Kingston Daily Freeman: Federal legislation to permanently bar large vessels from anchoring in the Hudson River between Kingston and Yonkers is halfway to the president’s desk.

The bill, authored by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, has cleared the House and awaits action by the Senate.

“The bill I wrote also requires that any new oil barge storage on the Hudson River, wherever it is sited, requires 180 days notice to the Congress so that we can see how we feel about that, as well,” Maloney said. “Because we care about the whole Hudson River, not just our part of it.”

Similar federal legislation approved in 2017 imposed only a two-year ban on new anchorage grounds.

Maloney said the new bill does include a provision under which barges that become disabled can stay where they are until they are able to move or be moved. And the bill does not include any penalty resulting from damage or spillage caused by a barge.

At a Thursday news conference at the Hudson River shore in New Windsor, the town’s deputy supervisor, Patricia Mullarkey, said, “New Windsor is very happy to be a part of this. New Windsor realizes what a jewel the Hudson River is….” Read more.

Additional news articles about the legislation:

Bill Banning Barge Anchorages On Hudson River Passes House, Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow, NY Patch

Hudson Anchorage Ban Passes House, The Highlands Current

Local lawmakers speak out on anchorage bill, Mid-Hudson News

Rep. Maloney Hails House Passage Of Measure To Ban Anchorage Sites, WAMC

Rep. Maloney’s Ban on Oil Barges Anchoring in the Hudson River Passes House, Spectrum News

National Geographic: One day last June, two researchers were towing a special sonar system up and down the Hudson River near Hyde Park, New York, the site of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s home, when they saw something pleasantly shocking.

They were helping state biologists assess whether the spawning or foraging of a fabled and endangered bottom-feeding denizen, the Atlantic sturgeon(Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus), was being disrupted when commercial vessels dropped anchor in a spot designated as a waiting area to manage ship traffic.

The anchorage, established in 1999, happened to be located in a stretch of the Hudson that is one of the most important spawning grounds in its range along the coast from Florida through Canada’s maritime provinces. More anchorages were planned elsewhere in the Hudson….

The sonar revealed a sturgeon roughly twice as long as anything seen that day—confidently estimated at just over 14 feet from nose to tail tip. That’s a size that, even decades ago, even a century ago, was considered a rarity. But now, it was unimaginable given what this species had endured….

The debate over adding anchorages along the Hudson is on hold for now after fierce opposition from environmental groups and scientists, including a cautionary 2016 letter to the Coast Guard from Madsen and Fox, who’ve been doing surveys around Hyde Park for several years.

But any harm from dragging anchors would be just one of a host of far broader assaults on this species, and sturgeon worldwide, over the last century. Read more.

(Photo, Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Westchester Magazine: The Hudson River, namesake to an entire art movement and a central pillar of Westchester culture, has another distinction to add to its list: as of 2019 it is also the second most endangered river in the United States.

Every year, American Rivers releases its America’s Most Endangered Rivers report, weighing the significance of the country’s water sources against pending decisions that might impact their vitality within the next year, the severity of the threat, and the public’s ability to affect positive change. This year, for the first time in more than two decades, the Hudson River is included in this list, and in the second-highest spot.

The threat surprisingly comes not from pollutants or the contentious Indian Point nuclear facility, but from current plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to build surge barriers in and along the 315-mile river to manage storm damage. The goal is to prevent or mitigate destruction caused by extreme weather like 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. Unfortunately, as residents might recall from the Coast Guard’s previous attempts to build anchorage sites throughout the Hudson several years ago, these plans do not always receive the backing of local residents or environmental groups. Read more.

Amtrak has proposed new fencing and locked gates at crossings along the Empire Corridor South between Rhinecliff and Stuyvesant. Eventually, it plans to construct similar barriers at locations between Rensselaer and Poughkeepsie.

Amtrak’s project would eliminate public access to the Hudson River at places where people have launched boats, fished and hunted for generations. Residents of Castleton-on-Hudson have already lost access to their public waterfront park.

Scenic Hudson and the Towns of Germantown and Rhinebeck invite you to Balancing Passenger Rail Safety with Public River Access on Saturday December 15th from 10 a.m. to noon at  the Kellner Community Activities Center, 50 Palatine Park Road, Germantown, NY. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. with refreshments and networking.

The purpose of this event is for you to learn about Amtrak’s proposal for new fencing and locked gates at crossings along the Empire Corridor South between Rensselaer and Poughkeepsie. This project would eliminate public access to the Hudson River at places where people have launched boats, fished and hunted for generations. We look forward to sharing with you 21^st Century approaches that better balance railroad safety with public access.

Following the program, you’ll have an opportunity to visit a nearby site where a proposed 700-foot-long fence would prevent generations of public access.

Please RSVP for the event here.

Sen. Murphy press release: Albany, NY – When the United States Coast Guard announced an ill-conceived plan to establish 10 new anchorage sites for oil barges along the Hudson River, Senator Terrence Murphy led the charge that ultimately sank their proposal. When Entergy stunned the Hudson Valley with the news that they planned to close Indian Point by 2021, Senator Murphy led a bipartisan coalition of state, county, and local officials to secure $24 million in state funds to relieve the financial burden for residents in the area.

In early July, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) held a series of meetings to explore the impact of offshore barriers to protect the metropolitan region on storm surge flooding but failed to address sea level rise. They also neglected to hold any meetings in the Hudson Valley, despite it being the heart of the Hudson Valley Estuary. Senator Murphy made it his mission to see that the people most affected by the USACE’s actions would have a voice.

On Wednesday, October 3, the USACE, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and Westchester County Executive George Latimer will host two scoping meetings for the New York and New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries (NYNJHAT) Study. The meetings will be held at the Westchester County Center, 198 Central Avenue, in White Plains, with the first meeting from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. and the second from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.  But many say more needs to be done. Read More