New York Law Journal: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is asking federal officials to reject the proposed designation of 10 new anchorage sites in the Hudson River between Albany and New York City for petroleum-laden vessels.

Schneiderman said in a letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson that the U.S. Coast Guard should withdraw its proposal and return, if it can, with a more complete plan that includes a recommendation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Coast Guard is under control of the department.

Any plan should demonstrate that anchorage berths “would cause no harm to riverbed infrastructure and the aesthetic, environmental, historic and recreational benefits” of the Hudson, Schneiderman said in his Dec. 23 letter.

The Coast Guard received more than 9,000 comments during a six-month public comment period about its proposal. Most of the vessels in question are barges, up to 600 feet long, which carry heating oil, gasoline and other petroleum products.

The Port of Albany has been modified since 2012 to handle crude oil transported by rail from the Bakken fields of North Dakota for transfer by barge to New York City and beyond.  Read more.