Daily Freeman: The town is urging the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct public hearings on plans to establish 10 anchorage locations along the Hudson River that commercial tankers and tugboats would use as rest stops.

Rhinebeck Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said during a Town Board meeting Thursday that three of the locations would affect local views of the river that have been cultivated as tourist attractions.

“These are for large commercial ships taking oil back and forth to Albany, and they are long-term mooring points,” said Spinzia, whose town borders the river.

“The issue with these ships is the Coast Guard’s saying it’s a matter of public safety, but they’re commercial oil ships,” she said. “They’d be moored within our viewshed, and there are issues with light pollution and potential oil contamination.”  Read more.