: again at the magnificent waterfalls as we paddled side to side in the Fighting To Protect The World’s Rivers”.

PHOTOS BY GARY WOCKNER canyon to keep ourselves in the warm sun. Our second night on the river was supposed to be at a hut jointly managed by Department of Conservation staff and local Maori called the “Tieke Kainga,” top, the whangnui river’s new status means that the law now sees no difference between harming the whanganui tribe and harming the river. but the rain and strict regulation of the river kept us from middle, “the rains had brought to life dozens of large waterfalls, their extending our stay. clear flows crashing down the canyon walls into the muddy, swollen waterway.” below, sunshine bathes the fast-moving whanganui near the take-out at the town of pipiriki.

32 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 33 AFTER CONQUERING A CORPORATE ENERGY GIANT’S PLANS FOR A MASSIVE COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT, MAULE ITATA COASTKEEPER RODRIGO DE LA O SETS HIS SIGHTS ON THE SCOURGE OF SALMON FARMING BY SERGIO MONCADA, ORGANIZER, LATIN AMERICA

fter an epic, seven-year struggle that and 70,000 jobs in Chile depend on it. “But,” successfully halted the construction Rodrigo says, “we are paying too high Aof the 750-megawatt, $2 billion Los a cost.” Robles coal-fired power plant along A native of Santiago, Chile’s capital, central Chile’s scenic Maule coast, Rodrigo moved to the Maule region Maule Itata Coastkeeper Rodrigo de la in 2004. Soon after, he founded O is back in the trenches, defending the grassroots group Acción his and neighboring communities Ciudadana Pro Maule Costero against the threat of a different sort of (Citizen Action for Coastal Maule). Goliath – Chile’s largely unregulated, He became the first Waterkeeper industrial-scale salmon-farming in Chile in 2009. A publicist and operations. Chile is now the world’s designer by training, Rodrigo is second-largest producer of an unabashed idealist. But he’s farmed salmon after Norway, also a pragmatist and tireless

the battle cry of the movement: “no a las salmoneras”; “no to large salmon farms.”

34 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 PHOTO BY TODOS SOMOS COBQUECURA (WE ARE ALL COBQUECURA) Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 33 THEY WOULD PUT THE SOCIAL FABRIC AT RISK sports leagues, tourism companies, local government officials, and concerned citizens. BY ENDANGERING PUBLIC HEALTH, PITTING In a surreptitious attempt to deflect scrutiny, Inversiones Pelicano RESIDENTS IN FAVOR OF THE FARMS AGAINST filed separate environmental-impact declarations for each of the 11 sites THOSE OPPOSED, AND TURNING ARTISANAL of their project, rather than a more complex and thorough environmental- impact study for the entire undertaking. FISHERFOLK INTO PAYROLL WORKERS Chilean law establishes an important distinction between declarations, which HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON AN INDUSTRY THAT, are intended for projects with smaller impacts, and studies, which are for projects causing one or more major AS THE EXPERIENCE IN SOUTHERN CHILE impact on the quantity and quality of natural resources and significant effects HAS SHOWN, IS HIGHLY VULNERABLE. THE on the landscape. PHOTO BY TODOS SOMOS COBQUECURA (WE ARE ALL COBQUECURA) The local response was immediate and continued through 2016 and 2017, IMPACTS ON MARINE LIFE ARE EXPECTED TO and shows no sign of abating. Rodrigo and other leaders have organized BE TREMENDOUS. marches, rallies, community meetings, photo expositions, consultations with lawyers, and meetings with local government officials and representatives in Chile’s national legislature. Their efforts have begun to pay fighter. It is this drive, he says, that helped coastal settlements that dot this shoreline, off, as national and even industry- him defeat the power-plant proposal of it features picturesque houses and walls specific media report about this strong AES Gener, a subsidiary of giant U.S. made of local slate. It also has a long, wide opposition. A debate has been ignited energy corporation AES. beach with wild surf that is popular with and is playing out in the court of public Maule is located 500 miles from the surfers; the beach fills up in February opinion, and now, most importantly, salmon industry’s axis along the country’s when Cobquecura hosts a national surf the project has temporarily been halted. southern coast, and Rodrigo and his allies competition. Standing on the beach, you In early 2017, under pressure from never imagined that they too would be in can hear the baying of sea lions from a Todos Somos Cobquecura, the regional the crosshairs of the industry’s powerful rock outcrop about 160 feet offshore. The environmental authority opened up a lobby. But in late 2015, they learned outcrop, known as the Piedra de la Lobería 20-day period for the public to submit that the company Inversiones Pelicano, (Sea Lions Rock), is home to a colony of comments about the project. Rodrigo

S.A. had filed environmental-impact around 3,000 sunbathing members of that PHOTO BY MAULE ITATA COASTKEEPER and other local leaders galvanized their declarations for a proposed $28.6 million species, which have inspired a flourishing communities and urged all interested salmon aquaculture project consisting of local ecotourism industry. Visitors pay parties to submit comments. More 11 sites along a scenic 30-mile stretch of fisherfolk to take them out on their boats than 3,000 comments were received. the Maule coast between the comunas entrails directly into the ocean, it was only In October 2016 Inversiones Pelicano to glimpse this large breeding colony, and top and above, local citizens’ and (counties) of Cobquecura, Trehuaco, and the area has been designated a national a matter of time before disaster struck. disaster and arousing angry protests asked for a one-year period to respond. environmental groups and unions Coelemu, an area famed for surfing and nature sanctuary since 1992. Soon dead zones formed in the waters by fishermen. Scientists contend that In October 2017, it asked for an of local artisanal fishermen joined ecotourism, and home to sea lions and The news of Inversiones Pelicano’s around the pens. And the industry’s the red tide may have been caused by additional year. But meanwhile, Chile’s community members in taucú, many others charismatic species, such as looming arrival in southern Chile alarmed overuse of antibiotics – not to treat the rotting salmon in the open ocean environmental agency, tasked with cobquecura, for a caravan and public the Chilean dolphin (tonina) and 60-plus- the locals for many good reasons. Salmon disease but to prevent it – increased and the massive piles of salmon feces reviewing environmental assessment demonstration to protest the dangers feet long sei whales. are not indigenous to South America, the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria smothering portions of the seafloor. declarations and studies, green lighted Eight of those projects would be built and 25 years ago, Chile had no salmon infecting local communities and of large-scale salmon farms. these Hoping to avoid the fate of one of Inversiones Pelicano’s eleven a mile offshore from Cobquecura and industry to speak of. salmon consumers. periodic demonstrations have kept communities in southern Chile, proposed farms, although construction would annually produce more than 3,000 As farming of this species grew, it In 2016, an infection wiped out coastal communities on constant Rodrigo and other local leaders has not yet begun. tons of salmon. The 11 sites would cover brought with it a host of damaging effects 20 percent of Chile’s multibillion- alert to this looming threat. established Todos Somos Cobquecura These farms would affect the approximately 454 acres of water and to coastal communities in the south. With dollar farmed salmon industry and an (We Are All Cobquecura), a coalition local communities in ways known and include cages as deep as 200 feet. tens of millions of salmon confined in unprecedented algal bloom (or “red of environmental organizations, unknown. In addition to dramatically If successful, Inversiones Pelicano overcrowded pens, their excess food and tide”) carrying a poisonous neurotoxin grassroots groups, and local harming the coastal environment and and its industry could turn comunas like feces falling to the sea floor, and dozens spread for 1,200 miles along the coast residents from all walks of life – its communities, they would put the Cobquecura upside down. Like many of processing plants dumping salmon of Patagonia, triggering a public-health artisanal fisherfolk, members of local social fabric at risk by endangering

36 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 37 left, the bays and beaches of chile’s pristine central coast attract tourists and surfers from all over the world. below left, the rock outcrop of piedra de la lobería (sea lion’s rock), home to a large colony of sea lions that is one of the main attractions for the flourishing local ecotourism industry, would be perilously close to one of the proposed salmon farms. below right, maule itata coastkeeper rodrigo de la o (left) confers with a local fisherman. PHOTO BY MAULE ITATA COASTKEEPER

THE COMMUNITY WAS ORGANIZED, what benefits exist for the local communities, why the farms will use antibiotics banned in other countries, the extent to which antibiotics ACTIVE, AND EMPHATIC IN DEFINING will be used, and how sea lions that approach the fish cages will be handled.” Sea lions feed on THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT PATH. OUR salmon, as on other fish, and their attacks on salmon farms contribute to salmon escapes. As VICTORY WAS THE RESULT OF A MORE a result, several diseases carried by salmon may be transmitted to sea lions, other mammals, birds, and reptiles. Studies have shown that EMPOWERED SOCIETY THAT DEMANDS dolphins, for example, suffer skin lesions linked to salmon farms. THE RIGHT TO ADVOCATE FOR OUR OWN Many challenges lie ahead. Rodrigo is already seasoned enough to know that the fight will be long and there will be ups and INTERESTS AND FOR THE PRESERVATION downs along the way. “But that’s not a reason to be discouraged,” he says. Right now Todos OF OUR NATURAL HERITAGE FOR FUTURE Somos Cobquecura is evaluating its options and planning its next steps. A new, conservative government assumed PHOTO BY MAULE ITATA COASTKEEPER PHOTO BY GISELA SAEZ GENERATIONS. WE’RE IN THIS FIGHT FOR power in March, and the salmon-farming industry is confident that it will be friendlier THE LONG RUN. SILENCE AND INACTION to its interests than the former government, while Rodrigo and fellow activists are Rodrigo and his coalition. After the ecological catastrophe dictator Augusto Pinochet. EQUAL ACQUIESCENCE. pushing for a regulatory assessment that brought on by salmon aquaculture in southern Chile repeatedly Recalling the victory over the Los Robles power plant, would require Inversiones Pelicano to submit made national headlines over the last two years, Chileans are Rodrigo says, “The community was organized, active, and environmental-impact studies as well as now, more than ever, aware of and concerned about the impacts emphatic in defining their own development path. Our victory declarations, and include proposals to mitigate of aquaculture farms. Further, the recent successful effort of local was the result of a more empowered society that demands public health, pitting residents in favor vulnerable. The impacts on marine life the expected negative effects. Rodrigo and activists to block the proposed Los Robles power plant has left the right to advocate for our own interests and for the of the farms against those opposed, are expected to be tremendous. his fellow activists are also exploring ways them with keen organizing skills and the ability to use social media preservation of our natural heritage for future generations. and turning artisanal fisherfolk into In a mid-2017 blog post, Rodrigo to strengthen and expand protections for the as an effective platform for mobilizing. We’re in this fight for the long run. Silence and inaction payroll workers highly dependent on wrote, “Inversiones Pelicano . . . has sea lions of Piedra de la Lobería and their Efforts like Todos Somos Cobquecura attest to the vitality equal acquiescence.” an industry that, as the experience in been unable to answer many of the breeding ground. of the burgeoning environmental movement in a country still Encouraging words from an activist whose victory over a southern Chile has shown, is highly communities’ questions, including Right now the prospects look good for scarred by the long years (1973 to 1990) under the shadow of the global energy giant has demonstrated that persistence pays off. W

38 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 39 “A healthy river is much like freedom. Easy to lose. Harder to get back.” – an inmate, Quehanna Boot Camp Watershed Steward Prison Project

he six prisoners stepped uncertainly out of of what I do and how each of you can help me and the non-descript white van. They were young other Waterkeepers be protectors of our streams men, clad in brown-and-red work clothes and rivers.” and wearing freshly polished military-style I was met with blank stares. boots. They told me later they didn’t know what to “You’re not here with me to be my workhorses,” expect, and, to be honest, neither did I. I continued. “I won’t ask you to do anything I We were in the Pennsylvania Wilds, a sparsely wouldn’t do, too. We are partners for the next five populated part of the Susquehanna River watershed days. The only difference between you and me is comprising two million acres of public forests, and that I haven’t made that one bad decision – yet.” home to some of the most spectacular wild lands A smile. A grin. A nod of the head. Six bodies east of the Mississippi. They would be staying six relaxed just a bit. months, as residents of the state Department of “Yes, ma’am,” they replied in unison. Correction’s military-style Quehanna Boot Camp, They had arrived here from various places. where they would be subject to strict discipline Two called the Philadelphia area home. Two were and the shrill shouts of drill instructors. It appears from Pittsburgh. One said he was headed to Arizona an unlikely place for rebirth, but Corrections’ staff after his release, and the last was planning to return gamble that most boot-camp inmates have the home to North Carolina. Two of the six had never capacity to change their behavior for the better. dipped their toes in freshwater. Not a stream, not a At this isolated facility there are no fences, lake, not a river. Rivers and streams were not their no barbed wire, and no guards with guns staged friends. They were from the city; freely flowing on high towers. Instead, there are swaths of birch water was foreign to them. They feared what they trees, abundant wildlife, a canopy of red pine, an did not know. understory of ferns and wildflowers, free-running It was time to put them at ease: “Our rivers can streams, and large, domineering elk, brought here only be as healthy as the land that surrounds them,” in an attempt to recover the species that was once I said. “Today, we’re going to start by discovering the native to the land. The recovery was succeeding. meadows and forests around us.” They had been given a second chance. Their eyes seemed fearful as they swatted “Good morning,” I said, keenly aware that I away pestering gnats that were drawn to their deep was wearing badly scuffed hiking boots that were in exhales. What about those elk? Bears? Coyotes? need of a good polishing. “I am Carol Parenzan, your Poisonous snakes? Biting spiders? Ticks carrying , PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 2018, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper. I don’t expect disease? We would have to help them find their you to know what that means just yet, but by the comfort zones before we could begin to address end of the week you’ll have a better understanding concerns in the watershed. COPYRIGHT ©

Healing WatersSix Pennsylvania inmates learn to look at the natural world like a Waterkeeper, and to change their lives in the process. BY CAROL PARENZAN, MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA RIVERKEEPER

38 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 41 As a group we walked “Let’s observe these same “You’re becoming briskly toward a shelter where spots for another ten minutes,” I we would set up a week-long said. “This time, don’t be afraid class and begin our discovery. to look a little closer, move grass scientists! We have Each prisoner was handed a blades out of the way, and place blank journal and asked to your face just inches from your write his initial thoughts about square area. Get comfortable. a special term for what he expected. That evening Lie on your bellies. Really get in I and Tina Hayes, the young there and look.” AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer In just a few seconds, individuals like you – who was working with me, voices rose, reporting that an would read their entries to better ant was carrying a chewed piece prepare us for the remainder of of leaf, that they noticed some citizen scientists, and the week. scat (although the observer We began with an exercise had another name for it), some called “one small square,” in dispersed seeds, a dropped citizen scientists play a which we would focus our berry, a footprint, and more. observations on a one-square- They were taking baby steps in foot grassy area near the shelter. military boots. critical role in the work After about ten minutes, I “You’re becoming scientists!” asked, “What do you see?” As I I proclaimed. “We have a special that Waterkeepers do.” had expected, having conducted term for individuals like you – a similar exercise with other citizen scientists, and citizen kinds of groups, their responses scientists play a critical role in were sparse. It was time to the work that Waterkeepers do.” nudge them a bit, give them We headed back under permission to stretch. the shelter. I distributed my nature guides – small books and laminated foldouts that dealt with tracks, scat, birds, insects, wildflowers, trees, waterfowl, weeds, and more. They enthusiastically explored the guides, attempting to identify what they had observed, and they recorded their findings with words and drawings in PHOTOS BY MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA RIVERKEEPER ASSOCIATION, INC. their journals. We repeated this above left, collecting and exercise in a nearby meadow, identifying macro invertabrates. and again in the woods. As left, streamside and in waders, an they continued to record their inmate records his observations in observations, their confidence his journal. above, the inmates used grew, their notes became nature guides that covered more detailed, and their everything from animals tracks identifications more exact. They and scat to wildflowers, trees, were indeed becoming citizen waterfowl, and weeds. scientists. It was time for lunch. “I’m going to slip away during the lunch break,” I announced, wondering where they thought I might be headed. “When I return, I’ll have a surprise with me. We need it PHOTOS BY MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA RIVERKEEPER ASSOCIATION, INC. for our afternoon session, which I think you’ll enjoy.” I wound my way through the mountain terrain along ripples and rapids

42 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 43 to the cottage we were calling home for the week. When I returned by car left, quehanna boot camp inmates to our worksite, I found six sets of warm up to the middle susquehanna guarded but curious eyes watching riverkeeper’s amazing water-quality me carefully as I opened the back canine “sussey.” right, over the passenger door. Out jumped a course of the week, the six young young Chesapeake-red, long-haired men learned the kinds of skills Nova Scotia Duck Toller. “Meet required of a waterkeeper, from map Susquehanna,” I said. Five of the reading to water sampling. six surrounded the dog, and with permission, affectionately scratched and pet this 35-pound ball of energy. I assured the one unengaged member of the group that he could simply observe. Here, perhaps, was another fear to overcome. Susquehanna, also known as Suss or Sussey, is the “conservation canine” for Middle Susquehanna

Riverkeeper Association. He is PHOTOS BY MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA RIVERKEEPER ASSOCIATION, INC. being trained to detect sewage leaks throughout the watershed, working with me on a consulting team contracted to municipalities,

“They began to PHOTOS BY MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA RIVERKEEPER ASSOCIATION, INC. engineering firms and even other Waterkeeper Organizations to investigate stormwater systems, appreciate the deep deep connections between land and runoff, septic fields, and manholes water and understand the human in search of that troubling scent of influence on both. Having begun sewage. connections between by examining a small square, they Over the next two hours, the advanced to observing a small prisoners took part in Susquehanna’s watershed, and spent their final training by hiding scent-boxes and land and water, and day studying a creek that had been working with Susquehanna to find affected by a tributary tainted by them. I stepped back. They stepped drainage from an abandoned mine in – all of them, including the understand the human and a small wastewater-treatment hesitant one. They were functioning plant. The team’s confidence grew. as a team. influence on both.” Those members who had feared All week long, after working working in and around water now mornings on the kinds of skills sat on rocks in the middle of the required of a Waterkeeper, we would Susquehanna River, writing in their take Sussey for long training walks journals. They were proud of what fair for all the inmates at the correctional Thank you to the staff at the camp and the in the afternoon and practice our they’d accomplished, and so were facility, and then to create an “eco- Pennsylvania Department of Corrections observation skills. And before we left their mentors. The seeds we had preneurship” program for inmates beyond – for your trust. To Melinda Hughes and each of the five worksites, we would planted were yielding fruit. Before Quehanna Boot Camp but within the her organization, “Nature Abounds” – for conduct a garbage sweep and leave long, I hoped, they would return Susquehanna watershed. Finding a job assisting with stream-assessment skills. those spots cleaner than we’d found to their communities and become after incarceration is a daunting challenge, To Tina Hayes, our AmeriCorps VISTA them. As the week progressed, our spokesmen and advocates for their and we hope to provide mentorships in volunteer – for taking thousands of photos observation squares became larger, home waters. which prisoners can explore and develop during the week for us to select from. To closer to water, then in water, and In August we will go back to green-business ideas, focusing their minds the Unitarian Universalist Congregation these fledgling citizen scientists the Pennsylvania Wilds to work with during incarceration and offering hope for of the Susquehanna Valley – for financially began to learn about tree-mapping six new residents at Quehanna Boot their lives afterward. supporting our week in the Wilds. And, and sizing, water chemistry and Camp, and Sussey will find new I extend my appreciation to several surely – to the six young-adult residents testing procedures, collecting and hands to train him. Our plans are people and organizations that enabled for having the courage to begin to change identifying macro invertebrates, and W someday to enhance this experiential us to launch the Quehanna Boot Camp their lives, and mine as well. much more. learning program with a green-jobs Watershed Steward Prison Project. They began to appreciate the

44 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 45 PICTURING THE SUNDARBANS PHOTOS AND TEXT BY LYNNE BUCHANAN

he Sundarbans (translated near the Bangladesh side of the from Bengali as “beautiful Sundarbans, while five million forest) is a region along lived in or near the Indian side. the Bay of Bengal in Eighty percent of the people India and Bangladesh depend on fishing for their that spans thousands livelihoods, but the ecosystems of square miles of land that support this industry are and water, and includes threatened by climate change, the world’s largest cyclones, deforestation, contiguous mangrove forest. increased salinity, oil- and Recognized by UNESCO for its coal-spills, pollution from T“Outstanding Universal Value,” rivers that flow into the delta, its biological diversity and the and reduced flow resulting ecosystem services it provides, from dams and grabs of fresh part of the Sundarbans that lies water by India. in Bangladesh was designated as But the most serious threat a World Heritage Site in 1997, to the Sundarbans’ survival is a decade after the Indian area the proposed 1320-megawatt received the same designation. Rampal power plant now under The image to the left construction in Bangladesh, shows one of the many which would burn five million mangrove tunnels that grace tons of coal a year that would the approximately 200 islands have to be transported through in the Sundarbans. But rising this delicate ecosystem. “If the sea levels are causing these Rampal coal plant is built, it islands to disappear, which will require hundreds more is happening here faster than coal ships and barges to travel almost any other place in the through the Sundarbans,” my world. Indeed, some scientists host Sharif Jamil, who is the believe the Bay of Bengal is Buriganga Riverkeeper and rising twice as fast as other water coordinator of Waterkeepers bodies, and have predicted that Bangladesh, told me. the entire Sundarbans could be According to government under water in 15-to-25 years. officials, the plant is projected Located in the world’s to come online by 2019. largest natural delta, which Environmentalists are also is formed by the basins of concerned that the plant the Ganges, Brahmaputra will draw its water from the and Meghna Rivers, the Passur River, a lifeline to the Sundarbans are home to 334 Sundarbans, and will discharge species of saltwater-tolerant wastewater back into that trees and 269 species of wild same river. They believe this creatures, including Royal will threaten the viability of Bengal tigers, Ganges River the mangroves, which act as an dolphins and crocodiles. In important “carbon sink” – an 2015 it was estimated that absorber of carbon dioxide – eight million people lived in or for the entire planet.

A REGION IN CRISIS Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 47 BOATS AT THE FISHING VILLAGE OF DUBLAR CHAR IN THE SUNDARBANS

In addition to polluted water from coal-ash ponds, the Rampal plant Movement, History, Achievements and Challenges, states that Dhaka would cause severe air-pollution that would contribute to global has been described as “a gas chamber for slow poisoning,” and reports warming and affect the health of people, trees and ecosystems. that it is destroying the bodies and brains of its citizens, especially children. The Daily Star in Bangladesh has reported that this pollution (I can attest that this is true because one sweltering day in the district I would “cover the entire Sundarbans ecosystem, Satkhira, Khulna, almost succumbed to carbon-monoxide poisoning.) Noakhali, Comilla, Narsingdi and Dhaka districts in Bangladesh and A Greenpeace study found that the plant would cause “at Ashoknagar, Kalyangar, Basirhat and Kolkata of West Bengal.” The all least 6,000 premature deaths and low birth-weights of 24,000 babies but unbreathable air in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city, would become during its 40-year life.” UNESCO has recommended immediate REMOVING COAL FROM THE SHELA RIVER even worse. Nasrul Islam, in his book Bangladesh Environment cancellation of the Rampal project. In May 2016, a bulk-cargo vessel carrying 1,245 metric tons of coal sank in the Shela River, which also runs through the Sundarbans. It was the fourth incident in two years. The image above shows that, almost two years later, coal is still being cleaned up at the site.

48 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 49 SHARIF JAMIL ADDRESSES THE FISHERMEN OF DUBLAR CHAR

Given that the Sundarbans are located in the world’s largest delta, it is no surprise that fishing is the principal means of livelihood. Additionally, the region provides food security for much of Bangladesh, among the most densely populated countries in the world, because many of its rivers, especially those around Dhaka, are so polluted that their fisheries have been destroyed. During my trip to the Sundarbans, Sharif Jamil took me to visit the Dublar Char fishing village. It was almost dusk when we arrived and I was struck by the incredible beauty and peacefulness of the scene. I could see why people in other parts of the country would come here for five months of the year to fish, despite the dangers they face from man-eating tigers and crocodiles. Sharif spoke to a gathering of about 3,000 fishermen about the Rampal plant and its threat to their livelihoods. He spoke with them about their rights and the actions Waterkeepers Bangladesh was taking to oppose the plant. “We are beside you in this fight,” he said.

50 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 49 RINSING SMALL FISH TO MAKE CHAPA SHUNTKI

Sorting the small fish for chapa shutki

From late October until the monsoons come in April, the fishermen collect and dry fish to make the fermented product chapa shuntki. After being rinsed, the fish are dried and then sorted. Polluted water has reduced the size of the fish, which are an essential food source for 165 million people. FRESH TIGER TRACKS ALONG A NARROW CANAL IN THE SUNDARBANS

The Royal Bengal tiger has been on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species since 2010, and a 2015 census showed that the population in Bangladesh was down to 106 from 440 in 2004. The nation’s forestry department is currently undertaking another census lasting two years. Because the presence of tigers discouraged fishermen from entering the dense forests, they helped protect the mangroves, but increased salinity and flooding is now forcing the fishermen deeper into the Sundarbans, threatening the survival of both mangroves and tigers.

52 Waterkeeper Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2 Volume 14, Issue 2 Waterkeeper Magazine 53 The following image, taken at the end of February, roughly a month before the start of monsoon season, shows a shrinking stream in the Sundarbans UNESCO World Heritage Site. REDUCED FLOW ALONG THE PADMA RIVER WATER IS THE UNIVERSAL SOURCE OF LIFE.

United as one powerful force, Waterkeeper Alliance fights for every individual’s right to drinkable, fishable, swimmable water, free from man-made toxins and pollutants. As a committed Waterkeeper Alliance partner for nearly 20 years, John Paul Mitchell Systems® is proud to join this passionately dedicated organization in their ongoing fight to keep the earth’s precious waterways clean for our children, and our children’s children. The future of this beautiful planet is in our hands—treated with care, it will nourish our souls for generations to come.

TRUCKS HEADING TO THE RAMPAL POWER PLANT CONSTRUCTION-SITE

The image above was taken just before the scheduled start of construction of the Rampal power plant in March. Bangladesh and India are jointly undertaking the $1.7 billion project, slated to be completed by 2019-20. It is estimated that the plant could produce 38 million tons of highly toxic coal ash over the course of its operational life.

Lynne Buchanan is a fine art photographer who specializes in work on the environment. Her book, Florida’s Changing Waters: A Beautiful World in Peril, will be published by George F. Thompson Publishing in 2019.

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