Fall 2004 Waterkeeper Magazine

WATERKEEPER
AUTUMN 2004

GOV. ARNOLD ON ENERGY • "NATURE BOY" LARRY DAVID

rising mercury

Letter From the President

Waterkeeper:
Redefining the Environmental Debate
responsibility toward our children. Rather than honoring the free market, they fight for corporate welfare and envision a system of capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich. In a true free-market economy you can’t make yourself rich without enriching your neighbors and your community. A true free-market properly values natural resources and promotes efficiency and the elimination of waste. Waste is pollution. So the free market eliminates pollution. But polluters subvert the discipline of the free market. Corporations are externalizing machines – ever seeking ways of foisting their costs on the public, and pollution is perhaps the most common method for loading production costs onto the rest of us. Acid rain pollutants, asthma-causing particulates and deadly mercury that are now discharged from coal burning power plants thanks to President Bush’s blessing, imposing costs on society that should, in a true free market, be reflected in the price of those utilities’ energy in the market place. You show me a polluter, I’ll show you a subsidy—a fat cat using political clout to escape the discipline of the free market. All our federal environmental laws were intended to promote free market capitalism by forcing actors in the marketplace to pay the true costs of bringing their products to market. Werkeeper Alliance and our 128 local programs enforce these laws. We go into the marketplace, and catch cheaters. “We are going to force you,” we tell them, “to internalize your costs the same way you are internalizing your profit.” I don’t even consider myself an environmentalist anymore. I’m a free-marketeer. So long as the polluters are cheating, none of us will get the benefits of the efficiency, prosperity and democracy that the free market promises America. This issue of Waterkeeper Magazine focuses on mercury, which has led to warnings against eating fish in 45 states. One out of every six American women of childbearing years now carries so much mercury in her body that her children are at risk for permanent IQ loss, blindness, autism, kidney, heart and liver damage. I recently tested my own blood for mercury and found levels double those considered safe. Dr. David Carpenter, a national authority on mercury and human health, told me that the children of a woman with equivalent concentrations would have cognitive impairment. He estimated they would suffer permanent IQ loss of five to seven points. Half of the mercury emissions in our country are coming from coal-burning plants that could remove this poison cheaply and easily but choose instead to externalize their costs by poisoning our children and contaminating our waterways. Proposed Clinton-era regulations required utilities to remove 90% of the mercury within 3 years, but President Bush, after accepting $100 million from the industry, scrapped those regulations in favor of regulations penned by utility lobbyists that will effectively allow the industry to escape enforceable mercury controls forever. All environmental injury is a subversion of the market system and an assault on democracy. The corporations that persuaded our President to dump those public health regulations don’t want free markets or democracy, they want profits. Oftentimes the best path to profits is to capture government officials using our campaign finance system, which is nothing more than legalized bribery, and then use that power to privatize and plunder the commons. Corporations are a good thing for our economy, but they should not be running our government. To protect our democracy and our environment, we must ensure that government agencies and public trust assets stay within the hands of the people. Pollution threatens all of our national values. It violates the free market, diminishes property rights, mocks law and order, promotes corporate rather than local control and shatters the duties of responsibility mandated by Judeo-Christian and other religious traditions. It is pessimistic, defeatist and anti-democratic. It contradicts America’s historical ties to wilderness and the American tradition of responsibility, resourcefulness and commitment to community. It is unpatriotic and unAmerican and threatens our public health and national security far more than any terrorist. Our battle is a battle for those values and for all the things that make us proud of our country. WK

C

orporate polluters, their phony think tanks and political toadies like to marginalize environmentalists as “tree huggers,” or “radicals” but there is nothing radical about clean air or water. Environmentalists are battling for the very mainstream values that right-wing fanatics so often herald in their rhetoric: property rights, law and order, local control, and free market capitalism. Too often these are only hollow facades that mask the radical agenda of the White House’s doublespeakers whose only real value seems to be corporate profit taking. These federal officials have taken the “conserve” out of conservatism. They only embrace property rights when it is the right of polluters to use their property to destroy their neighbor’s or the public property. (Where is their clamor when industrial hog syndicates and mountaintop mining conglomerates destroy the properties of their neighbors?) While proclaiming law and order, they let corporate polluters off the hook. (As President Bush did last year when he ordered the Justice Department and EPA to drop dozens of lawsuits against coal-burning utilities and corporate hog farms that had contributed millions to his campaign.) “Local control” is only invoked to dismantle the obstacles to corporate dominion at the local level (When Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the toughest auto emissions law in the U.S., the White House threatened to join Detroit in suing). And while proclaiming Christianity, they routinely violate the manifest mandates of Christianity that we act as stewards of the Earth and exercise

04 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

WATERKEEPER
Volume 1 Number 2, Fall 2004

20

34

46

54

CONTENTS

04 Welcome Letter 08 Letters to the Editor 10 PRS Guide to Healthy Fish 12 News 18 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Energy 20 Mercury Rising: The consequences of lax
emission rules for coal-fired power plants

40 Making the Clean Water Act Work in Dublin, Georgia 44 Billion Dollar Baykeeper: Santa
Monica Baykeeper Settles Suit with Los Angeles

46 Special News: Cook Inletkeeper & Black
Warrior Riverkeeper

50 Waterkeepers Around the World 54 Waterkeeper National Conference 56 Chesapeake Initiative 59 Ask me about Mercury 60 On the Water with photographer Stephen Shore 62 Index to Advertisers

30 Larry David: “Nature Boy” 34 A Typical Day with the Delaware Riverkeeper 38 Navigation Hazard on Commencement Bay, Washington

Proud Sponsors of Waterkeeper Magazine
© 2004 Waterkeeper Alliance. Reproduction of editorial content only, is authorized with appropriate credit and acknowledgement. Waterkeeper, Channelkeeper and Lakekeeper are registered trademarks and service marks of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. Coastkeeper, Creekkeeper, 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 Waterkeepers Northern California and are licensed for use herein. Soundkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Soundkeeper, Inc. and is licensed for use herein. Inside pages printed on Domtar Schooner paper with up to 20% post-consumer content, and at least 17.5% of the fiber used in the manufacturing process comes from well-managed forests in accordance to the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council. Printed in USA • Cummings Printing

06 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

Magazine Ads
The premier issue of your magazine was informative and helpful. But I was shocked to see prominent ads for Fords SUVs - hybrid or not - and Honda's personal watercraft. I don't think these

age individuals to report violations by rewarding the courage to do so. But the money you can recover under these laws doesn’t approach 50 percent of the penalty. Some state laws also allow whistleblowers to receive some of the penalty. The federal Clean Water Act, the one Waterkeeper Alliance most commonly enforces, does not provide for a bounty. Environmental groups can, however,

Letters to the

sponsors/commercials are appropriate for the magazine. -Joan Breiding, via email

Editor

We have put a lot of thought into what advertisers we will allow and we’ve tried to set appropriate standards. In both these cases, we chose to accept ads for vehicles that use advanced technologies, although their overall environmental record is questionable. The Ford ad is specifically for their new gas/electric hybrid vehicle. We believe that promoting a step in the right direction is as important as fighting the many bad decisions that come out of Detroit (as well as Tokyo and everywhere else where the auto industry makes its decisions). The Honda ad is for their four-stroke personal water craft. The four-stroke engine is a significant improvement on the two-stroke motors used in most other PWCs and boats. We understand the controversy surrounding the use and misuse of these vehicles. We have Waterkeeper programs around the country that are fighting PWC use on the waters they protect. We also have Waterkeeper programs that depend on PWCs as patrol craft and rescue vehicles. We are going to do our best to keep a high standard for advertisers in the magazine. We appreciate your sharing your concerns and with your help we’ll find the right balance.

recover their attorney fees and costs. This provision is important to ensure that citizens have equal access to justice – it helps put some of the burden for enforcing the law back onto polluters. Whether or not a citizen is entitled to a bounty we believe that anyone who knows about illegal pollution is obliged to take action. (See article , page 40- (Making the Clean Water Act Work). Everyone has a right to clean water and with that right comes a responsibility to speak up for clean water.

Clean Marinas
We have a marina and we want to be responsible in continuing to manage it. How and what, if any, ideas can you give us so we can help. - L, via email

Any marina owner, manager or staff, or boat owner that wants to reduce their impact on their waterbody can have a large effect by educating boaters about chemicals used around the marina. Use non-toxic boat cleaners and polishes. If you paint boats with anti-fouling paint, contain as much of the dust as possible and dispose of it properly. Implement spill cleanup protocol and

have absorbent pads available to make fueling less dicey. Pass out information to boaters on how to

Enforcing the law
My friend said that when someone turns in a company creating pollution they get half of the money. Is that true? - Nay Rivas, via email

keep bilges clean and sell or promote bilge sponges and socks. Providing a sewage pump-out station will also have a large positive effect. For more information visit the NOAA Clean Marinas program on the web at: http://cleanmari-

A lot depends on the law that you are trying to enforce. A few federal laws contain bounty provisions (such as the old River & Harbors Act and some whistleblower statutes). These laws encour-

nas.noaa.gov/marinalinks.html. The website provides links to 19 states, and governmental and non-profit partners, who are participating in the Clean Marinas program.

08 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

Hog Factories
Dear Waterkeeper - Maybe a boycott of Smithfield and other corporate polluters would send a message. I'm sure that most consumers who were made aware of this revolting disregard for human and animal health would opt to purchase products from more responsible, sustainable and preferably small family farms. - Christi Love, via email You’re right – consumers hold the key to reshaping the

You can use this Guide to Healthy Fish to help you make informed choices about the fish you and your family eat.

Photo by Rick Dove

way our food is produced. Fortunately, the law and the majority of the public are on our side. We’ve chosen to fight this industry through litigation while emphasizing that responsible agriculture is a proven, and successful, path towards environmental and economic sustainability. There are several good resources for people who want to purchase products from traditional family farmers – visit our website at (www.waterkeeper.org) for an updated list of these resources. Or visit the Sustainable Table page put together by GRACE (www.gracelinks.org) and the Eat Well Guide, an evolving list of sustainable suppliers arranged by zip code (www.eatwellguide.org).

Comments or letters to the editor can be submitted via email [email protected] or by mail to Waterkeeper Magazine, Suite 100, 828 S. Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591 Please include your full name and address.

Women and children should pay close attention to the kinds of fish they consume.Too much mercury and PCBs can cause health problems for anyone. Because they alter the way young brains develop, these pollutants can harm babies and children most of all. Both mercury and PCBs linger in the body and build up over time.They can pass from a pregnant woman or a nursing mother to her baby. To learn more about the health effects of mercury and PCBs, visit http://www.mercuryaction.org This Guide to Healthy Fish was created by Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.

10 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

WATERKEEPER
M A G A Z I N E

Waterkeeper

NEWS

828 South Broadway Suite 100 Tarrytown, NY 10591 The official magazine of Waterkeeper Alliance Mission: Waterkeeper Alliance connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and communities worldwide. Jordan Wright Eddie Scher Bülent Bingöl Jennifer Hintze Publisher Editor Art Director Production Director

[
T
U.S.

Canada Investigated by NAFTA Watchdog

]

he Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) announced that it is launching an investigation following allegations that Canada is failing to enforce the

Fisheries Act by allowing PCBs to leak into the St. Lawrence River near Old Montreal. The allegations were made by a coalition of Canadian and nonprofit organizations in 2003. Lake Ontario

Contributors
Eric Hoffman Creative Director William Abranowicz Photography Consultant Joseph Sohm Photographer Lisa Kereszi Photographer Laura McPhee Photographer Yolanda Edwards Photo Editor

Waterkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance and partner organizations provided evidence that PCBs had been leaking from the Technoparc site into the St. Lawrence River for at least three years.

Volo Publishing LLC
468 West Broadway New York, NY 10012

Board of Directors
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Terry Backer Bob Shavelson Leo O’Brien Casi Callaway Richard J. Dove Daniel LeBlanc Alex Matthiessen Mark Mattson Joe Payne Bruce Reznik Maya van Rossum Andy Willner Anne Brasie Karl Coplan Fernando Rey Murray Fisher
(President) (Vice President) - Soundkeeper, Inc. (Treasurer) - Cook Inletkeeper (Secretary) - Waterkeepers Northern California/San Francisco Baykeeper Mobile Baykeeper Neuse Riverkeeper emeritus Peticodiac Riverkeeper Riverkeeper Inc. Lake Ontario Waterkeeper Casco Baykeeper San Diego Baykeeper Delaware Riverkeeper NY/NJ Baykeeper Grand Traverse Baykeeper Pace University, Environmental Litigation Clinic Cartagena Baykeeper Board Honorary member

Board of Trustees
Terry Tamminen Seema Boesky F. Daniel Gabel, Jr. Tom Gegax Jami & Klaus von Heidegger Laura and Rutherford Seydel John Paul DeJoria William B. Wachtel Glenn R. Rink Paul Polizzotto Karen Lehner Gordon Brown Michael Budman

Staff
Executive Director Development Director Communications Director Legal Director Staff Attorney Chesapeake Regional Coordinator Field Coordinator Development and Communications Associate Janelle Hope Robbins Staff Scientist Richard J. Dove Waterkeeper Liaison Mary Beth Postman Assistant to the President Steve Fleischli Susan Sanderson Eddie Scher Scott Edwards Jeff Odefey Erin Fitzsimmons Thom Byrne Cate White

PCB contamination leaking into Saint Lawrence river.

Photos by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

Environment Canada, the Canadian equivalent of U.S. EPA, defended its failure to complete an investigation or lay charges in a statement submitted to the CEC in November, 2003. In August, the CEC ruled that Environment Canada’s statement, “left open central questions” and ordered the creation of a factual record. The CEC has indicated that its factual record will outline Environment Canada’s actions in response to the PCB leak. Its investigation will uncover how this kind of contamination occurs despite strong laws. “The CEC’s finding in this case is groundbreaking because the NAFTA body will determine whether Canada is ignoring its own clean water laws,” says Mark Mattson, an environmental lawyer who investigated the Technoparc site. “The PCBs continue to leak into the river every day, and Environment Canada knows it. The Fisheries Act clearly prohibits this kind of pollution.” The CEC’s investigation is unique because it is the first such investigation into water pollution in an urban setting. “Montreal is one of Canada’s largest, most important cities,” says Mattson. “For the first time, residents in urban centers will see whether they have the same rights to clean water as the rest of the country.” The Commission for Environmental Cooperation is an international organization created to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. Its work is intended to complement the environmental provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mark Mattson is president of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and an investigator of the Technoparc site.

and barrels of other fuels floating down river, overwhelming smells of kerosene and petroleum, as well as untreated sewage and other pollutants. Two hundred and fifty-thousand people in Asheville and the surrounding communities were without drinking water for more than four days. The Riverkeeper offices were not spared, flood waters filled the basement destroying supplies, maps and educational materials and filling the building with sewage and diesel fumes. More than 25

[

Hurricane Frances Meets the French Broad

]
Photos by French Broad Riverkeeper

River and causing massive property damage. No fatalities were reported but the lives of many people were devastated. In addition, the French Broad River itself is paying a price. Phillip Gibson, French Broad Riverkeeper, and his son Truman Turner got onto their river following the hurricane to assess environmental damage. While news reports depict the loss of human property, the damages to the river are rarely mentioned. Residents reported 30,000 gallon petroleum tanks Flooding on French Broad River, N.C.

H

urricane season has hit the Southeastern U.S. hard this year. Hurricane Frances ran into the mountains of western North Carolina flooding the French Broad

14 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

volunteers worked to clear the ruins and get the program back on its feet. While the U.S. Geological Survey indicated that this was a 100-year flood event, development and the increasing impervious coverage (buildings, roads, etc.) added to the volume of water. The French Broad Riverkeeper is encouraging community leaders to prepare a watershed plan that will alleviate some of the causes of this pollution during increasingly frequent "100-year" flood events. For additional photos and information visit www.riverlink.org

Frances.

Award honorees are selected for their dedicated

efforts on behalf of Florida’s fish and wildlife resources. The Apalachicola Bay and Riverkeeper, also known as ABARK, is being honored for aggressive advocacy to protect and preserve the Apalachicola River and estuary, including ABARK’s efforts to ensure adequate freshwater flows. The Apalachicola River basin stands out because of its incredible natural resources. More than 180 fish and 1,300 plant species live in the river and bay along with 40 amphibian species and 80 species of reptiles - the highest density and

[

St. Johns Riverkeeper Agrees to Settle Clean Water Suit for Condom Creek

]

diversity of amphibians and reptiles in the U.S. and Canada. Also, more than 50 species of mammals including the endangered Florida black bear, West Indian manatee, Indiana bat and gray bat live in the watershed. The Apalachicola Bay is one of the most productive estuaries in the northern hemisphere, providing 90 percent of Florida’s oysters and more than 10 percent of the total U.S. production.

ly discharging into a small tributary of the Ortega River. In March, St. Johns Riverkeeper responded to a tip from a fisherman about plastic floating in the water near the confluence of a small creek and the Ortega River. Riverkeeper notified the community and engaged in negotiations with JEA and Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection to resolve the problem. JEA agreed to pay a $200,000 fine and will fund $350,000 worth of projects to improve water quality in the St. Johns River. Projects will include reducing bacteria levels in

T

he St. Johns Riverkeeper announced a settlement in a Clean Water Act suit against JEA, a Florida sewage and water company, over a broken pipeline that was illegal-

[
J

New Grand Traverse Baykeeper Tugboat at the Clinch Park Marina in Traverse City, Mich.

]

ohn Nelson, Grand Traverse Baykeeper, is touring marinas throughout the Grand Traverse Bay watershed to introduce residents to the new Baykeeper tugboat and distrib-

Jacksonville tributaries, providing pump-out facilities at marinas, installing and maintaining short-term pump-out facilities during the upcoming Super Bowl, and funding nutrient studies for the St. Johns River.
Photos by Grand Traverse Baykeeper

“We worked closely with JEA on resolving this issue, and to their credit, they stepped up and accepted responsibility for the problem and agreed to a substantial consent order that will provide a positive outcome to an unfortunate situation,” said Jimmy Orth, Executive Director of St. Johns Riverkeeper.

[
T

ABARK Named Water Resource Organization of the Year

]

uting materials to boaters on the control of invasive species and clean boating tips. They are also serving Baykeeper Wave ice cream, a special blend of homemade ice cream made exclusively for the Baykeeper. Over the course of the summer long tour they served approximately 1,000 ice cream cones to people who stopped by their booth and checked out the boat.

he Florida Wildlife Federation named Apalachicola Bay and Riverkeeper as its Water Resource Organization of the Year – one of the oldest conservation award pro-

grams in Florida. The award will be presented in Jacksonville at the Federation’s 67th Annual Conservation Awards Banquet, which was postponed from September 11 because of Hurricane

16 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

As California Goes...
By Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

the state's depressed economy and protecting the environment. They were wrong. As Governor, I have seen firsthand remarkable opportunities to protect and empower both. California's proud tradition of environmental stewardship calls to mind an old saying about our state, "As California goes, so goes the nation." And we have led the nation by creating an environmental policy
18 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

W

hen I ran for Governor, many people told me I would have to choose between rebuilding

that encourages public-private partnerships, rewards modernization, attracts investment, creates jobs, eliminates duplication and ensures accountability. All of this stimulates our economy. Sustainable and renewable energy strategies represent new technology that fuses environmental concerns with economic growth. I have a plan for California that integrates forward-thinking environmental technology to map out both short-term and longterm solutions.

Renewable energy sources are a key to our long-term success. Recently, I launched California onto the Hydrogen Highway, so that by 2010 all Californians will have access to clean hydrogen fuel and cars. There are already more than 300 businesses working on hydrogen technology in the state, creating high-quality, sustainable jobs for the future, and we must continue to invest in the most fuel-efficient vehicles. In addition, I have made a promise to implement the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard seven

www.waterkeeper.org

years ahead of schedule and to obtain a third of California's energy from renewable energy sources by 2020. My Administration is also examining ways to make natural gas supplies more reliable with renewable sources such as landfill gas and biomass conversion. Despite achievements in reducing overall pollution levels in our state, our dependence on polluting energy sources continues to be a hazard to public health. Air monitoring shows that more than 90 percent of Californians breathe unhealthy levels of at least one air pollutant during some part of the year. This poor air quality contributes to numerous health problems for our citizens. I have taken an aggressive step toward reducing air pollution through the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program. The Moyer Program dedicates $160 million annually to help owners of old, high-polluting diesel vehicles and equipment upgrade to those powered by compressed natural gas, electricity or clean-running diesel. This incentive-based program works to improve air quality while lowering overall consumer costs for smog check requirements. In the short term, the "Green Bank" program will offer an immediate strategy to maximize the resources we have. Green Bank makes loans to commercial and multi-family structures to retrofit for energy-efficient lighting, heating and cooling. California is also encouraging a "utility loading order," the process by which utilities acquire power, where energy conservation and demand response top the list. We are also providing incentives to use alternative energies whenever possible. Utilities must maximize cost-effective conservation and efficiency measures before they contract for central station power plants. Our renewable energy projects also provide greater energy security and stimulate visionary businesses – converting farm waste and urban greenwaste to energy, for instance. We also intend to lead the nation in production of solar power with creative programs to add more photovoltaics to our homes and state buildings. Solar power in California is already a billion dollar industry, and in the future it will create many times that in revenues and good jobs. More than 1 million Californians are currently employed in our $75 billion tourism industry, and our magnificent coastline is a powerful draw for visitors and tourists. In May, the California Ocean Summit featured testimony from experts in industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations to address coastal pollution and ocean protection. The forum, and the upcoming Oceans Action Plan, are important steps in mobilizing California's scientific edge and initiating public-private partnerships to reinforce our commitment to protecting our tremendous coastline and valuable oceanic resources. We cannot merely talk about the environment and the economy, we must take action. The secret of environmental protection is in the unique power we all have as partners in the movement. By tapping into our state's technological enterprise and our proud conservation traditions, we unearth answers and opportunities to solve environmental problems and create sustainable jobs for future generations. In California, we no longer view our economy and our environment as separated by a chasm, but rather bridged with opportunity that will help California lead the nation once more.
WK

Where the Rubber Meets the Road
In his first year running the world’s fifth largest economy Governor Schwarzenegger has had a chance to put his mark on the legislative and regulatory environment in California. Here’s what the Schwarzenegger

administration has done so far: • Supported California Air Resources Board’s new global warming rule – called the “world’s toughest smog rule.” • Vetoed bill requiring the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to address air pollution – two of the largest sources of smog in Los Angeles. • Signed Executive Order to establish statewide Hydrogen Highway and speed commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. • Opposed advancing a deadline for achieving 20 percent renewable electricity by 2010 – a position he supported in his own environmental action plan. • Signed legislation banning the discharge of sewage from cruise ships within three miles of state’s coastline. • Established the nation’s first cabinet level oceans agency and signed California Ocean Protection Act to stop pollution and habitat destruction, and improve fishing practices and marine management. • Endorsed repeal of California’s Unfair Competition law, a law that allows citizens to brings suits to stop pollution and protect public safety. • Signed legislation creating the 25 million acre Sierra Nevada Conservancy – protecting plants, wildlife, and drinking water supplies. • Shut down expansion of California's state parks by halting purchases of scenic beaches, forests and historic sites – even when paid for with private donations. • Signed bill requiring state and federal officials to ensure that water quality standards are met before allowing increases in water pumped from Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. • Created the California Performance Review, a panel of industry and their lobbyists charged with recommending changes to make government “more efficient.” Now the Governor must resist pressure from lobbyists and trade organizations to weaken local control and protection of natural resources.

www.waterkeeper.org

Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

19

Industries are pumping mercury into our environment, threatening public health. Government is passing rules, but who are they really protecting?

MERCURY RISING
Story by

Scott Edwards

American Electric Power's John E. Amos Plant on the Kanawha River in the Ohio River Basin. The basin is a major coal producing and power generating area.

Photograph courtesy of Joseph Sohm

S

ix hundred and thirty thousand. This is the number of infants who will be born this upcoming year with unsafe levels of mercury, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006 there will be another 630,000. And again in 2007. Each year, the number of children impacted by mercury poisoning is four times higher than the number affected by all other birth defects combined. Chances are, you, or someone you love, will be touched by the growing epidemic that is affecting America’s most vulnerable population – our future generations.

Estimating the Impacts
In January 2003 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that nearly 1 in 12 women of child bearing age (16 to 49) are currently exposed to levels of mercury that exceed EPA safe levels, putting more than 300,000 fetuses at risk from the harmful effects of mercury poisoning. We now know that that number was a gross underestimate. EPA scientists recently raised that estimate to 1 in 6 women based on evidence that mercury concentrations in umbilical cord blood is significantly higher than the mother’s blood concentration. Using 2000 census figures, EPA determined that as many as 630,000 newborns each year are now at risk of serious congenital neurological and developmental impairment.

Dropping the Ball on Mercury Fish Testing
Unfortunately, fishermen and fish consumers across the country are not being supplied with the information they need to make educated choices about the fish they eat. For example, Michigan recently announced that it is doing away with its annual Michigan Family Fish Consumption guide because of budget cuts. This guide educates Michigan anglers and the public about mercury, PCBs, DDT and other contaminants found in the fish caught in Michigan’s waterways. Michigan residents rely on this report to make informed decisions on what fish to keep and which to throw back. In many other states, mercury fish advisories are not being updated on a regular basis. That’s why Waterkeeper and 60 of its member organizations, in partnership with the University of North Carolina, Asheville are conducting

According to EPA, more than one third of American lakes and a quarter of our rivers are now under mercury fish advisories. These advisories warn the public to eat the fish in limited amounts or not at all. Indications are that the only reason this number isn’t higher is that the rest of the nation’s waterways are not being tested. “Mercury is everywhere,” EPA head Mike Leavitt recently admitted. “The more waters we monitor, the more we find mercury.” Yet EPA has laid down its arms in its battle to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment – air, water, and land – upon which life depends. Industry is now scripting the very environmental and human health policies that are supposed to curtail polluting activities. With the recently proposed mercury rule, EPA has officially run up the white flag, or worse, joined the other side.

their own mercury fish testing in watersheds across North America. By spring, local Waterkeeper programs will be sharing the results with their communities to help the public and the policy makers make the right choices. For more information on the mercury fish testing program and to find information on your own State’s fish advisory program visit www.waterkeeper.org/mercury.

g erkeeper.or www.wat /mercury

Industry in the Driver's Seat
Latham & Watkins was among the most active law firms and utility-industry representatives that lobbied the administration last year during preliminary deliberations over the proposed mercury rule. The firm represents Cinergy and several other utilities and energy-related companies. It maintains a substantial financial interest in the outcome of the rulemaking. On behalf of its industry clients, Latham & Watkins lawyers busily prepared extensive legal memoranda suggesting alternate, less restrictive regulatory control of mercury emissions from power plants. Then the EPA rulemaking process took over. Robert Perciasepe, who headed the EPA air-policy office during the Clinton administration, describes how this process should work: “The regulations are supposed to be drafted by the staff – the people in the science program and regulatory branches.” Yet, with the mercury rule, the normal process went awry. The Los Angeles Times reports that EPA staffers say they were told not to undertake the normal scientific and economic studies called for because of “White House concerns.” And a side-by-side comparison of the proposed rule and the memoranda prepared by Latham & Watkins shows that at least a dozen paragraphs were lifted, some verbatim, from the industry memos drafted before and during the rule-making process. According to a source quoted by the Washington Post, “[i]f you had to pick one person, it was Jeff Holmstead in EPA’s air office who played the key role in development of the capand-trade approach to regulation of mercury emissions.” Not surprisingly, Holmstead, the mercury rule’s chief architect, worked for Latham & Watkins before moving his office to EPA headquarters in October 2001.
Jeffrey Holmstead, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, US EPA, former Lawyer-Lobbyist at, Latham and Watkins, LLP

“That's not typically the way we do things, borrowing language from other people,” states Holmstead. Obviously, he was willing to make an exception in the case of the proposed mercury rule.
Photograph courtesy of Steven Holt

Coal waiting to be turned into merucury emissions at LACOA's power plant near Rockland, Texas

Where are the Dirtiest Power Plants in the Country?
PLANT Monticello Homer City Keystone Miller Martin Lake Montour Scherer Powerton Four Corners San Juan STATE Texas Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Alabama Texas Pennsylvania Georgia Illinois New Mexico New Mexico MERCURY LBS. PER YEAR 2,097 1,852 1,851 1,589 1,366 1,219 1,203 1,127 1,052 1,042
Source: EPA, Analysis: USPIRG (2003 Report)

Which States have the Highest Annual Mercury Emissions?
STATE Texas Pennsylvania Ohio Illinois West Virginia Alabama Indiana Kentucky Michigan N. Carolina
Source: EPA, Analysis: USPIRG (2003 Report)

TONS 5.023 4.979 3.555 2.995 2.466 2.466 2.442 1.740 1.541 1.538

POUNDS 10,045 9,959 7,109 5,989 4,932 4,931 4,884 3,480 3,083 3,076

Montana and Washington issued advisories for all of their rivers and lakes last year. Hawaii issued an advisory for its entire coastline.
Despite the growing number of fish advisories across the nation, EPA is doing little to force reductions in power plant mercury emissions. In January of this year EPA issued a proposed rule that allows for a meager 29 percent reduction over the coming years, far below the 90 percent reduction that EPA claimed was achievable under the Clinton Administration. In fact, the proposed mercury control rule does not require a single piece of mercury control technology, instead conveniently setting emissions limits at those levels that can be achieved simply if industry adheres to existing mandates for controlling other harmful gases.

The largest source of airborne mercury in the country is the nation’s 1,100 coal-fired power plants that spew almost 50 tons of deadly mercury into the air every year. Every child knows that what goes up must come down. Mercury is no exception. When mercury comes down from power plant smokestacks it seeps into the soil and eventually ends up in our waterways. That’s where bacteria and chemicals go to work, transforming it into something extremely toxic: methylmercury. Methylmercury is dangerous because it bioaccumulates – it builds up in living things because organisms, including people, absorb it at a faster rate than they can get rid of it. Fish absorb methylmercury as water runs over their gills, but the bigger problem lies in the food chain. When a large fish eats a smaller fish it absorbs the mercury that was in the prey’s body. Over the fish’s life methylmercury accumulates to dangerous levels, a million times the concentration in surrounding water or more. We humans, at the top of this food chain, are exposed to methylmercury when we eat the mercuryladen, larger predatory fish like tuna and swordfish.

Return on Investment: Rewards for an Industry that Contributed Almost $3 Million to the Bush/Cheney Campaign in 2000.
Starting in the late 1990’s the electric utility industry began making enormous payoffs to Republican candidates in the form of campaign contributions. Since 1996, the industry has pumped nearly 50 million dollars into the Republican Party in the hope that it will be insulated from regulatory controls under our nation’s public health and environmental statutes.

EPA reports that a predatory fish can have more than 1 million times the mercury found in the surrounding water
Mercury is highly toxic. One study found that 1/70 of a teaspoon of pure mercury is enough to contaminate a 25-acre lake. In 1993, 27 states had issued advisories warning people of the dangerous levels of mercury in some fish. By 2003, 45 states and the District of Columbia had mercury fish advisories.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin. It has been linked to all sorts of serious physical and central nervous system disorders, including mental retardation, and even death. In adults, even at very low doses, it causes neurological dysfunctions, circulatory and immune system deficiencies. But mercury is most dangerous to a child’s developing brain. During pregnancy, a woman eating contaminated fish will pass some of that mercury on to her child through prenatal blood transfer and, later, through breast milk to a nursing infant. In fact, studies indicate that the fetus will have a larger amount of mercury in its blood than the mother because mercury concentration in umbilical cord blood is almost twice as high as that found in the mother’s bloodstream. This recent discovery led EPA to double the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s prior estimate of 300,000 at-risk children born each year. Now, EPA estimates that 630,000 children are born each year in this country with unsafe mercury levels.

Case Study: Minamata
Mercur y contamination of the world’s water ways and the impacts on human health was most dramatically catapulted to the forefront of public awareness in Minamata, Japan, where a petrochemical and plastic company dumped 27 tons of mercur y into Minamata Bay for a period of more than thir ty years from 1932 to 1968. Thousands of people from surrounding fishing villages were afflicted with what has become known as “Minamata Disease.” Symptoms include a lack of coordination, weakness and tremor, slowed and slurred speech and altered tremor, vision and hearing. These symptoms worsened and led to general paralysis, involuntar y movements, difficulty in swallowing, convulsions, brain damage and in some cases, death. The impact of mercur y contamination in these communities has been power fully documented in the photographs of Eugene Smith.

21 states have issued statewide mercury advisories for fresh water fish

Photograph courtesy of Laura McPhee

Photograph courtesy of Lisa Kereszi

Millions of Americans depend on fish as a healthy alternative to other types of meat. Thousands depend on our nation’s fisheries for their livelihood. The health of children is in jeopardy and our commercial fishing industry is at risk. “When you tell pregnant women that

some fish are safe and some aren’t, what you get is that they just stop eating fish altogether,” said Mobile Baykeeper Casi Callaway. “Seafood is good for you, so it shouldn’t be cut out altogether. If you do, then you’re depriving yourself and hurting an entire industry.” [See

the public, yet for almost 30 years the industry has dodged the problem. When Congress amended the Clean Air Act in 1990 to require power plants to reduce their toxic emissions, energy lobbyists forced a regulatory reprieve for the nation’s coal-fired plants until the completion of a study of human health effects. That study was released in 1998 and the verdict was unmistakable. “Mercury emissions from electric utility steam generating units are considered a threat to public health and the environment” warranting strict regulation under the Clean Air Act, concluded EPA’s December 2000 official finding. Yet, in 2004 EPA proposed a mercury reduction rule that is anything but strict – allowing the energy industry to conduct business as usual while jeopardizing the health and safety of the American public. With the release of the proposed EPA rule, Michael Leavitt, EPA administrator, was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying that the agency is “charged with writing a [mercury] regulation that works for an entire industry.” “Quite frankly, I always thought it was the job of federal agencies like EPA to safeguard our well-being,” responded Zachary Corrigan, Staff Attorney, U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “Amazingly, this administration, as they have in so many other instances, wants the American people to place their public health, welfare and trust in industry’s hands when history has clearly shown that this industry’s leaders do not have the public’s best interests in mind.” But this is exactly what EPA is proposing to do in its proposed mercury emissions rule – give over regulatory control of mercury to the energy industry through a market-based cap-and-trade program. In this kind of pollution control program EPA sets a cap, or limit, on the total amount of mercury pollution that can be released nationwide. Power plants are issued credits for their pollution. A new, relatively clean plant might not use all of its credits, so those credits (and the right to dump mercury into the air and water) can be sold to other plants. Cleaner plants make a profit by selling their pollution allowance to worse polluters. The idea is that the incentive to make money will lead to less pollution. Unfortunately, because of the nature of mercury pollution, it will also lead to toxic hotspots around our nation’s biggest polluters – those plants willing to spend a little more to continue emitting mercury.

Physicians for Social Responsibility’s Healthy Fish, Healthy Families wallet card on page 10.] The federal government’s own scientists have made the link between mercury contamination and the risk to

Download Waterkeeper Alliance’s response to EPA’s proposed mercury regulations and find out more at Recent studies show that mercury is much more of a www.waterkeeper.org.

Cleaner Local Plants Means Cleaner Local Water
The electric utility industry has long argued against strict mercury emission controls by claiming that the nation’s mercury problem results largely from long range deposition of mercury from global sources, such as Southeast Asian power plants, not local sources such as U.S. utility units. Recent studies, however, definitively refute industry’s claim. Beginning in the 1980s the State of Florida began to place strict controls on the airborne discharge of mercury from medical waste incinerators operating close to the Everglades National Park, forcing a reduction of these harmful emissions by nearly 99 percent (using technology that could easily be adopted by coal-fired power plants). Multi-agency studies which began in 1994 show a dramatic and almost immediate drop in mercury in aquatic life in the Everglades since the industry was forced to reduce its emissions. Over the last ten years, scientists have confirmed a 70 percent decline in mercury in bird feathers and a 60 percent decrease in fish tissue. The message is clear. “Mercury levels in the natural environment are a worldwide concern but local investments can yield local results,” states Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David B. Struhs. “This is sound scientific evidence that advances in cleanup technologies can significantly reduce pollutants, improve water quality and recover wildlife.”

[

To read the full study, visit the Florida DEP’s website at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/news/2003/nov/1106.htm

]

Recent studies show that mercury is much more of a local problem than industry would have us believe; though there are global implications of mercury contamination, most of the pollution stays near its source. Strict regulation of local sources of mercury leads to dramatic reductions in mercury contamination of local waterways. This is what makes a cap-and-trade program for mercury unsafe and unfair. If you live near a cleaner plant, things might not be so bad. If you live near a dirty plant though, a cap-and-trade program isn’t going to make your fish safe. In fact, it can lead to a hot-spot where mercury contamination remains high in your community, even while EPA is touting its success at reducing national averages. The energy industry justifies its disposal of mercury in the air and water by holding out the specter of high energy costs, arguing that poisoning our children is an acceptable consequence of saving a few pennies on our monthly electricity bills. In truth, there is no need to strike such a dismal balance. Our country has proven and affordable technology available to slash mercury emissions from power plants without any significant increase in energy costs. “This really isn’t about energy costs,” said John Walke, Clean Air Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This is about an industry fighting tooth and nail, spending millions of dollars to avoid cleaning up their mess. This is about an industry that wants free reign to pollute without the government, the public, consumers telling them they have to stop.” Even if it means poisoning 630,000 infants a year.

Commericially Available
doubl

E s Pe A k

“Recent data indicate that mercury can be effectively removed by using oxidizing agents or sorbent injected into the gas stream.” EPA Regulatory Finding, December 2000

“. . . commercially available sorbent materials are SorbalitTM and Darco FGD . . . in addition to commercially available synthetic zeolites. Both types contain large surface areas and have a good potential for [mercury] removal.” EPA Proposed Mercury Rule, January 2004

“Currently, there are no commercially available control technologies designed for reducing [mercury] emissions.” EPA Proposed Mercury Rule, January 2004

Photograph courtesy of William Abranowicz

Mercury and Fair Trade: Does Lax U.S. Enforcement Violate NAFTA?
A coalition of American and Canadian environmental groups filed a formal complaint with NAFTA’s Commission for Environmental Compliance (CEC) demanding an investigation into the dramatic increase in mercury contamination of U.S. lakes and rivers. Waterkeeper Alliance, Canada’s Sierra Legal Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth Canada, Sierra Club, and other groups allege that EPA is failing to effectively enforce provisions of the Clean Water Act against coal-fired power plants, degrading water bodies and leading to widespread fish consumption restrictions on both sides of the border. Submission alleges that the failure of effective enforcement through appropriate government action has thwarted the aim of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation to prevent trade advantages between the parties gained at the expense of the environment. The CEC is an environmental watchdog agency created under NAFTA with the responsibility of investigating and reporting on countries that fail to enforce their environmental laws. The CEC Secretariat, based in Montreal, must now determine if the U.S. will be asked to respond to the allegations and whether an international investigation is warranted.

THE COST OF COAL: Reality is no Obstacle
Our nation’s misguided coal-fired energy policy starts with the environmental devastation of Appalachia’s ancient mountain ranges and ends with 48 tons a year of dangerous mercury emissions from utility units entering our air and waterways and contributing to thousands of fish advisories across the country. Yet even with 45 states under mercury fish consumption warnings, industry-supported groups like Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) argue, under the false guise of patriotism, for weakened environmental protection standards with their new TV ad campaign. But this group is anything but “balanced” and there is nothing patriotic about environmental degradation.

BIG COAL*
[T]he U.S. coal-based electricity sector is responsible for only about 1% of the mercury emitted in the atmosphere each year.

VS.

REALITY

“The Mercury Study Report to Congress, in 1997, identified fossil-fuel fired power plants as the largest source of human-generated mercury emissions in the country.” EPA, December 14, 2000 “There is a plausible link between anthropogenic releases of mercury from industrial and combustion sources in the United States and methylmercury in fish.” EPA, February 24, 1998 “Even low levels of mercury exposure such as result from [a] mother's consumption [of] methylmercury in dietary sources can adversely affect the brain and nervous system.” EPA Website, September 2004

There is some disagreement over the level of mercury considered "safe." …there is no consensus as to what level of exposure presents a threat to public health.

“Environmental Protection Agency scientists said yesterday that new research indicates that 630,000 U.S. newborns had unsafe levels of mercury in their blood in 1999-2000.” Washington Post, February 6, 2004

*Quoted from ABEC website, September 2004.

No longer mocking sunsets • Illustration by John Cuneo

"Nature Boy" Larry
By Larry David

30 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

committed activist. Fighting the good fight. Walking the walk . . . or is it talking the talk? I'm pretty sure it's some combination of walking and talking. How could such a transformation take place? How did I go from being Larry David, radical narcissist, to Larry David, radical environmentalist? Let me give you some background. I grew up in Brooklyn. Of all the wonders and pleasures that Mother Earth has bestowed upon us, none of them could be found in Brooklyn. The only grass I ever saw was on the divider of the Belt Parkway. There were no flowers. Just artificial ones. Every apartment had artificial flowers. People took great pride in their artificial flowers -- and fruit. Let's not leave out the fruit. Anything fake. We loved good, fake things. The greatest compliment you could give somebody was to mistakenly pick up a piece of their artificial fruit and try to take a bite out of it. That made their day. But I couldn't smell a real flower anyway. I was born with the ability to smell only disgusting things. I never smell anything pleasant. Ever. You can shove a lilac up my nose, and I wouldn't smell it, but urine and BO I can smell from three blocks away. And

I

am pleased to announce that after a lifetime of indifference to man and nature, I have changed. I am now only indifferent to man. Yes, my friends, I've become "Nature Boy" Larry,

we appreciated. Sunsets were mocked. The moon, in particular, held no fascination for anyone. I don't think I ever heard anyone even use it in a sentence. Nobody ever said, "Hey, check out the moon!" We never gazed at it. We didn't do any gazing. Well, people never looked up in general. We were too busy traversing a minefield of dog excrement. That's why, to this day, I can't look anyone in the eye, because, after spending many an afternoon throwing my sneaker away and hopping home, I became fixated on looking down. So as a result of my background, I've never done anything outdoorsy. I don't hike, I don't ski, I don't fish . . . I would if you could catch conservatives. I wouldn't throw them back so fast, either. I'd let them flop around on the deck for a while. "It was wrong to lie about Saddam having nuclear weapons, wasn't it?" "Yes, yes." "In fact, the whole war was a big mistake!" "Yes, maybe." "No, not maybe! It was a mistake!" "OK, it was a mistake. Throw me back. Please!" Anyway, whatever harm's been done to the environment -and I know there's been a lot - it's never really affected me personally in any way. That is, until

Larry David went from radical narcissist to radical environmentalist

a few months ago. The first thing that happened was I noticed something on my face. And it turned out to be a benign skin cancer, which was caused by ozone depletion! Cancer! On me! From ozone depletion! All right, it was benign. Of course, when people noticed the bandage and asked

Brooklyn was not wanting for disgusting odors. Bus fumes, garbage, cigarette smoke. Everybody in Brooklyn smoked. Even nine-year-olds. You walk into someone's house, you're greeted with smoke in the face. The whole borough was hacking and coughing and spitting. There was phlegm everywhere. It was flying at you from every direction. Out of windows, cars. Anywhere you walked, you had to keep ducking so you wouldn't get hit. It was like a shooting gallery. And of course, needless to say, there were no animals in my life. My mother hated animals. All of them. If she had her way, she would kill every living animal on the planet. She looked at extinction as a good thing. When an animal was put on the endangered-species list, she went out and got drunk. "Let 'em all die. Who needs 'em? What good are they doing?" And nobody ever went hiking in Brooklyn. The only time you took a hike was when someone told you to go fuck yourself. Then you took a hike. Then you got the hell out of there in a hurry. "You're right, sir. Perhaps it is time for a little afternoon stroll. I think I'll be moseying on." There was nothing in nature

me what happened, I told them it was cancer. You know, I played it a bit. It's the first time anyone's felt sorry for me since they published my income eight years ago. When you have money, the only way you can get any sympathy at all is to say you have cancer. You could lose a limb, no one would care. Only when they know you're going to die do you get anyone feeling sorry for you. And even then, some people don't. "Serves him right, rich prick." That's what I am now, a "rich prick." Prick always follows the word rich. If you're rich, you're a prick. Just the way schmuck always follows the word poor. So I went from a poor schmuck to a rich prick without hardly any transition. Of course, I was a poor schmuck longer than I've been a rich prick, and frankly, I'm not that much happier as a prick than a schmuck. I never thought I'd become a prick. Neither did my friends. They said, "He'll never be a prick!" And then, boom, I'm a prick. Now I have all new friends. All pricks. Schmucks call me from time to time. I say, "I can't talk to you. I'm a prick.”

www.waterkeeper.org

Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

31

So I had the skin cancer caused by ozone depletion. OK, it was benign, they took it off, not terrible. I'm OK. My life goes on. But then a few weeks after that, I was reading the newspaper when something caught my eye, and what I read has changed my life and inspired me to write this piece. I'll sum it up in one word: tuna. That's right, my friends, tuna. I read that there's mercury in tuna, and it's just not safe to eat it anymore. Oh, sure, there's mercury in a lot of other fish, but I don't care about those other fish. I care about tuna. How am I supposed to live without tuna? What am I supposed to have for lunch?! I've been ordering tuna for lunch every day since I was ten years old. This has been the only decision of my life that I can make every day with any degree of certainty and feel good about it. And I was a tuna connoisseur. I could tell the difference between Bumble Bee and StarKist. I made my own. Me, in the kitchen -- chopping and dicing! I had my own recipe, with pickles and peppers. Oh, sure, there's been peanut butter every now and then -but that's only when tuna's not available. I couldn't eat peanut butter every day. And I can't eat BLTs or grilled cheese because

of cholesterol. What am I supposed to have -- soup? Soup's too distracting. There's too much to do, and it always spills when you get it to go. And I don't want anything on a plate. Lunch is a sandwich. You don't eat lunch with a fork. You pick up lunch with your hands. Now the lunch decision is the hardest decision of the day. It's painful -- nobody wants to eat with me. The other day a waiter asked me what I was having. I said, "Whatever." And all because of what? Mercury. Because nobody in our government cares if there's mercury in tuna. Well, I care, and I am going to do everything I can to stop it, so I can start eating tuna again. I hope you, too, will do whatever you can to help, so that once again I can sit down at a restaurant and say, "A tuna sandwich on whole wheat toast, with lettuce and tomato . . . hold the mayo."
WK

By Larry David From Rolling Stone, June 24, 2004 © Rolling Stone LLC 2004 All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission.

Give a Gift That Counts for the Environment

Free Shipping for your Holiday Gifts. Friends and Family will Love Waterkeeper Gear. Visit www.waterkeeper.org to order today.

illegally filled wetlands. I’m thinking about my testimony this evening against legalized fish kills taking place in Delaware Bay at the hands of our power company, PSE&G, but I have to concentrate now on the photos I need for evidence in our court case next week to secure the restoration of 14 acres of formerly beatiful and productive wetlands. I drop Fred off downstream and drive up to where a little creek drains off a trucking site. The creek is heavily damaged from illegal dumping of dirt and rubble. Fred and I will confirm, absolutely, where this little creek leads on its way to the Delaware River. Fred is following the stream from the lower stretch down towards the Delaware. I slog through the woods just downstream from where the creek drains off private property, a truck stop and repair shop owned by John Pozsgai. I enter the creek and start following it downstream, carefully photographing the bright orange material covering its bottom and the tires that have washed downstream from the Pozsgai site. I can sense the unhappiness of this stream; it has been abused for over a decade. I hit a highway culvert. It’s too small to climb through so I drop an orange and watch as it floats downstream
Photos by Delaware River

B

y 9 A.M. I’ve checked in at the office, picked up my maps, a digital camera and Fred Stine, one of my Citizen Action Coordinators, and headed out to the site of an

towards Fred who’s awaiting its arrival to confirm the stream’s flow. I drive by the Pozsgai truck stop, step out onto the road and start taking my photos – important evidence for the case that
Lower Delaware River.

will be heard next week in federal court. As I’m clicking away, an

A typical day
A Day in the Life of Maya van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper
www.waterkeeper.org

Riverkeeper and her Daughter Anneke patrolling the Philadelphia reach of the Delaware.

old black car pulls quickly in front of me and stops. A short, stocky older man jumps out and starts screaming at me to leave him alone and to stop taking pictures. Used to verbal attacks, and even some physical ones, I stand my ground and continue taking photos. He

the River and to the community, not just to you.” He threatens to call the police. “Please do, you have assaulted me on public property and they need to be here. Please, please call them.” Of course, he doesn’t. After chasing me around the car a few times he gives up, gets back in his car and drives off. I climb into my car, shaken, but with my camera in hand. I’m ready for court. I can now prove, indisputably, the damage this man has done to the river and the neighborhood as a result of his illegal dumping. Once, this wetlands was the beautiful entrance to the community, home to birds, turtles and a variety of wildlife. Now, it’s a desolate wasteland, littered with construction debris and old trucks and equipment. Once a natural sponge holding back storm water, the community next door has paid the price with flooding that had to be remedied at community expense. Back at the office, it’s time to work on my testimony for the evening’s public hearing. PSE&G’s Salem Nuclear Generating Station kills more than three billion fish every year. Tonight the state will consider a permit that will allow the fish kills to continue unchecked. Tonight the voice of the River and the community needs to be heard to stop it. We’ve waged this battle before; last time we lost, this time we must succeed. I pour over the scientific studies we’ve collected and commissioned, finalizing my written testimony and considering carefully the words I will use to try to stop these massive fish kills. PSE&G’s Salem plant is the single largest predator in Delaware Bay. It’s allowed to kill indiscriminately on a daily basis. The phone rings constantly throughout the day with questions, concerns and calls for help. Every member of the 13 person

Discarded tires damming and polluting stream by John Pozsgal’s property.

grabs my arm with one hand and pulls back his other in an effort to slap my face. I manage to pull away, avoiding his grasp as he tries to pull me back by my hair. I run around my car to evade him. He starts yelling at me over the roof of my car. “This is my property, I can do with it what I want, you can’t stop me, leave me alone, I know your type, you're out to get me, you have no rights here ….” He goes on. “You have no right to fill the wetlands,” I respond. “They belong to
Dumping on destroyed wetlands.

www.waterkeeper.org

Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

35

“Let It Be” – Riverkeeper and residents fight for the last branch of Brandywine Creek.

Delaware Riverkeeper Network staff chips in to field the calls – giving insights, information, offers for help and guidance. Each call is urgent in its own way. Each one from a concerned citizen requesting assistance of the Delaware Riverkeeper to protect a local stream or wetland. Unfortunately many of the calls are similar – a new development proposed, wetlands filled, streams destroyed, fish being killed or a dam being proposed. Another call comes in – it’s a reporter who needs to get out on the River. For nearly a decade and a half we have been fighting a proposal by the Army Corps to deepen the Delaware River – a project that will cause tremendous environmental damage and threaten drinking water supplies. She’s working on a story about the project and needs to get out on the River to photograph areas that will be damaged – can I take her? “Absolutely – I need an hour to finish up what I’m doing and then we’ll meet at the dock and head out.” I’m just about to run out the door when the phone rings again – it is an informant inside one of the agencies telling me about a project that has just been permitted and needs to be stopped. I quickly gather all the information I need to request access to the project’s files, a challenge that will have to be mounted tomorrow. With my passengers on board I steer my boat onto the Delaware. The beauty of this River even in this very urbanized section is striking. Along old piers nature has struggled, successfully, to come back – breaking up wood and concrete and replacing it with trees and shrubs creating favored fishing and swimming haunts. The reporter’s appreciation and surprise at the beauty of the River is obvious – seeing it from the water makes all the dif-

ference in the world. This River is a living, breathing ecosystem. We come upon the dredge spoil disposal site – piles of river bottom sediments stored on land, covering over prime habitat and wetlands with sediments laden with PCBs and other dangerous toxins. She snaps her photos. We talk about the Army Corps plans, about the damage and destruction it will cause, and about the false economic promises being used to justify this pork barrel project. The story will run in tomorrow’s paper. We dock the boat and I head directly to the public hearing. I meet up with other activists and concerned citizens to strategize over the coming evening’s event – and to lament the reality of what this fight is all about, billions of fish killed needlessly. The hearing begins with a dog and pony show by the agency, trying to convince us that the permit they want to issue is really alright. When my name is called I go to the podium to testify. It’s a struggle to contain my anger and let my points make the case. However, it’s also imperative that these industry representatives and government regulators understand my passion and commitment to protecting the River. My love for the River is more powerful than their cold and overly scripted words and PowerPoint presentations. This River belongs to the public, not to them. They need to see and hear that. They’re intimidating, but I’m right to fight for the fish and the River. Part of the crowd cheers, others boo – I feel good about standing up for my River and what is right. As I drive home to my daughter, who is being cared for by my mother tonight, I think about my day, all that was accomplished, and all that was not, and I look forward to tomorrow and being the Delaware Riverkeeper – the voice for the Delaware River.
WK

36 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

Commencement
Baykeeper and the Sunken Vessel WN 9127 NN (RIP)
By Lisa Lawrence
,

1

Commencement Baykeeper

I

had quite a wild morning recently chasing a missing vessel. I was out on my boat with a Washington state environmental officer to check on a derelict boat, but all we found was the line

used to tie it up hanging in the water. I’d been monitoring this vessel since a local marina was busted for scuttling derelict vessels and, based on a citizen tip, I had warned State officials and the Coast Guard that this boat would sink with fuel on board after the first good storm. Which it did. The water was about nine feet deep and we couldn’t see any sign of the boat. We were waiting for the tide to go out when I got a call on my cell phone from the Coast Guard, who doesn’t have a boat here in Tacoma, but had driven down from Seattle to “respond.” “Guess what I found?” he asked. The boat was wedged under the back of a barge at the Army Pier about a quarter-mile away. Just the front two or three feet of bow was showing. It looked like an Orca poking its head out of the water. Climbing onto the barge to get a better look the Coast Guard and state officials saw evidence of a fuel spill – making the sunken boat an environmental hazard. But then we saw it start to move with the tide back towards where it originally sank. There wasn’t much to do but laugh. It was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen on the water in a while. Now it’s a “navigation hazard” and The Coast Guard rolled into action, ordering a boat and dive/recovery team. By nightfall, an Army Corps of Engineers vessel had plucked the boat from the Bay. 7 4

1. Tied off to log boom with a single yellow bowline on Sept. 2 2. No sign of the vessel at 10:15 on Sept. 16 3. The bowline is still there. In about nine feet of water, there is nothing visible of the vessel 4. Vessel located underneath barge at Army Pier 23 at approximately 10:30 5. Vessel begins to move away with the outgoing tide 6. Vessel continues to move away with the outgoing tide 7. Vessel begins to move back across the mouth of the Hylebos Waterway with the outgoing tide 8. By nightfall, WN 9127 NN is raised by Army Corps of Engineers. 9. The Baykeeper boat Sheri T moored at Pier 23 after transporting DNR personnel to site, investigating and photographing the vessel

2

3

5

6

8

9

Making the Clean Water Act Work

Using the Law to Fight Water Pollution in Dublin, Georgia
It was a hot June day in 1969 when the Cuyahoga
River in Cleveland burst into flames. Fueled by decades of industrial abuse, unfettered discharges of oil and gas, combustible chemicals and toxics, the fire severely damaged overhead railroad trestles and cast a pall over surrounding communities. It was not the first time that the river had caught fire, but with images of the flames and smoke dancing upon the water’s surface appearing in national magazines, the event focused the nation’s attention on the fragile state of our precious natural resources in unprecedented ways. In the early 1970s, Congress responded to the country’s growing environmental crisis by enacting a series of comprehensive environmental laws designed to protect our water, air and land from increasing degradation. In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity” of our nation’s waterways. Each of our nation’s environmental statutes allows federal or state environmental agencies to impose fines – and sometimes even jail time – when polluters violate the law. However, the true artistry behind the United States environmental protection laws rests in the citizen suit provisions of these acts. Congress recognized that no matter how much authority was vested in the feder-

40 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

Altamaha
Riverkeeper
SP Newsprint Company’s Dublin Mill Violates Clean Water Act.
Fishermen in the Oconee River were catching more than fish; shredded plastic was tangling their lines. After trying to fish for several days and continuing to snare plastic the sportsmen became concerned and reported the strange catch to the Altamaha Riverkeeper. Riverkeeper, James Holland, investigated the site and on each visit he repeatedly scooped up pieces of shredded plastic that were bub-

“I have never seen anything like this

The Altamaha Riverkeeper

is

coming from a discharge pipe,” Holland said. "There are continuous problems in this area that threaten the health of the river and the people who fish in it. The pollution has to stop." This is the second report in the last few months of an alleged violation of the Clean Water Act in the same proximity of the Oconee River. In May, following up on citizen reports, the Altamaha Riverkeeper

a grassroots organization dedicated to the protection, defense and restoration of Georgia’s biggest river–the Altamaha–including its tributaries the Ocmulgee, the Oconee and the Ohoopee. James Holland, a retired waterman, is the Riverkeeper and

founder.

alleges that SP Newsprint Co. has and continues to violate the terms of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit as well as the Clean Water Act, the Water Quality Control Act, and accompanying regulations On August 5, the Altamaha Riverkeeper

investigated and documented a pipe in the same area and alleged that the city of Dublin was discharging unprocessed sewage and floating solid materials into the river.
WK

Stay tuned…

Responses to 60-

Citizen suits against polluters under the Clean Water Act
typically begin with the filing of a 60day letter of intent to sue. This means that plaintiffs, like the Altamaha Riverkeeper, must wait at least 60 days after putting the alleged violator on notice before filing a lawsuit in court. Copies of this letter must be sent to both the alleged violator and the state or federal agency that maintains regulatory oversight over the facility. This notice letter serves several purposes. Primarily, it gives the alleged violator a chance to cease the polluting activity. It also allows a state or federal environmental agency to exercise its prosecutorial power and go after the polluter itself.

sent the SP Newsprint Co., SP Recycling Corp. and SP Newsprint Sales a letter providing them with sixty days notice of their intent to sue the company for what James Holland considers violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The notice, informing the company it must stop polluting the Oconee River or face legal action, was sent by the Altamaha Riverkeeper's attorneys at the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest.

day notices are varied. The intent to sue letter may signal the beginning of negotiations between the Waterkeeper and the alleged polluter. The alleged violator may simply ignore the notice letter and continue to pollute. Or federal or state agencies may step in and commence their own actions against the alleged discharger. When that happens, the Waterkeeper is precluded from filing suit because the government is deemed to be “diligently prosecuting” the offender. We’ll be back in the winter 2005 issue with the next installment of this story.

bling up through the water from an underwater pipe identified as belonging to the SP Newsprint Company. He documented a discharge of brown effluent, paper and what appeared to be fecal matter resulting in an offensive sewage odor and film on the surface of the water. The investigation lasted from May through August, the Altamaha Riverkeeper
Altamaha Riverkeeper samples from City of Dublin discharge.
Photos by Altamaha Riverkeeper

42 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn announces settlement as City Council members and Tracy Egoscue, far left, look on.

Santa Monica Baykeeper Wins
$2 Billion Settlement from Los Angeles:
One of the largest sewage cases in U.S. history

A

massive legal battle that dragged on for six years has come to an end with a 107-page settlement agreement and a $2 billion price tag. This August Santa Monica

In 1999 Steve Fleischli took over as Santa Monica Baykeeper, organizing rallies, filing legal briefs, and expanding the support for the case. “Tamminen taught me that we needed a comprehensive approach to this case,” recalls Fleischli. “A legal strategy. A media strategy. A political strategy. Grassroots, yet sophisticated. And when we talked to people about the spills, it was amazing how many people responded.” Critical mass came in 2001 when – after a year-long engineering study – the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the State Regional Water Quality Control Board filed their own lawsuit against the City, which was consolidated with Baykeeper’s case. Residents from Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, South Central Los Angeles, and Leimert Park then joined the litigation, as most spills and odors occurred in their communities. It wasn’t just a beach issue; it was a quality of life and social justice issue. Baykeeper’s Board of Directors – led by Tamminen and President Jordan Kaplan – and local foundations, such as Environment Now, were re-energized, pouring tens of thousands of dollars into the case. Baykeeper’s outside attorneys, Daniel Cooper and Danielle Fugere, became critical in the legal fight, working with the state and federal Departments of Justice in formulating legal strategies. Along with expert Bruce Bell of

Baykeeper, Tracy Egoscue, negotiated the settlement agreement, which, among other things, requires the City of Los Angeles to replace at least 488 miles of sewer lines and clean 2,800 miles of sewers every year. Over the next ten years the City of Los Angeles will increase the capacity of the system – the largest in the nation – in an effort to reduce sewage spills. In addition, the City will spend $8.5 million on environmental projects, like creek and wetland restoration, to improve water quality in Los Angeles. Six years ago, Santa Monica Baykeeper founder Terry Tamminen notified the City of Los Angeles that he was fed up with raw sewage spills – nearly two a day that contaminated neighborhoods and beaches – and that he intended to sue. “I can tell you that a huge light bulb went on for me when I looked at the City’s spill reports and connected them to the fact that the vast majority of our Beachkeeper volunteer monitoring reports tested hot for pathogens,” says Tamminen. Because of the thousands of spills over many years and because enforcement was nonexistent, Santa Monica Baykeeper filed suit on November 9, 1998, alleging some 20,000 violations of the Clean Water Act. The City simply scoffed.

44 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

Photo by Santa Monica Baykeeper

Raw sewage flows into Los Angeles streets.

The entire Santa Monica Baykeeper staff celebrates with Board members.

Carpenter Environmental Associates and engineers from EPA and the state, the plaintiffs held the City’s feet to the fire and refused to back down. Finally, in December 2002, a federal judge found Los Angeles in violation of the Clean Water Act on several hundred occasions. Soon thereafter, the City acknowledged liability for nearly 3,670 violations of the Act. Baykeeper quickly found a friend in new City Councilmember Jack Weiss, who saw taxpayer money going down the drain while water quality and the community suffered. He convinced other new Councilmembers to start pressing for settlement. They did, especially when Tracy Egoscue – a former Deputy Attorney General for California – was handpicked in summer 2003 to replace Fleischli as Baykeeper. Numerous public and private city council meetings soon took place, often in heated debate. But Egoscue never wavered in the demand for clean water. Finally, the City had had enough. When all was said and done, the City of Los Angeles had spent some $5.6 million dollars on outside lawyers to fight the case. Baykeeper had racked up $1.6 million in fees and costs. At a press conference at City Hall in August 2004, representatives from the Department of Justice and EPA called the historic agreement “one of the largest sewage cases in U.S. history.” “The settlement agreement is without a doubt Santa Monica Baykeeper’s proudest achievement to date, and would not have been possi-

Editor’s note:
Terry Tamminen is now the secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, and when asked why Baykeeper brought suit against such a formidable adversary, he replied that the Santa Monica Baykeeper was fulfilling its watchdog role: “Waterkeepers are the last line of defense when polluters destroy the public trust resources and regulators fail in their duty.” Steve Fleischli is now executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance in New York. Tracy Egoscue is now patrolling Los Angeles waterways, busting more polluters.

ble without the persistence of so many people,” says Tracy Egoscue. “It was a phenomenal effort by the community and environmental agencies working together to achieve a common goal.” Indeed, the $2 billion case serves as a model of how a grassroots effort and a good strategy can make a huge impact in protecting water quality, no matter the opponent.
WK

BAYKEEPER CASE TIMELINE

August 3, 1998
Santa Monica Baykeeper notifies the City of Los Angeles, the State of California and the Federal EPA of its intent to sue the city for thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act due to sewage spills.

2000
Federal EPA and California complete audit of Los Angeles sewer system, revealing enormous problems.

2001
Federal judge rules on the City of Los Angeles’ motion to dismiss Baykeeper’s case. Baykeeper prevails.

January 8, 2001
Federal EPA and California EPA sue the City of Los Angeles. Cases are consolidated with Baykeeper’s 1998 case.

December 23, 2002
Federal judge finds the City of Los Angeles liable for 297 sewage spills from July 2001 to July 2002.

September 18, 1998
California orders sewer repairs.

September 30, 1998
California and the City of Los Angeles negotiate $850,000 in fines for 32 sewage spills.

July 5, 2001
Residents from Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, South Central Los Angeles and Leimert Park join the litigation, noting highest spill levels and odors in their communities.

April 22, 2003
City formally admits liability for 3,668 violations of the Clean Water Act for sewage spills occurring from 1993 – 2003.

November 9, 1998
Baykeeper sues the City of Los Angeles, alleging some 20,000 violations of the Clean Water Act and claiming remedies to date are insufficient. In response, the City files a motion to dismiss Baykeeper’s case.

August 2004
All parties enter into a $2 billion,107-page settlement agreement.

Photo by Santa Monica Baykeeper

Special

NEWS
defunct oil refinery. Our lab director runs tests on nutrients for the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. I talk to my lawyers about a case against the state of Alaska on coal bed methane leasing. I finish comments opposing a government proposal to expand natural gas drilling in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Our monitoring staff takes samples from a new road construction project. An Associated Press reporter calls with questions about the state’s shellfish mariculture industry. Our stream ecologist treks deep into brown bear country to monitor an important salmon stream. Each time we respond to a proposal by a polluter to expand their activities, every chance we have to reach the public with our message, every sample we collect and lawsuit we file is a strike for clean water, a healthy environment and our own wellbeing. Reaching the public is one of the hardest parts of the job. For example, the Cook Inlet beluga whale population has plummeted over 50 percent in the last decade, and this small isolated stock is teetering on the edge of extinction. Yet few people know about the plight of this remarkable white whale and fewer still are willing to

E

very Waterkeeper has a unique job, because every waterbody he or she protects is different. I’m the Cook Inletkeeper and I work with citizens, agencies and businesses to protect

the 47,000 square mile Cook Inlet watershed in south-central Alaska. It’s a big area – about the size of Virginia – and with limited resources, it’s important to focus on the most pressing issues. It’s a challenging job, but I love it. The Navy likes to say, “it’s not just a job, it’s an adventure.” Well, Waterkeeping isn’t just a job either and it’s more than an adventure. It’s a lifestyle. It’s an attitude. It’s a title that requires the bearer to be the heart and soul, eyes, ears, voice and conscience of the waterbody and the people, communities and resources that their waterbody supports. As Bob Boyle first noted in his account of the Hudson River in 1969, the Waterkeeper “in essence, gives a sense of time, place and purpose to people who live in or visit” the waterbody. No two days are ever the same at my job because being a Waterkeeper is a juggling act, but a recent workday is a useful snapshot. A caller on our hotline reports 30 beluga whales feeding in the Upper Inlet. An anonymous email reveals pollution flowing from a

Mr. Beluga
A Day in the Life of Cook Inletkeeper
By Bob Shavelson, Cook Inletkeeper

Beluga Whale at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma,WA

(Photo by Robyn Angliss, thanks National Marine Mammal Lab)

Cook Inletkeeper Bob Shavelson & Mr. Beluga 2004 Ray Vegas

46 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

take action to protect it. At Cook Inletkeeper we are looking for new ways to reach the public. On Sunday, June 27 we held a “Beluga Bash” with live music and a halibut barbecue, and held the “Mr. Beluga” contest. More than 300 people came out to support beluga whale protection, and greet Ray Vegas Mr. Beluga 2004 with the spontaneous chant “Girth First! Girth First!”

Cook Inlet Keeper is just one of many Waterkeepers across the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. I’m proud to be a Waterkeeper, and I feel privileged to be allied with so many smart, committed and talented people in the Waterkeeper movement. Together, we’re taking back our publicly owned waterways one watershed at a time.

Black Warrior
A
dering labama is well known for sand, clay and other sediment is pumped back into the dry stream bed below the quarry. This interruption of the natural flow of the stream is devastating for the creek and downstream waters in the Black Warrior River basin. It is also illegal. Vulcan has a permit allowing the discharge of water that flows into the quarry, but sampling confirms that they are discharging water with more than 15 times more sediment than the stream can handle. The company has blamed “geologic failures in the local geology.” Black Warrior its soft limeviolations of the Clean Water Act. stone geology, meanunderground streams, caves and sinkholes. This same limestone is a valuable construction material and Vulcan Construction Materials, LP built their Bessemer Quarry in central Alabama to mine the abundant limestone deposits. With a permit from the state the company has been quarrying limestone since 1995. But in Bessemer, neglect and absent enforcement have combined to put downstream fishing and habitat at grave risk. Fivemile creek, which ran just 50 feet from the Bessemer Quarry, now disappears just upstream from the quarry, running into a labyrinth of underground channels. But quarrying activities at Bessemer have punctured the aquifer, creating a siphon that interrupts the natural flow and sends up to a million gallons of water a day into the quarry. This water, now heavily laden with

Riverkeeper Calls Vulcan Material’s Bessemer Quarry on Pollution
Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed a formal notice of intent to sue the quarry for 465

Nearly two months later, and just days before the suit could be filed, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) issued a proposed order against Vulcan. The order, if finalized, will require Vulcan to submit a plan to correct all violations; implement and maintain effective Best Management Practices; comply with applicable ADEM rules and permit requirements; perform corrective actions; and pay a civil penalty of $50,000. Black Warrior Riverkeeper questions whether the fine is large enough to remedy the harm to the environment and deter future misconduct. There is now a public comment period for the proposed order which ends

Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke and chief prosecuting attorney Mark Martin agree that there have been failures, but geology is not the culprit here. This is a problem that could have been avoided with proper management of the quarry. Based on the company’s failure to address ongoing pollution issues,

November 3.

Limestone erosion

Quarry discharges sediment laden water into Fivemile Creek
www.waterkeeper.org

48 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

Waterkeeper Programs
Columbia Riverkeeper, Bingen, WA Commencement Baykeeper, Tacom, WA North Sound Baykeeper, Bellingham, WA Puget Soundkeeper, Seattle, WA Blake Island State Park: Gallons of sewage in Puget Sound before notice of intent to sue: 14,400 gallons per day. Gallons of sewage per day after: 0. Puget Soundkeeper, WA

United States

Tualatin Riverkeepers, Sherwood, OR Willamette Riverkeeper, Portland, OR

Number of shopping carts retrieved from 3 mile stretch of Jordan River in Salt Lake City: 237. An average of 59 per year. Great Salt Lakekeeper, UT

Colorado Riverkeeper, Moab, UT Great Salt Lakekeeper, Salt Lake City, UT California Coastkeeper Alliance, Santa Monica, CA Baja California Coastkeeper, Imperial Beach, CA Humboldt Baykeeper, Eureka, CA Orange County Coastkeeper, Newport Beach, CA Petaluma Riverkeeper, Petaluma, CA Russian Riverkeeper, Healdsburg, CA Sacramento-San Joaquin Deltakeeper, Stockton, CA San Diego Baykeeper, San Diego, CA San Francisco Baykeeper, San Francisco, CA San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, San Luis Obispo, California, CA Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, CA Santa Monica Baykeeper, Marina Del Rey, CA Ventura Coastkeeper, Oxnard, CA Waterkeepers Northern California, San Francisco, CA Black Mesa Waterkeeper, Flagstaff, AZ Grand Riverkee Alamosa Riverkeeper, Capulin, CO Kansas Riverkeeper, Law

On November 7, 2003, 285 volunteers pull all-nighter to monitor sewage in Russian River. Russian Riverkeeper, CA Number of eelgrass shoots planted by volunteers: 500 Number killed by brittlestars: 470 Number that have re-grown and re-sprouted over the past year: 500! Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, CA Number of rescue certified SCUBA diver volunteers: 45 Santa Monica Baykeeper, CA

Cook Inletkeeper, Homer, AK Prince William Soundkeeper, Anchorage, AK

Number of boats on a summer weekend releasing untreated sewage into Peconic Bay before establishment of “no discharge zone”: 10,000. Peconic Baykeeper, NY In the largest citizen suit penalty ever assessed under the Clean Water Act, Hudson Riverkeeper forces New York City to pay $5.7 million for polluting a pristine trout stream. Hudson Riverkeeper, NY

Casco Baykeeper, South Portland, ME

Lake Champlain Lakekeeper, Montpelier, VT

Gallons of ice cream served in one day of the Grand Traverse Bay Baykeeper Tugboat Tour: 50 gallons (that’s 1500 cones of Baykeeper Wave ice cream.) Grand Traverse Baykeeper, Traverse City, MI

Buzzards Baykeeper, New Bedford, MA Housatonic Riverkeeper, Lenoxdale, MA

Detroit Riverkeeper, Melvindale, MI Grand Traverse Baykeeper, Traverse City, MI Muskegon Riverkeeper, Newyago, MI St. Clair Channelkeeper, Harrison TWP, MI Tip of the Mitt Waterkeeper, Petosky, MI

Number of people since 1997 taken into the New Jersey Meadowlands to view the abundant nature… and safely returned: 20,000. Hanckensack Riverkeeper, NJ

Long Island Soundkeeper, East Norwalk, CT

Narragansett Baykeeper, Providence, RI Allegheny Riverkeeper, West View, PA Delaware Riverkeeper, Washington Crossing, PA Monongahela Riverkeeper, Waynesburg, PA Upper Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Mansfield, PA Youghiogheny Riverkeeper, Melcroft, PA Erie Canalkeeper, Brockport, NY Hudson Riverkeeper, Garrison, NY Lake George Waterkeeper, Bolton Landing, NY Peconic Baykeeper, Riverhead, NY Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper, Clayton, NY Assateague Coastkeeper, Berlin, MD Chester Riverkeeper, Chestertown, MD Patapsco Riverkeeper, Ellicott City, MD Patuxent Riverkeeper, Upper Marlboro, MD Potomac Riverkeeper, Rockville, MD Severn Riverkeeper, Annapolis, MD

Lake Superior Waterkeeper, Spooner, WI Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Milwaukee, WI

Clinton Streamkeeper, Sabina, OH

Hackensack Riverkeeper, Hackensack, NJ New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, Highlands, NJ Raritan Riverkeeper, Keasbey, NJ

Wabash Riverkeeper, Indianapolis, IN

South Riverkeeper, Edgewater, MD Anacostia Riverkeeper, Washington DC

werence, KS

Kentucky Riverkeeper, Richmond, KY Blackwater/Nottoway Riverkeeper, Sedley, VA West VA Headwaters Waterkeeper, Rock Cave, WV James Riverkeeper, Mechanicville, VA Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, Eastville, VA

Tennessee Riverkeeper, Sale Creek, TN eper, Vinita, OK Altamaha Coastkeeper, Darien, GA Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Birmingham, AL Choctawchatchee Riverkeeper, Troy, AL Hurricane Creekkeeper, Tuscaloosa, AL Mobile Baykeeper, Mobile, AL Village Creekkeeper, Birmingham, AL Altamaha Riverkeeper, Darien, GA Canoochee Riverkeeper, Swainsboro, GA Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Columbus, GA Ocmulgee Riverkeeper, Macon, GA Satilla Riverkeeper, Hortense, GA Savannah Riverkeeper, Augusta, GA Upper Chatahoochee Riverkeeper, Atlanta, GA Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Plaquemine, LA Louisiana Bayoukeeper, Barataria, LA Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, Baton Rouge, LA Apalachicola Bay & Riverkeeper, Eastpoint, FL Indian Riverkeeper, Jensen Beach, FL Galveston Baykeeper, Seabrook, TX Pensacola Gulf Coastkeeper, Pensacola, FL St. John's Riverkeeper, Jacksonville, FL Wakulla/Aucilla Waterkeeper, Crawfordville, FL Waccamaw Riverkeeper, Conway, SC Upper Coosa Riverkeeper, Rome, GA Cape Fear Coastkeeper, Wilmington, NC Cape Fear Riverkeeper, Wilmington, NC Cape Hatteras Coastkeeper, Manteo, NC Cape Lookout Coastkeeper, Newport,NC Catawba Riverkeeper, Charlotte, NC French Broad Riverkeeper, Asheville, NC Lower Neuse Riverkeeper, New Bern, NC New Riverkeeper, Jacksonville, NC Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper, Washington, NC Upper Neuse Riverkeeper, Raleigh, NC

Number of lawsuits filed against one polluter, Black Warrior Minerals, for bad mining practices: 19 – shutting them down twice. Hurricane Creekkeeper, AL

Waterkeeper Programs
Around the Globe

Bow Riverkeeper, Banff, Canada Canadian Detroit Riverkeeper, Windsor, Canada Fraser Riverkeeper in Vancouver, Canada Fundy Baykeeper, Waweig, Canada Georgian Baykeeper, Toronto, Canada Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Toronto, Canada Ottawa Riverkeeper, Ottawa, Canada Petitcodiac RIverkeeper, Inc., Moncton, Canada

London Canalkeeper, London, England Thames Riverkeeper, London, England

Punta Abreojos Coastkeeper, Punta Abreojos, Mexico Rio Hondo Riverkeeper, Chetumal, Mexico

Puerto Rico Coastkeeper, San Juan, Puerto Rico Vieques Waterkeeper, Ocean Park, Puerto Rico

Nicoya Gulfkeeper, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, Costa Rica

Cartagena Baykeeper, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

Choqueyapu Riverkeeper, La Paz, Bolivia

Before taking their position, your local Waterkeeper was a:
Cabinetmaker Chemical Company Executive Civil Engineer College Professor Commercial Fisherman Community Activist Corporate Lawyer Department of Natural Resources Biologist Deputy Attorney General Drug Store Assistant Manager Earth Day Organizer Environmental Advocate Environmental Justice Organizer Environmental Prosecutor Freelance Writer High School Teacher Interior Decorator Lifeguard Lobbyist Marine Construction Project Manager National Academy of Sciences Study Director National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Officer Outdoor Gear Salesman Peace Corps Volunteer Psychotherapist Rock-n-Roll Drummer Shakespearean Actor Sheep Rancher State Representative Taxi Cab Driver And Dispatcher Timber Industry Association Executive Director Town Councilor & School Board Member U.S. Army Colonel U.S. Coast Guard Chief Boatswain Mate U.S. Marine Corps Colonel U.S. Navy Commander U.S. Park Service Ranger United Nations Program Officer Zookeeper

Morava Riverkeeper, Veronica, Czech Republic

Types & Numbers of Waterkeeper Programs
Basinkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Baykeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Bayoukeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Canalkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Channelkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Coastkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Creekkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Deltakeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Estuarykeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Gulfkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Inletkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Lakekeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Riverkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Shorekeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Soundkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Streamkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Waterkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Avon Riverkeeper, Victoria, Australia Derwent Riverkeeper, Tasmania, Australia Georges Riverkeeper, Raby, Australia Lang Lang Riverkeeper, Victoria, Australia Snowy Estuarykeeper, Sidney, Australia Waterkeepers Australia, Melbourne, Australia

On June 2-6 Waterkeeper Alliance held our sixth annual conference in San Diego, California. More than
140 Waterkeepers from around the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Latin America participated in four days of strategic planning and training. Elected officials, supporters, artists, and members of the press joined us for panel discussions, workshops and events at the University of San Diego, Birch Aquarium, San Diego Maritime Museum, and aboard the Hornblower Cruise of San Diego Harbor. The Alliance officially launched our national mercury campaign, introduced our Waterkeeper Magazine, formalized international representation on the Board, and added a new Waterkeeper program. Waterkeepers came away from the meeting with innovative ideas and new skills, energized to continue protecting more than 67,000 miles of waterways worldwide.
Photos by Kevin Roche & Rick Dove

Waterkeeper Alliance President RFK, Jr. and Executive Director, Steve Fleischli present Senator Sarbanes with Chesapeake Champion of the Year Award.

Waterkeeper Alliance Launches Chesapeake Initiative
(Washington, D.C.) On Thursday, June 24, 2004, Waterkeeper Alliance announced the launch of its Chesapeake Initiative, the first coordinated regional campaign for the Chesapeake Bay. With the support of over 4,000 members who annually contribute more than 20,000 volunteer hours, eleven local Waterkeeper organizations currently patrol 1,500 miles of tributaries and shoreline throughout the Chesapeake Region. The Chesapeake Initiative will expand the capacity of each of these Waterkeepers for on-the-water, citizen-based enforcement of environmental laws. Such grassroots activism, where communities take charge of their waterways, is critical to protecting the Chesapeake Region from growing pollution threats, such as unchecked development, toxic dumping and sewage discharge. To kickoff the Alliance’s Chesapeake Initiative, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance, hosted the Inaugural Chesapeake Champions Dinner, June 24, 2004, at the Sequoia Restaurant on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC. Terence Smith, Media Correspondent and Senior Producer for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, co-hosted the event which recognized Senator Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland for his commitment to the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.
WK

56 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org

Photo by: Patricia Fisher

Terence Smith delivers keynote speech at Chesapeake Champions Dinner on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC.

Chesapeake Watershed Waterkeepers:
• Fred Tutman, Patuxent Riverkeeper • Lee Walker Oxenham, Patapsco Riverkeeper • Paul Otruba, Upper Susquehanna Riverkeeper • David Smith, Anacostia Riverkeeper • Ed Merrifield, Potomac Riverkeeper • Eileen McLellan, Chester Riverkeeper • Drew Koslow, South Riverkeeper • Fred Kelly, Severn Riverkeeper • Charles Frederickson, James Riverkeeper • Jay Charland, Assateague Coastkeeper • Richard Ayers, Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper Visit www.waterkeeper.org/chesapeake for more information

www.waterkeeper.org

Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

57

Photo by: Patricia Fisher

Give a Gift That Counts for the Environment

Free Shipping for your Holiday Gifts. Friends and Family will Love Waterkeeper Gear. Visit www.waterkeeper.org to order today.

Want to be heard?
If you feel strongly about the issues raised in Waterkeeper Magazine, make your voice heard. Visit www.waterkeeper.org to take action or to get involved with your local Waterkeeper program.

www.waterkeeper.org

Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

59

FAX CARD BACK TODAY !!! • 914-674-4560
Join Waterkeeper Alliance Now and get Waterkeeper Alliance magazine for one year. Waterkeeper Alliance believes that every person has the right to clean water. It is the actions of the supporting members everywhere that will ensure our future. Join Waterkeeper Alliance, receive our quarterly publication, and become part of an effective network committed to protecting the world’s most precious resource - water.
Name
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Company Address City

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

State

.................................................................................................................................................

Zip

..............................................................................................................................................

My e-mail address is Phone

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................................

Fax

.................................................................................................................................................................

Signature

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Yes, I support Clean Water & Strong Communities and Waterkeeper Alliance and I would like a membership to Waterkeeper Magazine (check appropriate boxes)

❑ I would like to receive e-mail information on up-coming Waterkeeper Alliance events
Membership with subscriptions (Check Appropriate Boxes)

❑ US $50.00 ❑ Check or Money order enclosed ❑ Visa
Card #
............................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................

❑ Canada/Mexico $60.00 ❑ Bill my Credit Card ❑ MasterCard
Expiration date
...............................................................................................................

❑ International $90.00 ❑ American Express
Signature
..........................................................................................................................................

Waterkeeper Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your $50 contribution entitles you to receive a one year subscription to Waterkeeper Magazine, which has an annual subscription value of $12. The balance of your contribution is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Make checks payable to Waterkeeper Alliance and mail to: Waterkeeper Alliance Membership, 828 South Broadway, Suite 100, Tarrytown, NY 10591

Ad Index
AbTech Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 2 Citigroup Private Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 EBSCO Information Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Environmental Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 3 Ford Motor Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Forester Communications/StormCon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Global Water Instrumentation, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Joseph Bigica Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Jack Spade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Kenneth Cole Productions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4 Longo & Longo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Organic Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Osram Sylvania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Paul Mitchell Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Philips Lighting CO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Red Robin Burger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Vortechnics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Want to be heard?
If you feel strongly about the issues raised in Waterkeeper Magazine, make your voice heard. Visit

www.waterkeeper.org
to take action or to get involved with your local Waterkeeper program.

62 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2004

www.waterkeeper.org