Fall 2007 Defending the Hudson. Protecting Our Communities. Our Aging Infrastructure Rehabilitating the Tappan Zee Bridge Climate Change: What Could Life Here Be Like in the Future? New! Kids Section Board of Directors George Hornig, Chair DEAR FRIENDS, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Vice Chair Peggy Cullen, Secretary In the wake of the I-35W Bridge disaster in Minneapolis in August, Dr. Howard A. Rubin, Treasurer Alex Matthiessen, President there may have been an impulse by anxious I-287 commuters to join Doni Belau, Executive Committee Ann Colley, Executive Committee calls for a new replacement bridge over the Tappan Zee. But building Amanda Hearst, Executive Committee John Abplanalp William Abranowicz a new bridge would be a very expensive mistake that would likely John H. Adams Jed Alpert degrade the quality of life for many Valley residents and disrupt the Lorraine Bracco Binta Niambi Brown ecological integrity of one of the most productive stretches of the Hamilton Fish Robert Gabrielson Hudson River. Anne Hearst Karen Kelly Klopp John McEnroe The accident in Minneapolis forced federal and state transportation officials to acknowledge that Michael Richter Dennis Rivera most of the nation’s bridges, tunnels, and roads are long overdue for inspection, maintenance or Ronald A. DeSilva, Emeritus Arthur Glowka, Emeritus repair. The same is true for the sewage systems which typically were built decades ago and our Henry Lewis Kingsley, Emeritus Richard R. Knabel, Emeritus drinking water supply systems, some of which are over a hundred years old. Staff New York, too, suffers from problems of aging infrastructure. The Delaware Aqueduct, which ALEX MATTHIESSEN Hudson Riverkeeper & President delivers to New York City over 50% of its daily water supply, has a significant leak and could col- ROBERT F. K ENNEDY,JR. Chief Prosecuting Attorney lapse at any time. The City’s antiquated combined sewage and stormwater treatment system, which TRACY BROWN Director of Communications dumps an average of 27 billion gallons of untreated waste and chemical pollution into New York ALLISON CHAMBERLAIN Donor Services Manager Harbor each year, is badly in need of modernization. Up and down the Hudson Valley, private septic GWENDOLYN CHAMBERS Communications Manager systems and public wastewater treatment facilities are failing. RENEE CHO Communications Coordinator The five power plants on the Hudson are at least 17 years overdue to update their cooling water TARA D’ANDREA Grants Manager technology which needlessly – and in direct contravention of the Clean Water Act – kills billions of LEILA GOLDMARK Staff Attorney/ fish each year. Nuclear facilities like Indian Point, which has one of the worst operations records in Watershed Program Director ROBERT GOLDSTEIN the country and is nearing the end of its original license term, cannot be rehabilitated and should be General Counsel/ Director of Enforcement Programs retired. ROSE MARIE GRANDE Administrative Assistant In the case of the Tappan Zee Bridge, which opened in 1955, studies show that while the bridge JOHN LIPSCOMB Boat Captain was designed to last for at least 50 years, it can remain – with proper maintenance and periodic STELLA LIROSI Operations Director rehabilitation – useable and safe for a long time to come. CRAIG MICHAELS Investigator The New York State Department of Transportation and the Thruway Authority under the Pataki PHILLIP MUSEGAAS Staff Attorney administration deliberately misled the public as to the bridge’s safety, presumably to justify spending a PAMELA PINTO Executive Assistant whopping $14.5 billion to replace it. The Williamsburg Bridge that connects Manhattan to Brooklyn – MARY BETH POSTMAN Executive Assistant to which at 104 is already twice as old as the Tappan Zee – recently underwent a rehabilitation to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. LISA RAINWATER “prepare the bridge for another hundred years of service.” Rehab projects on other century-old Policy Director BASIL SEGGOS bridges around New York City – the Manhattan, the Queensboro and the Brooklyn – are currently Hudson River Program Director JAY SIMPSON underway. Staff Attorney JENNIFER SOTOLONGO A new bridge would not only cost taxpayers an additional $12 billion (over the cost of simply Development/Operations Assistant rehabbing the bridge) but would induce more traffic, exacerbate an already serious air quality problem VICTOR TAFUR Senior Attorney – Westchester and Rockland are two of the most polluted areas in the country – and extend sprawl REBECCA TROUTMAN Staff Attorney development up the west side of the Hudson Valley into the Catskills. KAREN TUMELTY Director of Development Riverkeeper is leading a coalition of local residents, community groups and elected officials to JOSH VERLEUN Investigator persuade the Spitzer administration to take a hard look at the rehab option. While the governor came TERESA WALSH Events Manager out in favor of a new bridge during his campaign, we are confident he will make the right decision BILL WEGNER Staff Scientist once he and his team have a chance to examine the details. As always, we are counting on you to help us make the case against yet another misguided develop- ©RIVERKEEPER 2007. READERS’ LETTERS & COMMENTS WELCOME. RIVERKEEPER IS A REGISTERED ment project. And as always, we are grateful for your sustained support and dedication to our work. TRADEMARK AND SERVICE MARK OF RIVERKEEPER,INC.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. — Alex Matthiessen, Hudson Riverkeeper & President PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER, NATURALLY Riverkeeper is the official publication of Riverkeeper, Inc., an independent, member-supported environmental organization. Founded in 1966 by fishermen and community members to confront polluters for control of the Hudson River, Riverkeeper has investigated and successfully prosecuted more than 300 environmental lawbreakers and has guided the establishment of 160 Waterkeeper programs across the nation and beyond. Riverkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Riverkeeper, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Letter from The Hudson Riverkeeper. 4 Watershed News. Low Impact Development Practices Reduce Environmental Impacts and Project Costs. Development Projects Update. 9 Towards a Permanently Protected River. Riverkeeper Sets Out to Influence Environmental Policy. 10 A Bridge to a More Sustainable Hudson Valley. 15 Feature Story. What Could Life Here Be Like in the Future? How Climate Change Might Affect the Hudson Valley and New York City. 19 Indian Point Campaign. Unpeeling the Layers: Understanding Entergy’s Latest Media Tactics. Reenergizing New York with Governor Spitzer Leading the Way. Environmental Review, Terrorism and Indian Point. 25 Hudson River Program. What about the Wetlands? 27 Patrol Boat Log. 29 The Docket. Hotline Calls. 31 Member News. 2007 Annual Dinner Honoring Hearst Corporation. Shad Fest. Spotlight On. Kids Section. Unsung Hero. Cover art: The Tappan Zee Bridge. Photography by Melissa Brown. designs frequently place manmade stormwater controls, such as detention basins, in wetland and buffer areas where they perform the same storm- water treatment functions, but with inferior results. Low Impact Development (LID) In order to accommodate Low Impact population growth and balance economic development with Development Practices environmental protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Reduce Environmental Agency encourages developers and other regulatory agencies Impacts and Project Costs to adopt Low Impact Develop- by Bill Wegner ment (LID) principles. LID principles can reduce the pollution generated from construction activities as well as treat additional pollutants, like road salt, pesticides and excess fertilizers, that are associated with developed landscapes. LID principles are designed to reduce the impacts of devel- watershed news opment on water resources You may not know it, but rain through land use planning and engineering practices that keep barrels, gardens, green roofs and as much stormwater as possi- Watershed news organic lawns are all forms of ble on the development site. is an update of Riverkeeper’s Low Impact Development. LID designs help to preserve efforts to protect the natural pre-development New York City’s hydrological processes that drinking water supply. allow stormwater to be absorbed into the soil and treated by wetlands and other vegetation. LID principles can also provide economic benefits for developers. Conventional artificial stormwater controls are expensive; they are large and difficult to maintain, and they consume space that would onventional use of imper- to receiving waters at faster otherwise be available for Cvious surfaces, such as speeds. When wetlands and development or kept as open rooftops, parking lots and buffers are disturbed, their nat- space. Use of the natural paved roads, increase erosion ural ability to filter stormwater landscape or thoughtful place- and allow larger amounts of runoff is impaired. Ironically, ment of stormwater controls stormwater to carry pollutants conventional development in accordance with LID 4 principles can be less costly greatly reduce the amount of and more sustainable. toxic salts entering surface waters. EGNER LID Practices: W ILL B Nonstructural Principles LID Practices: LID practices include both Structural Designs structural and nonstructural Structural LID practices serve components. Nonstructural to promote the on-site infiltra- HOTO COURTESY OF P practices include policies or tion of stormwater. While some This pervious highway shoulder in Somers, N.Y. intercepts runoff