Public Hearing to Hear Testimony About Coast Guard'S Controversial Plan to Create Ten Commercial Barge Anchorages from Yonkers to Kingston

Riverkeeper 12

Frank Bergman 121 13 President

Hudson River Boat and Yacht Club Association 14

Emily Majer 127 15 Deputy Mayor

Village of Tivoli, NY 16

Jerry Faiella 133 17 Executive Director

Historic Hudson River Towns 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 MAYOR GREG SCHMIDT: I pledge allegiance to 2 the United States of America, and to the republic 3 for which it stands, one nation under God, 4 indivisible with liberty and justice for all. 5 Thank you. The door is open. How exciting. 6 So I am Dr. Greg Schmidt, the Mayor of the 7 Village of Croton-on-Hudson, and I just want to 8 thank everybody for coming here today, and I want to 9 thank Senator Terrence Murphy for sponsoring this 10 public hearing tonight. And I'm glad he came to 11 Croton because Croton has been at the forefront, as 12 many other river communities, in terms of helping to 13 keep the Hudson River clean and viable and the 14 economic resource that it really is. And the 15 biggest thing that we've worked on for many, many 16 years is to keep it clean. 17 Here in Croton, we've had the dump that was 18 here from the early 1920s that finally shut down 19 several years ago. So we have a long history here 20 in Croton of the environmental damage that has been 21 done to this river. So I'm very proud to see how 22 many people have come out to really voice their 23 concerns about this barge project. 24 We are going to be hearing from many eloquent 25 people tonight to tell us their concerns, but for 1 now, I'm going to turn it over to my dear friend and 2 I'm very happy that he has led the charge on this, 3 Senator Terrence Murphy. Thank you very much. 4 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you, Mayor. 5 [ Applause ] 6 Thank you so much, Mayor, and thank you 7 everybody for coming out here to tonight's hearing 8 on the U.S. Coast Guard's proposed federal rule that 9 establishing 10 -- or excuse me -- 16 new anchorage 10 sites from Yonkers up to Kingston. The Hudson River 11 as we all know is one of the most cherished natural 12 resources in the Hudson Valley. It is crystal clear 13 the public needs abundantly answers that we must 14 have, and that's what tonight is all about, is about 15 transparency. 16 It was October -- I'm sorry, August 8 -- when 17 we had our first press conference about finding out 18 about these proposed anchorage sites, and we had 19 immediately called the Coast Guard to find out what 20 this was all about. And unfortunately, I'm not sure 21 if we have a representative here tonight from the 22 Coast Guard, but I do know they were invited. 23 We invited as many people as we could 24 possibly do to get the answers that we are all 25 concerned about. 1 I had the press conference on August 8, and I 2 immediately put up a petition on my website, and 3 within three weeks we had 1900 people sign up to 4 figure out what this was all about. 5 And this is the reason why we are here 6 tonight. Not only are we all looking for answers, 7 and as your elected officials between the three of 8 us represent close to 900,000 people within our 9 districts combined. 10 These are extremely important issues. 11 Senator Sue Serino here, Senator David Carlucci and 12 myself, we all have part of this with regards to the 13 Hudson Valley, and there are a tremendous amount of 14 answers we are all concerned about. 15 I see a lot of elected officials here. County 16 Legislator Testa, Mayor Catalina, Barbara 17 Scuccimarra, Liam McLaughlin. 18 I'm looking for all your input tonight and 19 actually the public's input, so I look forward to a 20 robust conversation tonight. I do know we have a 21 bunch of speakers. 22 First of all, and I would just like to -- 23 I'm not sure where he went, but thank Mayor Schmidt 24 for hosting us tonight. It is awful kind of him and 25 we've had multiple conversations about this, and we 1 are here tonight to find out some answers. 2 So with all due respect, we are going to be 3 on a tight timeframe, and I would just like to turn 4 it over to my colleague Senator Sue Serino who came 5 down here to be with us tonight. 6 Thank you, Sue. 7 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you Senator Murphy and 8 Senator Carlucci. 9 I think it's so important for the public to 10 have their voice heard. 11 Public comment gets lost under the radar so 12 often, and you really need to have your questions 13 answered. 14 I know myself, I had the opportunity to meet 15 with the Coast Guard, and I can tell you, I have a 16 lot more questions than I did before. So I just 17 think that it's fair for the public to be able to 18 have their time with the Coast Guard and ask those 19 questions directly. 20 You know, as a mom, I worry about my children 21 and my grandchildren having our beautiful majestic 22 river to enjoy like I have for most of my life, 23 boating on the river, and so many people rely on 24 that resource. 25 So I just want to say thank you to everyone 1 that is here tonight, our other elected officials, 2 and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. 3 Thank you. 4 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you, Senator Serino. 5 Senator Carlucci, thank you for being here. 6 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Thank you, Senator Murphy, 7 thank you, Senator Serino. 8 I want to thank everyone that's here, the 9 elected officials. I know Assemblywoman Sandy Galef 10 is here, Supervisor Monaghan from the Town of Stony 11 Point. Thank you for being here. 12 And I thank each and every person for being 13 here for this very important issue. 14 For decades now, many of the people in this 15 room, environmental advocates, local government 16 leaders, have been working to clean up from the 17 mistakes of prior generations. 18 And that's why this hearing and this issue is 19 so important because we've learned from the mistakes 20 of the previous government, from the business 21 interests that went up and down this river that we 22 can't tread lightly on this issue. 23 We've got to make sure that every I is 24 dotted. Every T is crossed. No stone is left 25 unturned. Every question is answered. 1 That's why it really boils my blood that the 2 Coast Guard is not here tonight at a Senate hearing 3 to answer these important questions. 4 That's the big problem here. There is no 5 transparency on this issue. When I'm walking down 6 the street in my district, people are asking 7 questions and rightfully so. 8 So I want to thank everyone that is here. I 9 think together if we continue our vigilance that 10 we've done over the past few decades that we can 11 once again enjoy the majesty of the Hudson River. 12 And I have been working with the students at 13 Ossining High School in collaboration with 14 Riverkeeper, and we have been out there every week 15 monitoring the river, testing the water quality of 16 the river. And our goal, our mission is to reopen 17 the beach in Ossining so that the residents of the 18 community can enjoy the beauty of our river. 19 This river belongs to all of us. So we've 20 got to protect it vigorously so that generations to 21 come, they don't look back and say, "What did you 22 do? What did you do?" 23 And that's why we deserve answers. We 24 deserve every question to be answered, and I'm so 25 grateful to everyone that's here tonight to make 1 sure we push, and we don't tread lightly on this 2 very important decision. Thank you. 3 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you Senator Carlucci. 4 Now I'd like to turn it over to my Chief of 5 Staff Matt Slater who is going to introduce our 6 guest speakers here tonight, and let us know that 7 how we are doing. 8 MATT SLATER: I'm Matt Slater. I'm Senator 9 Murphy's Chief of Staff. Thank you all for coming. 10 Just some ground rules for this evening. We 11 do a very in-depth agenda with some fantastic 12 speakers tonight. 13 We are asking for five minutes for testimony 14 and questions and answers for five minutes. I do 15 believe there is a timer here to keep us as best we 16 can on time for everybody's sake. 17 So I'm going to begin with our first speaker. 18 Our first speaker is not here yet, but we'll go with 19 the next speaker who Liam McLauglin, President of 20 the City of Yonkers. 21 LIAM McLAUGHLIN: Thank you, Matt. 22 Good evening, Senators. And first I would 23 like to start off by saying thank you for holding 24 this very important public hearing and listening to 25 constituencies about this terribly crucial issue. 1 I would also like to take a second to thank 2 everyone for being here. There's a very large 3 crowd, a lot of people here showing how much the 4 public cares about this issue. 5 As was stated, I'm the Yonkers City Council 6 president, Liam McLaughlin. 7 Back in July, I was one of the first 8 individuals to submit public comment against this 9 proposal. 10 And the proposed rule the United States Coast 11 Guard is considering establishing new long-term 12 anchorages along the Hudson River estuary from 13 Yonkers to Kingston. The Coast Guard is also 14 contemplating a Yonkers anchorage extension that 15 would cover approximately 715 acres for up to 16 16 vessels with a draft of less than 35 feet for 17 long-term usage which commercial tankers would 18 basically use for rest stops. 19 The rule would extend significantly the 20 Hudson River anchorage grounds adjacent to the City 21 of Yonkers and other locations in order to allow for 22 increased shipping and on-river storage activities. 23 UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER: No way. 24 LIAM HUDSON: Yes. 25 The proposal would effectively result in 1 continuous end-to-end barge traffic and parking 2 along the entire-- nearly the entirety of our 3 waterfront. 4 Yonkers is garnering national acclaim for the 5 work we've accomplished in rehabilitating our 6 waterfront. 7 In speaking to Yonkers residents, downtown 8 business groups, environmental groups, residents, 9 local marine pilots, marina users including 10 paddlers, kayakers and rowers and members of the 11 public who access our riverfront. 12 It is clear the proposed rule would severely 13 diminish the progress we have made in recent years. 14 I'd like to get into the specifics of the 15 proposed rule if I could. And I apologize, I'm 16 going read this quickly because there are a lot of 17 people here. But I think it's important stuff. 18 SENATOR MURPHY: Take your time. 19 LIAM McLAUGHLIN: Congress designated the 20 Hudson River National Heritage Area Title IX of the 21 Public Law 104-333 of 1996. The state's Hudson 22 River Greenway administers the heritage area on 23 behalf of the National Park Services. 24 As specified in the legislation, we recognize 25 not only the history and importance of the river, 1 but the federal government assists the state and the 2 communities of the Hudson River in protecting and 3 preserving it for the benefit of the entire nation, 4 especially through increased recreation and public 5 access and regional intermunicipal and 6 intergovernmental planning to increase economic 7 development and vitality through tourism, not 8 through industry. 9 The proposed rule is simply irreconcilable 10 with the adopted Hudson River Valley National 11 Heritage Area Management Plan approved by the 12 United States Secretary of the Interior which 13 provides a pertinent part for the recognition, 14 interpretation and most importantly the preservation 15 of sites along the Hudson River. 16 In fact, the rule flies in the face of the 17 management plan's most important objective, which is 18 to increase access to the river and provide 19 long-term sustainable heritage tourism which has 20 been a major economic engine for the City of Yonkers 21 and the Hudson Valley and will be adversely impacted 22 by these unsightly barges. 23 The Hudson River Greenway strategy to 24 implement the plan centers on six areas and at least 25 three of the strategies, resource preservation, 1 recreational uses and community impact have 2 apparently failed to be considered by the Coast 3 Guard. 4 One of the most important objectives of the 5 heritage area is to increase public access, yet 6 instead, the Coast Guard is seeking to increase 7 private usage. 8 Further, Congress has also designated the 9 Hudson River as a National Heritage river. It is 10 one of only 14 National Heritage rivers in the 11 entire country. The proposed rule again would seem 12 incompatible with the allowed usage and regulations 13 surrounding that area of federal law. 14 Locally there was no direct notification of 15 the proposed rule made to the City of Yonkers, nor 16 any of the affected communities along the length of 17 the Hudson River as required by the federal Coastal 18 Zone Management requirements. The Coast Guard knew 19 or should have known about federal Coastal 20 Management Zone consistency and consistency with 21 National Heritage Area and Natural Heritage River 22 laws and rules. 23 The proposed rules in direct conflict with 50 24 years of significant effort to clean up the Hudson 25 River estuary and to restore its natural habitats by 1 all levels of local government and numerous regional 2 and community-based organizations. 3 The said proposal would create navigational, 4 health, environmental, homeland security, economic 5 and quality of life problems for the City of Yonkers 6 and should be rejected. This section of the river 7 is an urban river not an industrial river. 8 Now, relative to navigation, these anchorage 9 sites pose a navigational hazard to recreational and 10 commercial boaters who will be forced to navigate 11 around anchorages creating the risk of collision. 12 I'm not a scientist, and I'm sure we'll hear from 13 scientific experts tonight, but throughout the 14 public comment period, I've learned that our fishery 15 and wildlife habitat scientific research has 16 demonstrated in other cases that habitats of some 17 fish have been adversely affected by previous 18 anchorage sites. 19 The pile moorings used to create long-term 20 anchorages also pose an environmental risk by 21 disturbing sediment along the riverbed and natural 22 habitat of two Hudson River endangered species, the 23 short nose and stake sturgeon. 24 Regarding environmental risks, there is a 25 question of what the barges are transporting. 1 Vessels containing volatile crude oil and petroleum 2 products pose a serious health risk whereby an 3 anchor boat containing these hazardous materials 4 could catch fire or spill toxic oil in the river. 5 Regarding Homeland Security, owing to the 6 location in the largest metropolitan area in the 7 United States, these anchorages would present an 8 opportune target for terrorists, and the proposal 9 provides no additional mechanism for funding or 10 policing our waterfront. 11 Finally, in regard to light and noise 12 pollution, the proposed anchorages would take a toll 13 on the scenic beauty of our city and our waterfront 14 revitalization and tourism. 15 Many residents in Yonkers are concerned about 16 the impact, constant noise, as well as the light and 17 smoke from anchored barges, and many of the proposed 18 sites of nearby homes and local businesses. 19 The new expanded Yonkers anchorage ground 20 would accommodate up to 16 vessels for long-term use 21 stretching all the way up to the Hudson River from 22 the downtown Yonkers train station and up into 23 Hastings. 24 In Yonkers, we have begun an advocacy 25 campaign opposing this proposal. The Yonkers City 1 Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the 2 rule in September, and we have joined all of our 3 neighboring communities in what we are calling the 4 Hudson River Waterfront Alliance. It is a group of 5 elected leaders from Westchester riverfront towns 6 and villages, and Yonkers is galvanizing their 7 efforts collectively and locally to prevent 8 additional anchorages from lining the shores of the 9 Hudson River. 10 We have launched our own petition where the 11 public can register their opposition to the proposal 12 which will be delivered to the Coast Guard and which 13 can be found at www.yonkersny.gov/ban/thebarges. 14 Yonkers is experiencing a revival, a true 15 Renaissance. We have already over one billion 16 dollars of economic development going on in our 17 city, and that's in addition to the vast sums of 18 money that have already been spent cleaning up and 19 restoring our Hudson River. 20 The shores of the Hudson should be a place 21 where the our residents and visitors can gather to 22 live, work and play. Industry says that this 23 dramatic expansion is necessary for safety, but it's 24 really about their desire to expand their industrial 25 use of the river, especially for crude oil 1 transport. Thank you. 2 In other major spills in the United States, 3 it has been proven crude oil cannot be cleaned up or 4 recovered. The environmental consequences are 5 simply too dire to be ignored. This river belongs 6 to all of us. It is not a parking lot and is not 7 something the City of Yonkers will support. 8 I'm happy to answer any questions that you 9 may have, and I truly appreciate your time tonight. 10 SENATOR MURPHY: First of all, 11 Mr. President, thank you for being here, coming up 12 from Yonkers. I have been down in Yonkers, and the 13 revitalization of the waterfront is tremendous what 14 you are doing down there. 15 Have you heard from the residents down there 16 of -- are they afraid of this coming? And the 17 second question I have, were you ever officially 18 notified about any of this? 19 LIAM McLAUGHLIN: No. I will answer your 20 second question first. We have never been 21 officially notified by the Coast Guard, and that was 22 something we really took offense to. 23 SENATOR MURPHY: Correct. 24 LIAM McLAUGHLIN: With waterfront efforts in 25 the works for going on 20 years now, it is really 1 unbelievable that they wouldn't take the time to 2 notify all the communities that would be affected. 3 As to the residents, particularly of that 4 section of town, they're completely beside 5 themselves. They've been drawn to that community 6 because of the view, because of the vistas, our 7 beautiful palisades. It is truly something that is 8 unmatched, and the thought of having barges parked 9 along long the entirety of our waterfront is 10 something that they just simply cannot believe. 11 SENATOR MURPHY: Senator Carlucci, anything? 12 Thank you for coming up here out of your way 13 to come up here tonight on this incredibly important 14 issue. 15 LIAM McLAUGHLIN: Thank you. 16 [ Applause ] 17 MATT SLATER: Before we bring up our next 18 speaker, I just want to acknowledge some of the 19 elected officials that are in the room today. You 20 are going to be hearing from quite a few of them, 21 but just real quickly, we have County Legislator 22 John Testa. John, thank you very much for being 23 here today. Peekskill Mayor Pete Catalina. I know 24 we already mentioned Assemblywoman Sandy Galef is 25 here joining us. And we have Croton trustees 1 Ann Gallelli and Bob Anderson. I'm not sure where 2 Bob is. Bob is in the back. 3 Next up, we are going to invite Jason Baker, 4 Senior Assistant to the Mayor's Office of Yonkers, 5 Mayor Michael Spano. Jason? 6 JASON BAKER: Thank you, Senator Murphy, 7 Senator Serino, Senator Carlucci, and thanks to 8 everybody who has come out tonight for being here to 9 talk about this important issue. 10 Thank you also Council President Liam 11 McLaughlin for your outstanding partnership in 12 this important issue as well. 13 Thanks for providing me the opportunity to 14 testify on behalf of Mayor Spano on the important 15 issue impacting the entire Hudson region. 16 The anchorage expansion proposal put forth on 17 behalf of the barge industry was done so without any 18 prior notification nor any discussion with the City 19 of Yonkers, the fourth largest city State of 20 New York, nor other municipalities likely to be most 21 impacted by this plan that seems to move our 22 region's most prized natural resource on a pathway 23 toward reindustrialization. That's why it's 24 critical we make sure our concerns are heard through 25 hearings like this, and that we also take the 1 necessary actions to organize and educate ourselves 2 on what this proposal could mean for our 3 communities, what it could mean for our environment, 4 the justification for choosing the areas proposed 5 for additional anchorage sites and what is driving 6 the need to line our fragile river with barges. 7 Since learning of this proposal which 8 includes the most amount of anchorages along the 9 shores of the City of Yonkers, Mayor Mike Spano has 10 organized the Hudson River Waterfront Alliance known 11 as HRWA as Council President McLaughlin spoke to. 12 It's a bipartisan coalition of local government 13 leaders and advocacy organizations throughout 14 Westchester County and beyond to unite in opposition 15 to proposed anchorage expansion. 16 In an effort to better assist and better 17 understand the process for rule making, facts and 18 impacts with the anchorages and appeal the rights 19 and actions our community may take, mayor Spano has 20 obtained special council and experts in policy and 21 procedure in relation to the issues presented by 22 this proposal. 23 So tonight I would like to share with you 24 what we know at this point, what we may not know 25 yet, and the actions that HRWA is taking to protect 1 our communities in the Hudson River. 2 As mentioned already, the proposed anchorage 3 expansion includes up to 16, possibly more new 4 anchorage and barge sites on the Hudson from Yonkers 5 to Kingston with the Yonkers extension encompassing 6 approximately 715 acres for up to 16 vessels with a 7 swing radius of 1200 feet per vessel. 8 This extension alone could result in 9 continuous barge parking and traffic from the 10 Yonkers' southern border to Dobbs Ferry. 11 The Montrose Point site would cover 12 approximately 127 for up to three vessels with a 13 swing radius approximately 1400 feet per vessel. So 14 why here? Why are these anchorages sites necessary 15 now. Barge industry has cited water safety but they 16 have safe harbor options under maritime regulations. 17 If safety is a primary issue, why is it only 18 an issue now? What is not being acknowledged by the 19 barge industry advocates is the link to the recently 20 lifted export ban on crude oil, nor is there 21 acknowledgment of increased crude oil transport in 22 the Hudson from terminals at the port of Albany. 23 Today it is estimated there is some 1500 24 annual one-way trips of vessels carrying crude oil 25 on the Hudson, up 400 at the time the DEC permitted 1 the handling of crude oil at the global partners 2 terminal. 3 The Hudson is becoming a major transportation 4 route for crude oil, and it's crude transport that 5 we feel is likely fueling the need for additional 6 anchorages. What is the impact? Billions of 7 dollars in economic development have been invested 8 in waterfront communities like Yonkers along the 9 river. There is little question that continuous 10 barge traffic from Yonkers to Dobbs Ferry would 11 alter the picturesque Hudson River and Palisades 12 views from the waterfront. 13 While our experts are continuing to explore 14 the levels of noise and light pollution from the 15 barges that would result from the approval of this 16 proposal, you only have to visit Yonkers waterfront 17 in the evening when the barge is anchored along its 18 shores to see firsthand the amount of light emitted 19 from just one barge. In fact, I've seen it 20 personally firsthand. I've taken pictures, and we 21 are going to document what it looks like because 22 there are still some questions as to exactly what it 23 might look like with a line of barges along the 24 river. 25 There is great concern about the threat to 1 marinas and recreational boating as well as the 2 impact of future development and property owners. 3 Even more critical is the impact this proposal could 4 have on the health and efforts to protect the Hudson 5 River. A 1.7 billion-dollar cleanup recently 6 completed by G.E. and millions of additional dollars 7 have been invested in restoring the health of the 8 Hudson. 9 Some of the vessels traveling the river carry 10 as much as 12 million gallons of crude oil. That's 11 as much as the Exxon Valdez. In fact only a few 12 years ago a vessel of this size ran aground near the 13 port of Albany. Fortunately there was no leak but 14 the possibility of a spill of this magnitude on the 15 shallow Hudson waters is frightening and could 16 potentially devastate the river. Anchoring aside, 17 this issue alone should warrant extensive review and 18 consideration. 19 Finally, there needs to be consideration of 20 the placement of these anchorage sites and any 21 impacts on human safety on shore. The sites 22 selected under this proposal include the largest 23 city in Westchester and the fourth largest city in 24 the state where 200,000 people reside, as well as a 25 site just outside of the nuclear power plant. 1 Now common sense would suggest placing 2 millions of gallons of crude oil just outside of 3 these locations could pose unthinkable safety 4 concerns. And while advocates of this proposal 5 might suggest the unlikeliness of any threat to 6 civilian safety, history in New York alone would 7 suggest the unthinkable tragedies do happen, and we 8 should not be exposing ourselves to unnecessary 9 risks. 10 The question of how these barges and how our 11 communities would be protected must be answered. 12 So what have we done and what can we do? 13 Since organizing in August, Mayor Spano and the 14 Hudson River Waterfront Alliance have partnered with 15 organizations included Riverkeeper, historic Hudson 16 river towns, Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of 17 Commerce and recreation boating advocates. Launched 18 a petition that has about 1500 signatures and 19 launched advocacy campaigns requesting the Coast 20 Guard extend the public comment period that was 21 recently approved and extended 90 days to December 22 6. They've provided web and social media resources 23 to each community to help in their own local 24 advocacy efforts. HRWA will convene and we invite 25 everybody to join the effort, sign the petition that 1 can be found and please submit your comments, your 2 public comments to the Coast Guard before the end of 3 the public comment period. Again that's December 6. 4 If you look around tonight, you will see the 5 entire region united in opposition to this proposal, 6 Democrats and Republicans, from Yonkers to Kingston, 7 we stand united to protect our river and our 8 communities. Thank you. 9 [ Applause ] 10 SENATOR MURPHY: Jason, thank you very much 11 for coming up here and testifying and tell the mayor 12 thank you very much for his support on this. I know 13 this has been pushed out in one and one of the big 14 reasons we are having this, when we reached out to 15 the Coast Guard, our answer was we'll have our 16 public hearing in the spring. Meanwhile public 17 hearing comment is going to close in December. So 18 this was important to get this done tonight, so I 19 thank you guys for being part of, like you said, a 20 bipartisan issue to do the right thing for our 21 communities. Tell the mayor thank you very much. 22 JASON BAKER: Will do. Thank you very much 23 for having us. 24 MATT SLATER: Next I'd like to invite 25 Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi. 1 SENATOR MURPHY: Madam supervisor, welcome. 2 LINDA PUGLISI: Senator, thank you. 3 Senators, thank you very much for hosting 4 this hearing and this forum and to the Village of 5 Croton-on-Hudson for allowing us to use their 6 village hall as well. 7 I am so delighted to see so many people here 8 today as I know you are, also. We've been joining 9 you at some of the press conferences, and we were 10 down in Yonkers about a month ago with the mayor and 11 members of his administration to form a coalition to 12 fight this. 13 It seems like we are always fighting 14 something, right? The gas line, you know, this. We 15 are always fighting something. And I just want to 16 echo what has been said before is that we in 17 Cortlandt have not received any official 18 notification from the Coast Guard. 19 Now, if any of us elected officials were 20 considering a proposal or we were going to pass a 21 local law or state law, we would send out 22 notification, correct? They have not. They didn't 23 ask any of us for our input, and that, in itself, is 24 outrageous in my opinion. 25 As has been said, I want to reiterate it, the 1 Hudson River was designated an American Heritage 2 River over a decade ago, and decades and decades of 3 work by environmental groups and communities have 4 gone into cleaning up the Hudson River. 5 We can't go backwards. It cannot become a 6 parking lot. We don't even know is how long these 7 barges would be allowed to anchor at these 8 anchorages. That's a question to be asked of the 9 Coast Guard. 10 Can you imagine, they could be there for a 11 long period of time. The pollution would be 12 amazing. 13 So for environmental reasons, economic, 14 security reasons, my colleagues on the town board 15 and I passed a resolution adamantly opposing this 16 United States Coast Guard anchor project, and we 17 will continue to fight it with all of you. 18 It's just a wonderful, bipartisan 19 non-partisan coalition, and I know we will prevail. 20 The Town of Cortlandt adopted a targeted 21 local waterfront revitalization Verplank waterfront 22 area of Cortlandt in our master plan. The proposed 23 anchors would not be consistent with this town's 24 vision or its adopted goals and policies for the 25 waterfront since the proposed anchors would be 1 located directly within the viewshed of the 2 Cortlandt waterfront park and the segments of the 3 historic Washington Rochambeau National Park Trail 4 that was designated by the National Parks Department 5 as you probably know. 6 The proposed anchorage off Montrose Point in 7 Cortlandt would affect views down the Hudson River 8 from the Westchester County from the Oscawana Island 9 Park and George's Park where you held a press 10 conference, Senator. 11 These waterfront parks are regional resources 12 that offer picturesque views of the historic Hudson 13 River and contain tidal wetlands, wooded trails and 14 boat access to the Hudson River as well as nature 15 study and family gatherings. 16 Since the proposed anchors are located 17 directly offshore of Cortlandt's waterfront parks, 18 the recreational, environmental and cultural values 19 of these parks would be a negative impact. 20 In addition, the long-term anchoring of 21 vessels carrying crude oil and other hazardous 22 materials directly offshore of our community poses a 23 significant safety and environmental risk to the 24 community since the spill of crude oil or other 25 hazardous materials into the river could devastate 1 the ecosystem, put people's health at risk and harm 2 the regional economy. 3 In summary, the town is requesting that a 4 full environmental review be undertaken of the 5 proposed anchors and compliance with NEPA. The 6 review must consider and respond to all the issues 7 and questions raised by all of us as part of the 8 public process, and that the U.S. Coast Guard hold 9 public meetings in our community. 10 We oppose this ill-conceived proposal. We 11 submitted our request to have the Coast Guard hold 12 meetings in our area immediately once we found out 13 about this proposal in the local newspapers. 14 Thank you all so much. 15 SENATOR MURPHY: Madam supervisor, thank you. 16 I don't have any questions for you because we have 17 talked numerous times about this already, but thank 18 you for coming here tonight. 19 Senator Carlucci? 20 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Thank you for testifying, 21 and something that you raised, the question of how 22 long a length of stay would a barge stay, and that's 23 a question that we have been trying to find the 24 answer to. And as far as I know, really the only 25 thing dictating that is the free market, right? 1 That if someone decides to park their cargo there, 2 they can do that, and that's the uncomfortableness 3 that we have that. 4 Okay, maybe commerce will dictate that nobody 5 wants to park their cargo there, but what happens 6 when they do? 7 LINDA PUGLISI: We are all for commerce. We 8 just don't want a parking lot in our beautiful 9 majestic Hudson River. 10 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Right. And what are the 11 tools we have when a barge is parked out there 12 staying there an absurd amount of time. 13 LINDA PUGLISI: We need help. 14 Thank you all so very much. 15 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you, Madam Supervisor. 16 [ Applause ] 17 MATT SLATER: Next I'd like to invite 18 Eoin Wrafter. Eoin, if would you like to come up. 19 Eoin is representing Dutchess County 20 Executive Marcus Molinaro, and Eoin is the 21 Commissioner of Planning and Development of Dutchess 22 County. 23 EOIN WRAFTER: Good evening, Senators Murphy, 24 Serino, Carlucci. Thank you for the opportunity to 25 comment on the proposed rule establishing 10 new 1 anchors along the Hudson River between Yonkers and 2 Kingston. 3 My name is Eoin Wrafter. I'm the 4 Commissioner of Planning and Development for 5 Dutchess County. I'm offering this testimony on 6 behalf of County Executive Marcus Molinaro who 7 unfortunately could not be here this evening due to 8 a prior conflict. 9 The Hudson River with its beautiful 10 waterfronts, irreplaceable ecosystems and rich 11 history is a tremendous asset to Dutchess County, 12 and part of what makes us distinctly Dutchess. 13 Seven of the proposed anchorages are in close 14 proximity to Dutchess County, borders or within our 15 borders. Hudson River is an irreplaceable part of 16 our community. 17 The current proposal lacks sufficient detail 18 necessary to make a fully informed decision. The 19 proposal formalizes existing anchorage locations; 20 however, it does not detail the types of ships that 21 will use them, the cargo they will hold, the 22 duration they will stay, or the frequency with which 23 they will be used. All of these could and should be 24 studied further to identify their impacts on the 25 surrounding adjacent communities. 1 We join Scenic Hudson and others in 2 expressing concerns regarding the potential 3 environmental and community impacts of this proposed 4 project, including the potential use of the proposed 5 anchorage areas by vessels carrying crude oil or 6 refined petroleum products. 7 These are concerns that must be mitigated, 8 particularly the concern about the potential for an 9 oil spill or exposure to pollutants. 10 The Hudson River is home to many precious 11 species, and it must be demonstrated their aquatic 12 habitats will be protected. 13 The Hudson River is also utilized for tourism 14 and recreation throughout the Hudson Valley region. 15 The increased number of commercial vessels could 16 have a negative effect on the natural beauty of 17 these areas and potentially change the viewshed of 18 these iconic settings. Communities like Beacon, 19 Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck have made significant 20 investments in their waterfronts to bring people and 21 development back to the river, so it is critical 22 that these communities and the public in general 23 understand how these anchorages may or may not 24 impact them. 25 We recognize that the Hudson River is a 1 significant economic engine, and the vessels 2 traveling along it must be able to do so safely. We 3 encourage efforts to improve transportation safety; 4 however, the process to approve these anchorages has 5 been disappointing at best. 6 The Coast Guard must take the time to better 7 explain this proposal, provide education answer the 8 questions and address concerns. 9 Clearly little has been done to engage in the 10 necessary process of including stakeholders and the 11 public at large, and this must be corrected. 12 The extended comment period and public 13 opportunities for comments is an important step as 14 the Coast Guard considers its final decision. It is 15 vital that these concerns are addressed and 16 responded to as part of an open and transparent 17 process. Respectfully Marcus J. Molinaro, Dutchess 18 County Executive. 19 Thank you. 20 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you, and actually, 21 Eoin lives in my district, Dutchess County, and we 22 have the beautiful walkway over the Hudson. Can you 23 imagine if we had increased traffic? 24 We just hosted some officials from China 25 today, and they loved the walk way over the Hudson. 1 And we have hundreds of thousands of people that 2 come to see that as well as our many historic sites, 3 Vanderbilt Mansion, FDR home, Mills Mansion along 4 the river. 5 Thank you very much for coming tonight to 6 represent our county executive. 7 EOIN WRAFTER: My pleasure. 8 SENATOR MURPHY: Please send regards to the 9 county executive. He was at a few of our press 10 conferences, and tell him thank you for the support. 11 EOIN WRAFTER: He regretted he couldn't come 12 in person. 13 SENATOR MURPHY: I get it. Thank you for 14 coming here. 15 MATT SLATER: Next I would like to invite Jim 16 Monaghan who is the Supervisor of Stony Point. 17 SUPERVISOR MONAGHAN: Good evening. Senator 18 Murphy, Senator Serino and Senator Carlucci. I 19 commend you and thank you for holding these very 20 important hearings. 21 And just for the people to know, Stony Point 22 is across the river. It's an historic river town, 23 it's home to the oldest lighthouse on the river. 24 It's home to the historic Stony Point Battlefield. 25 The Town of Stony Point unanimously passed a 1 resolution opposing the establishments of the 2 anchorage grounds in the Hudson River. 3 Haverstraw Bay and the vicinity stretching 4 from the Tappan Zee Bridge to the Bear Mountain 5 Bridge is the most active and congested recreational 6 boating area on the Hudson with more than 35 yacht 7 clubs, boat clubs, marinas, public boat ramps, 8 serving at least 4,000 boats; the north end holding 9 almost 200 of those slips within a mile of the 10 proposed anchorage site. 11 Stony Point Bay Channel runs through very 12 shallow waters serving several marinas and boat 13 clubs. In Stony Point, there is a very busy marine 14 fuel station that serves the high-speed ferries, 15 police and fire boats. There is an active junior 16 sailing camp at the Minisceongo Yacht Club in Stony 17 Point and an adult sailing school out of the 18 Haverstraw Marina. 19 The Hudson River Yacht Racing Association 20 sponsors regular races and regattas. The immediate 21 area surrounding the proposed Montrose site has 22 recreational traffic perpendicular to the barge 23 channel branching in all directions. 24 The underway barges would now be constricted 25 in their maneuverability due to the proposed 1 anchorage. 2 The river narrows between Stony Point and 3 Verplank Point to the north and Croton Point to the 4 south and is used more like a tidal lake. 5 If there is an oil spill in this particular 6 location, it will definitely spread into the tidal 7 wetlands running from Stony Point Bay behind the 8 Grassy Point along the Minisceongo Creek, and Cedar 9 Pond Brook to Haverstraw Cove and Bow Line Point on 10 the west. It would also threaten wetlands in 11 George's Park to the east, Lent Cove to Annesville, 12 Peekskill Bay and Iona Island area to the north and 13 Croton River wetlands to the south. 14 In fact, these areas are essential to many 15 fish, bird and other wildlife species. 16 Our river towns up and down the Hudson River 17 are finally able to develop their waterfront with 18 recreational parks and activities that draw tourists 19 to the beautiful Hudson Valley. We must inspire to 20 keep the rivers clean and beautiful for all our 21 members of the community. 22 The Town, we also submitted questions that we 23 are looking to be answered to the Coast Guard. 24 And once again I just want to thank you and 25 commend you. 1 SENATOR MURPHY: I can't thank you enough for 2 coming across the new Tappan Zee and being with us 3 here tonight and shedding some light on it. 4 Senator Carlucci? 5 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Thank you for being here 6 tonight, and for bringing up the point about the 7 recoverability that's something that has been a 8 pressing issue. We saw I believe it was a few years 9 ago in the Mississippi River a bad spill, and a 10 small percentage of the oil that spilled out was 11 recoverable. 12 We don't know what will be in the barges but 13 if it's bakken crude, we know the recoverability 14 rate is so minimal, so to bring that up and the 15 important wetlands we have along both sides of the 16 Hudson is an important point to raise, and I 17 appreciate you for doing that. 18 Thank you for being here. 19 MATT SLATER: Next I would like to invite 20 Deborah Milone, Executive Director of the Hudson 21 Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce. 22 DEBORAH MILONE: Thank you, Senators, for 23 asking me to be here tonight, and thank you very 24 much for including the business community into this 25 public hearing. 1 I just want to say that our chamber covers a 2 small region. Where we serve Croton-on-Hudson, the 3 Town of Cortlandt, towns, hamlets and villages, the 4 City of Peekskill and the Town of Putnam Valley. 5 I'm going to read a statement that I provided 6 to your office Senator Murphy. 7 The Hudson Valley Chamber of Commerce 8 adamantly opposes the proposed Hudson River 9 commercial anchorages from Yonkers to Kingston. 10 Beside the obvious environmental and safety 11 concerns, the barges would be a visual pollutant to 12 our historic river at a time when we are positioning 13 ourselves as a tourist destination. 14 The river is an important economic generator 15 for local businesses in the Hudson Valley. 16 Communities with river access and vistas promote the 17 waterfront as a place to take in the breathtaking 18 panoramic views of the majestic waterway. The river 19 also serves as recreational resource for residents 20 and visitors alike which fuels the local boating and 21 watersports industries. 22 The Hudson is the centerpiece of our tourism 23 efforts and attracts people from all over the world. 24 Now we are also a tourism information center, 25 and we weekly receive visitors every week coming in 1 using -- looking for things to do along the river. 2 The City of Peekskill, I guess, Frank, how 3 many months ago opened up the Riverwalk? 4 UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: One year ago. 5 DEBORAH MILONE: And people coming in, it's 6 drawing more and more tourists and visitors from 7 outside of our local communities to come and walk 8 this beautiful river. 9 The tourist dollars benefit our hospitality, 10 food and beverage industries, as well as other 11 businesses that rely on visitors to survive. Here 12 tonight is Lou Lanzer (ph) along with Diamond 13 Brothers. They're redeveloping the Old Cove 14 property previously known as Crystal Bay and will be 15 reopening and renovating the Charles Point Marina. 16 SENATOR MURPHY: Awesome. 17 DEBORAH MILONE: In 2012, visitors spent 18 $4.75 billion in the Hudson River Valley creating 19 over 81,000 direct jobs and generating 318 million 20 in local taxes benefiting small towns as well as 21 larger cities. 22 The Hudson Valley is ranked number two by 23 Lonely Planet in its top 10 travel destinations 24 worldwide. I can attest to that. I get calls from 25 all over the country, and because we are regional 1 chamber, I get calls from Europe and Europeans 2 coming in because they want to visit the Hudson 3 Valley region. 4 Mariners have been navigating the Hudson 5 River for 400 years without the need for anchor 6 barges. This ill-conceived concept by people who 7 don't even live here is unfathomable at a time when 8 the Hudson and its shoreline communities are making 9 a comeback. 10 On behalf of our nearly 500 member businesses 11 and organizations, please consider the economic 12 environmental safety and esthetic impact this will 13 have on our business and residential communities. 14 SENATOR MURPHY: Deb, thank you so much for 15 coming here tonight, and thank you for all the work 16 that you do. 17 This is part of the reason why we are having 18 these public hearings is to figure out, there is a 19 security issue, there is an environmental issue 20 here. There is also an economic issue here, and 21 this is the stuff that people are investing hundreds 22 of millions of dollars on this waterfront, and they 23 could be gone tomorrow. Thank you. 24 DEBORAH MILONE: You are welcome. I just 25 want to add our chamber and the business council of 1 Westchester have come out to oppose this, and I hope 2 other Chambers of Commerce along the Hudson River 3 will come out and do the same. 4 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you for being here 5 tonight, Deb. Thank you. 6 [ Applause ] 7 MATT SLATER: I would like to invite 8 Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino to come 9 testify. 10 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you, County Executive. 11 You are under oath. 12 COUNTY EXECUTIVE ROBERT ASTORINO: Senator, 13 thank you very much for hosting this. Senator 14 Serino, good to have you here. Senator Carlucci and 15 Senator Murphy, thank you very much. We appreciate 16 this, you taking the lead on what is a very 17 important issue and one that wouldn't have got the 18 light of day if the three of you and others didn't 19 start talking about this because, like a lot of 20 things the federal government does in all of their 21 overreach, they tend to do things quietly and in the 22 dark so nobody understands what is really going on. 23 But this is a really important issue for -- 24 and you just touched upon it: Environmental issues, 25 for Westchester tourism issues, and public safety. 1 You know, that is a very big issue post-9/11. 2 I am dumbfounded. There are 2,800,000 3 federal employees, and they couldn't accepted one to 4 Croton tonight to represent their point of view. 5 [ Applause ] 6 So a couple things I just wanted to touch 7 upon. You know, the beauty of itself of George's 8 Island or Croton Point Park or in Yonkers where 9 they're redeveloping the waterfront, these proposals 10 are one that would create, in my estimation -- you 11 know, I'll start with national security issues. 12 You know, we have soft and hard targets in 13 Westchester. One is pretty close to here, and 14 that's Indian Point, but we also have bridges and 15 tunnels and malls and many other areas that are 16 considered to be targets. And we drill for that, 17 and we understand what to do if we had to do 18 something. But the thought of having barges moored 19 along the Hudson River and the responsibility of now 20 having new targets, soft targets, would create an 21 additional layer of National Security and issues 22 that we would have to deal with locally, and the 23 response to that would be very difficult at best. 24 You know, the proposal that is for Montrose and I 25 know the supervisor is here, and I'm sure she will 1 talk and she has talked about this as well, 2 supervisor and I both understand as do you that if 3 you had these barges and that would be about 127 4 acres would be the area that they could moor as well 5 as halfway across the Hudson River, you think about 6 that just visually how big that would be. 7 Forget the visual blight, but as I said, the 8 security issues are very, very grave or potentially 9 as well as the environmental issues that come into 10 effect here, too. So I know Yonkers and I think 11 representative was here, Mr. McLaughlin. 12 So the one problem is when you look at the 13 definition under the Federal Register of what 14 they're trying to do, it's pretty disconcerting 15 because they list this as long-term. There is no 16 definition other than long-term being longer than 30 17 days. So it could be anywhere from 30 days to in 18 perpetuity, and that's not just stopping by. That's 19 moving in. 20 And so we have a big problem with the size 21 and scope of this, and that is federal government 22 vagueness at its worst. You cannot pin them down 23 for what this actually would be. So I wanted to 24 come here tonight. We've outlined this in letters 25 to the Coast Guard. We in our press conferences 1 have talked about this, and I'm glad and really 2 happy there is a full house here tonight because 3 this is an important issue that stretches from 4 Yonkers all the way up past our borders up through, 5 you know, through Orange County and above, but that 6 really will affect two parts of our county and 7 everybody in between. 8 So I want to thank the three of you for 9 taking the lead on this. To the Coast Guard and to 10 the federal government, shame on you for not being 11 here and defending your position. And though this 12 might not technically be a public hearing to the 13 federal government, the public is very much a part 14 of this process whether they like it or not. And so 15 thank you for putting the lights on in here, and 16 they will hear from us not just from tonight but as 17 we continue to go forward. So thank you. 18 SENATOR MURPHY: Listen, thank you so much 19 for coming out of your busy schedule, being here 20 tonight, and I know we've had a few press 21 conferences together just to kind of pound the drum 22 and make sure that people are aware of this. 23 The reality is that this was going underneath 24 the table. This was flying low. I don't think they 25 wanted anything to do with us knowing anything about 1 it. And I'm going to ask, were you ever officially 2 notified by the Coast Guard that they were 3 interested in doing this along our majestic Hudson 4 River? 5 Madam supervisor back there, the lady who 6 runs the town here, found out in the newspaper, 7 disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful. . 8 COUNTY EXECUTIVE ROBERT ASTORINO: Like many 9 things the federal government does, and we have been 10 dealing with Housing and Urban Development, a 11 different agency, but it's very similar in the 12 treatment that the federal government gives to state 13 and local governments. 14 And in this country, the system of government 15 we have is a balance, supposed to be a balance 16 between the federal government and state and local. 17 But the federal government runs roughshod over that 18 all the time unless and until the citizens actually 19 speak up and fight back. And so this is a perfect 20 example of the big bad federal government actually 21 being barked at and going to be bitten by the people 22 who are affected by this. So thank you. 23 SENATOR MURPHY: The nice part about it is 24 that the we did pound the drum and they extended the 25 public comment. 1 COUNTY EXECUTIVE ROBERT ASTORINO: Yes, and 2 that's important. I think people need to get on the 3 record on something like this because if we don't, 4 they're going say that this may not be a public 5 hearing official, et cetera. It is really important 6 that this go to them as part of the public record 7 and that people, not just the elected officials, but 8 average citizens affected by this write a letter and 9 get in the public record. 10 SENATOR MURPHY: This is officially being 11 videotaped by the New York State Senate, and they 12 will be delivered a copy, I promise you. 13 COUNTY EXECUTIVE ROBERT ASTORINO: Great, let 14 me point right at the camera and tell you to get the 15 barges out of here. 16 SENATOR MURPHY: Thanks for coming down. 17 Appreciate it. 18 [ Applause ] 19 MATT SLATER: Our next speaker for tonight is 20 Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson. 21 Ned. 22 NED SULLIVAN: Good evening. 23 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you for being here 24 tonight. 25 NED SULLIVAN: Senator Murphy, Senator 1 Carlucci, Mayor Schmidt, thank you for convening 2 this and being out late at night on an important 3 night in this nation's history. 4 As everybody here has said, the Hudson River 5 is our region's most important natural asset. It's 6 vital to the environment, to the public health and a 7 powerful engine for the economy and job creations. 8 You've heard from elected officials from 9 Westchester, and they and the state government, 10 federal government agencies, private organizations 11 like Scenic Hudson and others, partners have 12 invested hundreds of millions of dollars in 13 revitalizing our riverfronts and creating beautiful 14 parks and restaurants and residential developments 15 that bring people down to the Hudson, that make it 16 an asset that we are all very proud of. 17 Scenic Hudson has created over 60 parks and 18 preserves along the Hudson, here in Westchester. We 19 have parks in Yonkers and Irvington and Peekskill. 20 On the other side of the river in Haverstraw and all 21 the way up the river through the Kingston-Rhinecliff 22 area where the northern-most anchorages are 23 proposed. All of these would be put at risk by this 24 proposed rule making to park and warehouse huge 25 barges carrying crude oil and other chemicals on the 1 river. 2 As everybody knows, everybody is familiar 3 with the proposal, 43 berths, 10 locations. It's 4 really crazy and something that we are adamantly 5 opposed to and that we are hearing a unified chorus 6 of opposition to. So I commend you all for your 7 early action on this, for creating this opportunity, 8 and we will all be working together to defeat this. 9 The industry sponsors of this have stated 10 that trade will increase on the Hudson River 11 significantly over the next few years with the 12 lifting of the ban on American crude exports for 13 foreign trade and federally-designated anchorages 14 are key to supporting this trade. 15 So this is something that we are very, very 16 concerned about. That they are anticipating this 17 great increase in exports so we are going to be 18 exploiting America's crude oil for export, and the 19 Hudson would become the super highway for fossil 20 fuels, endangering all the tremendous resources that 21 we have, both natural and constructed along it. 22 So as you've heard, the proposal would 23 encompass 2400 acres of the Hudson, exposing it to 24 these industrial impacts to long-term storage of 25 barges carrying crude and other products. We are 1 equally concerned, as the county executive just 2 stated, about the length of time that is clearly an 3 uncertainty, but the notion that they would be 4 parked for 30 days or longer is unthinkable. 5 Each of these barges and tankers could 6 measure up to 600 feet. They would be visible from 7 homes along the river, bridges, local waterfronts, 8 the national historic landmark district, as well as 9 many popular destinations listed on the National 10 Register of Historic Places. 11 The capacity of these is comparable to the 12 Exxon Valdez, the tremendous devastating spill that 13 ravaged the waterfronts and natural resources of 14 Alaska. 15 One of these sites, of course, has been noted 16 would be in close proximity to Indian Point. What 17 are they thinking? What are they thinking? 18 [ Applause ] 19 So the proposal would jeopardize the valley's 20 tremendous world-renowned scenery, the basis for a 21 $4.7 billion tourism economy as we heard from the 22 Gateway Chamber representative. 23 The Department of State has designated scenic 24 areas of statewide significance. They're one of the 25 only places in New York State that has these 1 designations because of the incredible beauty that 2 we have. And these serve as the foundation, a 3 regulatory foundation for protection of the natural 4 historic and economic resources along the coast. 5 And these are -- New York State has delegated 6 responsibility for protecting these coastal areas, 7 so the New York Department of State has a very 8 important role to play here. 9 As we've heard, the vessels parked along the 10 river would bring unwanted light and noise pollution 11 that we associate with industrial facilities, 12 especially at night when deck and navigational 13 lights would be needed for safety. 14 Many of these are powered by diesel 15 generators that would be creating noise and air 16 pollution. This would, you know, truly threaten the 17 incredible tourism economy that is coming up. Just 18 imagine sitting at one of the beautiful restaurants 19 along the Hudson and Westchester as many of the 20 finest and looking out on these barges and smell the 21 exhaust. 22 How is that going to be for Friday night or 23 Saturday night? I think it's going to be 24 devastating for our tourism recreational 25 destinations and will really just damage the quality 1 of life that we are coming to enjoy and relish, and 2 that is such a magnet for tourists from all over the 3 world. 4 Our natural resources are being put at risk. 5 Hudson is home to over 200 species of fish including 6 the endangered Atlantic and short-nosed sturgeon. 7 The anchorages have been proposed in the 8 Kingston-Poughkeepsie region, known spawning grounds 9 for these majestic and iconic species. 10 They've also been, the anchorages have also 11 been proposed for Haverstraw Bay, the most 12 highly-rated significant coastal life wildlife 13 habitat in the Hudson River and vital over wintering 14 habitat for sturgeon. 15 So allowing the vast storage of container 16 ships containing millions of gallons of volatile and 17 harmful chemicals that are causing damage and 18 explosions and spills all over the country, add to 19 the dangers our communities face every day from the 20 crude oil transported by trains in poorly-designed 21 rail cars. 22 This is something that wasn't happening at 23 all a few years ago, and there has been a massive 24 increase. And the entire region absolutely lacks 25 the safeguards to prevent and respond to spills. 1 The legislature and the governor have taken 2 some action over the last several years. There have 3 been budget allocations of a couple million dollars 4 to plan for spill response and to coordinate with 5 the federal agencies on the national contingency 6 plan. But we know they're inadequate. 7 We know that the response, the Coast Guard 8 response vehicles are based down in New York harbor 9 and that it would take hours, hours for them to get 10 to a spill upriver. 11 We know that the Hudson is tidal, so a spill 12 would -- the product, the contaminants would go up 13 and down with the tide, ebbing and flowing and 14 contaminating one waterfront after another. We know 15 that drinking water supplies, and there are at least 16 half a dozen in the upper reaches of the Hudson, 17 that are in the direct line, directly adjacent to 18 the anchorage areas. 19 We are talking about beach, we are talking 20 about water supplies, wetlands, aquatic life, you 21 know, all the way from Albany to New York Harbor 22 because of the flow of the river and of the tides. 23 So the proposed anchorage importantly is 24 inconsistent with New York State's coastal 25 management program, and there are specific policies 1 relating to aquatic habitat, to coastal development, 2 to public access, to recreation and historic and 3 scenic resources, to water and air resources, 4 wetlands and others. 5 These are highly detailed rules that have 6 been very important in stopping other ill-conceived 7 proposals over the years. 8 So the Department of State plays an important 9 role here. I personally briefed the Secretary of 10 State on this matter, and I would encourage you to 11 work with her and other D.E.C. and other state 12 agencies on this. But the Coastal Zone Management 13 rules are delegated to New York State, so these are 14 federal and state rules that are brought into play 15 here, and this is the area that we are going to be 16 focusing on. 17 So in summary, Scenic Hudson opposes this 18 proposal. We urge you to work with our U.S. 19 Congressional and Senate representatives, the 20 D.E.C., the Department of State and others to block 21 this regulatory misstep. 22 We are heartened by instruction of 23 legislation by Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney that 24 would prevent the permitting of these anchorages 25 along the Hudson and urge you to support this 1 initiative to try to get a Senate Bill that would 2 enable us to move through the Congress as rapidly as 3 possible. 4 And finally, it's important for everyone in 5 the room to tell your friends about the December 6 6 deadline, and to file your comments and to take all 7 possible actions to protect our river and valley 8 from this dangerous proposal. 9 I've included with the testimony I gave you 10 photo simulation that we've made of just four of, 11 let's see, five of the barges parked on the 12 Westchester waterfront. This would be kind of the 13 northern area of the Yonkers extension. They're 14 parked right in the middle of the river so I have 15 provided them to you for your review. 16 You can just get a sense of what a bad idea 17 this is and why we should all fight this with 18 everything we've got. Thank you very much. 19 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you, Ned. 20 [ Applause ] 21 MATT SLATER: Our next speaker is Edward 22 Kelly. Ed is the Executive Director of the Maritime 23 Association Port of New York and New Jersey. 24 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you, Ed. Appreciate 25 you coming tonight. 1 EDWARD KELLY: My pleasure. Good evening, 2 Mr. Chairman, Senator Murphy, esteemed panelists, 3 ladies and gentlemen. 4 My name is Edward J. Kelly, and I'm the 5 Executive Director of the Maritime Association of 6 the Port of New York and New Jersey. In 7 coordination with the Hudson River Pilots 8 Association and the American Waterways Operators, 9 our Tug and Barge Committee is the one who made the 10 proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard to establish new 11 designated anchorages on the Hudson River that 12 proposal has been published as U.S. Coast Guard 13 Docket 2016-0132 as an advance notice of proposed 14 rule making pertaining to the establishment of these 15 designated anchorages. 16 We have submitted written testimony that will 17 give some additional information pertaining to 18 economic impacts, the thousands of jobs that are 19 created literally billions of dollars of taxes paid 20 by this industry to federal, state and municipal 21 organizations. But we also would like to address, 22 we are available to anyone who would like to talk to 23 us about these facts about what these proposals mean 24 and to certainly clarify and hopefully dispel the 25 many misconceptions and misstatements that have been 1 made in regards to this proposal. 2 We have seen several published websites, 3 et cetera, that contain erroneous information. We 4 stand ready to meet with anybody who would like to 5 meet with us. I have already met with Ulster county 6 legislative groups, met with several people. Our 7 name, address, telephone number and emailing listed 8 on the proposal, and anyone who would like to meet 9 with us further, I have a business card and would be 10 more than happy to arrange a mutual time, date and 11 flies have a discussion. 12 I started my day in Philadelphia this morning 13 with another meeting. I think it's important enough 14 I made it up here tonight to attend this hearing. 15 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you. 16 EDWARD KELLY: We have very firm beliefs this 17 is good for the economy, for the region, for 18 security. 19 So if I could proceed just quickly. Our 20 operators believe that we have a tremendous 21 dedication and responsibility for the protection of 22 human life, of property, and the ecology of this 23 river and the ecosystem that it contains. We feel 24 that these anchorages are all about safety. These 25 anchorages, since this guy named Hudson stumbled 1 across this river 400 years ago, this river has been 2 used for commercial navigation, and ships have 3 regularly anchored in many of the areas that are 4 currently proposed to be designated formally. 5 We are seeking formal designation because the 6 river has become busier, and we would like to have 7 designated, safe, supervised locations for anchorage 8 so that people are not forced to operate in unsafe 9 conditions. 10 If I could just run through a couple what 11 have we believe are some of the facts involved in 12 this, and then specifically a few things I've heard 13 addressed tonight regarding sturgeon, long-term 14 anchorages, et cetera. We would like to talk about 15 how these anchorages will help to enhance the 16 safety, security and environmental stewardship of 17 the vessels and the waterways in which they operate. 18 Anchorages are good for safety. That's what 19 this is all about. A safe place to anchor is 20 essential to the safety of the crew, the vessels, 21 other operators, property and cargoes as well as the 22 health of the river environment itself. Vessels are 23 forced to anchor for many safety reasons, including 24 fog, weather conditions, equipment issues, ice and 25 many other reasons. 1 Anchorages also allow vessels to wait to 2 navigate at first light and at high tide when it is 3 the safest potential to operate in the river. A 4 safe place to anchor is essential to safety. 5 The proposed anchorage sites have been 6 selected due to a variety of physical 7 characteristics that facilitate safety including the 8 depth of the water, shelter from currents, width of 9 the river, the interval of spacing and the location 10 of what have been usual and customary anchorage 11 locations. 12 These proposed anchorages are intended to 13 simply formalize decades, if not centuries, of safe 14 industry practice and give the U.S. Coast Guard 15 oversight of these anchorage areas. 16 We have heard about long-term parking lots. 17 Anchorages are not parking lots. Vessels are 18 typically anchored for very limited period of time, 19 usually between four to six hours. They're always 20 manned during this time and lit in accordance with 21 U.S. Coast Guard regulations. 22 Anchorages do not require construction or 23 placement of infrastructure in or around the river. 24 The long-term expression is simply a Coast Guard 25 expression that says it's not a temporary. In other 1 words, it's there. It will be designated on federal 2 charts, navigational charts, and they will be there 3 until change. It does not mean the vessels will 4 stay there for long periods of time. 5 If anyone wants to find the truth, you follow 6 the money. It makes absolutely no economic sense to 7 store any type of product, especially barges, on a 8 river location. The cost to do so is magnitude 9 differences compared to storing it in shoreside 10 facilities. 11 If you store any type of product, but a lot 12 of people are talking about oil, and in particular 13 oil. Barges have to be manned. Tugs have to be 14 anchored to accompany them. Those crews have to be 15 paid, the cost of the tug has to be paid. Barge 16 hire has to be paid. 17 Transportation companies only make money when 18 their vessels and cargoes are moving. It makes no 19 sense to spend that kind of money to hold a product 20 that could very easily have been held in storage 21 facilities either downriver in the port or upriver 22 in the various terminals and storage locations that 23 are around the river. It makes no economic sense. 24 People will go out of business in a short 25 period of time by trying to do ridiculous economic 1 things. There is no economic advantage. 2 Anchorages are good for the environment. The 3 reason we say that is because environmentally, our 4 industry is subject to numerous environmental 5 regulations including Oil Pollution Act which as of 6 last year and since last year has required all 7 barges to be double hulled. The anchorage areas 8 would further serve to protect the environment by 9 allowing operators to avoid navigating during unsafe 10 conditions that could lead to accidents and/or 11 spills. 12 The environmental benefit of maritime 13 transportation is supported by the industry's track 14 record. The latest stat available from the U.S. 15 Army Corps of Engineers shows there has been no oil 16 leaked from tank barges into the Hudson since data 17 tracking began with the Army Corps of Engineers. 18 Water-borne transport reduces roadway congestion and 19 emissions by reducing the need for truck transport. 20 The New York City Economic Development Corp 21 did a study that found that in one single year, 22 water-borne barge transportation eliminated 3.1 23 million truck trips within New York City alone. 24 This is because the efficiency of maritime 25 transportation, a typical inland barge, has the 1 capacity 15 times greater than one rail car and 60 2 times greater than one semitrailer truck. 3 By the way, I don't believe a 600-foot barge 4 exists on this planet, but people keep talking about 5 it. 6 Anchorages are good for security. From a 7 security standpoint, vessels are required to comply 8 with U.S. Coast Guard-approved security plans, and 9 all professional Mariners are required to be U.S. 10 citizens who are required to hold transportation 11 worker identification credentials issued by the TSA 12 which provide digital photo I.D. and require 13 extensive criminal and drug background checks. 14 Additionally U.S. Coast Guard regulations 15 require all water-borne crew to hold proper Coast 16 Guard licenses, ratings and training certifications. 17 These measures are intended to strictly control 18 access to vessels at all times including while 19 they're at anchor. 20 Anchorages are good for the economy. 21 Economically commercial vessel are engaged in moving 22 vital cargoes to communities along the Hudson. Most 23 of the vessels that would use these anchorage areas 24 are vessels already engaged in moving products 25 directly to consumers. Refined oil products like 1 home heating oil, the gasoline that powers your car, 2 the fuel that powers the power companies that make 3 the electricity go on, and it also is in the best 4 economic interest of maritime companies that vessels 5 are engaged in transporting cargo, not waiting at 6 anchor. 7 Other majority of the cargoes include 8 aggregate which comes downriver, an export commodity 9 moves from upstate New York to the lower place for 10 road bed construction. 11 We heard there is a little bit of ice and 12 snow upstate New York. We move sand and salt 13 upriver. Construction materials move upriver, 14 recyclables are moved up and down the river for more 15 economic disposal. 16 Designation of anchorages by the Coast Guard 17 will neither directly increase nor decrease cargo 18 shipments on the river. Only the actual consumption 19 of gasoline, heating oil, sand, construction 20 materials, et cetera, by the region's residents will 21 have an impact on the amount of cargo moving. 22 Based on that, it's clear that the creation 23 of federally-designated anchorages under U.S. Coast 24 Guard supervision is in the interest of all the 25 parties. We would like to have support on this. 1 Our people have operated on this river for 2 centuries. We have operated safely, economically, 3 and we have moved the goods that provide the 4 American way of life. 5 As long as people want to have home heating 6 oil, as long as they want to have electricity, they 7 need salt, sand and the other commodities these 8 barges move, it makes sense to let them operate 9 safely. 10 If you were driving down the road and you 11 were faced by a very severe fog or extremely heavy 12 thunderstorm, what do you do? Do you keep driving 13 and just say I hope we don't hit anything and kill 14 people, or do you look for a safe way to slow down 15 and operate safely, pull off the road. 16 What if you had ice coming down the river 17 facing you? You would want a safe place to pull 18 out. That's what this is all about. We would be 19 more than happy to address sturgeon. If anybody is 20 interested, I have a copy and I have actually read 21 the study that was commissioned by the 22 New York State, the Hudson River Foundation and 23 several other people. It's here. I've spoken to 24 the authors. I'm not just listening to the buzz and 25 misinformation. 1 This report does conclude that anchors make 2 marks on the bottom, and it says the anchors silt 3 over rather quickly because the river moves and the 4 bottom shifts. 5 They have not proven this is detrimental. In 6 fact, a quote from the author, and I will provide it 7 to whoever would like it says at this point, we 8 cannot say if there is any impact to the bottom 9 habitat with regard to sturgeon, and we have been 10 very careful to stay away from making these 11 linkages. I hear people laughing. Here is the 12 report with the quote from the authors. 13 This is what they allege they're talking 14 about. I would like people to read this report, not 15 just make distorted comments about it. 16 The Coast Guard procedures, we agree, are 17 awkward at best. This is typical federal rule 18 making procedures. All legislators do have staff 19 that monitor the federal register. That's how you 20 find out what these crazy feds are doing in your 21 areas. They do not reach out to individual people. 22 They expect that you should reach out to them. It's 23 published in the Federal Register. 24 The typical pattern on this on any federal 25 regulation whether you are dealing with the corps or 1 any agency, there is a public comment period. 2 Because of the pushback and information that people 3 are seeking, the public written comment period was 4 extended. 5 On the conclusion of that, they will gather 6 all of these. At last count I think it was 3600 7 public comments. They will sort them, evaluate 8 them. Based on that they will determine, which in 9 this case I'm sure they will, that they need to have 10 public hearings. 11 They will publish the public hearing 12 information in the Federal Register. They will not 13 reach out to people. They don't reach out to me 14 anymore than they reach out to you. There will be 15 public hearings. There will be a series of these 16 probably in the spring because the Federal Register 17 has posting periods. 18 People will come out. We expect to have a 19 full discussion. We would like to talk about facts, 20 not misconceptions or distortions. We don't want to 21 see websites showing 4500 TEU container ships that 22 physically could not fit past the George Washington 23 bridge and never would economically. 24 The Exxon Valdez. I knew the captain of the 25 Exxon Valdez. I'm a maritime captain. I sail these 1 ships. Anything the size of the Exxon Valdez could 2 never make it up the Hudson River. There is not 3 enough depth. It would run aground long before it 4 hit Yonkers. These things require deep draft. 5 Misconceptions, distortion of fact. 6 I have a pocket full of business cards if 7 anybody would like to have further discussions. I 8 don't want to take up too much time. We are trying 9 to keep it on schedule. I've made my notes, and 10 I've seen quite a few things. There are no parking 11 lots. It makes no economic sense. Long-term is 12 just a definition the Coast Guard uses as opposed to 13 like when we have the fourth of July fireworks, they 14 establish temporary anchorages so that people can 15 park their recreational boats and watch the 16 fireworks. A long-term designation means it gets 17 put on a chart. 18 So anyway, if anybody would like to further 19 discuss this, we've got facts on this. We would be 20 more than happy to meet with anybody that would ask. 21 I have to say that no one has asked to meet with us. 22 Anybody that has, we meet with them. 23 We are here tonight. We will be any place 24 else that anybody wants us to be to further pursue 25 this. 1 SENATOR MURPHY: Ed, thank you for coming up 2 from Philadelphia and to this incredibly important 3 meeting for our community. 4 EDWARD KELLY: Certainly. 5 SENATOR MURPHY: This is the first 6 information that has ever been told to me. We have 7 been trying to reach out. You just explained a lot 8 of stuff that we've all had questions about, and 9 there is going to be a bunch more trust me. There 10 is going to be a bunch more. This isn't the end of 11 it. You are the first representative to come up to 12 answer some of the questions we've had. We can't 13 get the Coast Guard here. 14 EDWARD KELLY: Likely you won't get the Coast 15 Guard here. 16 SENATOR MURPHY: That's disturbing. Yet 17 they're making the rules and regulations on our 18 Hudson River for us to live by, for us business 19 owners, for us constituents, for our people to live 20 there yet they're not even coming to a meeting for 21 us. That's unacceptable. 22 EDWARD KELLY: Senator, I agree federal 23 procedures are awkward and annoying to everybody. 24 Ourselves included. We deal with the Coast Guard, 25 the Corps of Engineers and NOAA. We will hold 1 ourselves open as an industry to anybody that would 2 like to meet with us. Any further hearing, if 3 people, legislators or community groups wish us to 4 sit down with them, that's what we do. That's what 5 I will do. We will be there. 6 SENATOR MURPHY: I can't thank you enough for 7 coming here and explaining some of this because 8 we've had a heck of a lot of questions, and 9 obviously, there are a lot more. But being here 10 tonight, coming out of your way, this is a very, 11 very, very important meeting to all three of us who 12 represent close to a million people, and that's what 13 we do. We represent the people. And when the Coast 14 Guard can't get here to answer some of the questions 15 for a million people that we represent, that's 16 disturbing. 17 EDWARD KELLY: Yep. I agree, but on behalf 18 of the industry that would use and need these 19 anchorages, as I say, we are available if anybody 20 would like to stop by. I have a pocket full of 21 business cards and would be more than happy to 22 arrange a drill down, talk about any of the facts. 23 We clearly understand communities have a very 24 valid concerns. We need to discuss back and forth 25 how to make this proposal work because the reality 1 is the business is moving on the river right now 2 today, and we want to make sure it operates safely. 3 This is not a question of if they designate 4 this, and again, there is nothing to build. It's 5 just a designation on the chart. There is no 6 infrastructure. It doesn't touch the bottom. 7 There's nothing, just a designated to drop an anchor 8 and some of the large areas don't mean the whole 9 area will be used. 10 It means as we mentioned, the Hudson is 11 tidal. The reason we want to establish anchorages 12 so vessel owners/operators will know where it is 13 safe so they can swing without hitting shallow 14 ground causing spills, etc, and very frankly, we 15 don't want to use these anchorages if we don't have 16 to. We don't make money when the barges are not 17 moving, so I don't want to take up too much time. 18 SENATOR CARLUCCI: I have a couple of 19 questions. Thank you for being here, and thank you 20 for your passion and your profession. I guess what 21 I'm still unclear about, and I really appreciate you 22 shedding some light is, what has changed? 23 We talk about centuries of maritime passing 24 through the Hudson River, and we talk about the 25 extremes. Of course, no one wants captains to be 1 sailing down the river when there is ice in the 2 river, or there are storms. And I guess what I'm 3 still uncomfortable about is what has changed? What 4 have we done up until this point? And why not have 5 any standards in terms of hey, when do you dock, or 6 when do you lower the anchor, and how long you stay 7 there. 8 I know you talk about economic sense, but 9 being in the senate for six years, I've seen some 10 things that might not make economic sense, but if we 11 leave it solely up to the free market and to 12 commerce to dictate what is done, it leaves us 13 holding the bag in some circumstances. 14 So I can point to a few examples of that, and 15 that's just where have I some problems, so maybe you 16 could shed a little more light on what has changed 17 and why now. 18 EDWARD KELLY: What has changed is we have 19 had situations where there is a Champlain Hudson 20 power exchange they're looking to lay a cable down 21 the river. Unless there is a designated anchorage, 22 we have no voice in saying don't put cables there. 23 Cables could foul anchors. We could have problems 24 with that. There is increased usage. 25 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Just to expand on that. 1 The Champlain Power Express, if we have this federal 2 designation, they cannot build... 3 EDWARD KELLY: They can't build through an 4 anchorage. 5 That anchorage would not be used, drop an 6 anchor and pull a cable up and disrupt the power 7 supplies. That's one of the considerations. 8 Another consideration is by designating this on 9 charts, all Mariners, recreational, commercial, know 10 that that is a safe place to anchor, and there may 11 be vessels there. They will be able to calculate 12 the swing radius so they know the movement of 13 vessels at anchor could be. 14 And we've worked with Sandy Galef to promote 15 legislation in New York State to increase 16 recreational boater education and awareness. We 17 want these people responsible. We want them well 18 educated. They need to understand charts and how 19 this stuff works. So there is a lot of things. 20 What has changed? We need these because the 21 river has had more usage. There are more 22 recreational people out there. Some businesses 23 increased, and we need to have a spot -- you can see 24 with the push back we are getting right now, for 25 basically what are established anchorages. 1 SENATOR CARLUCCI: That's the point I'm 2 trying to understand. 3 SENATOR MURPHY: Excuse me. We are going 4 respect everybody here tonight, okay? We'll let 5 Mr. Kelly finish. 6 SENATOR CARLUCCI: That's the hard part I 7 have communicating to residents is understanding and 8 knowing tug boat captains that sail up and down the 9 Hudson River, that what has changed? 10 Because in an emergency situation or when 11 there is heavy fog or ice on the river, when it's 12 unsafe, we expect them to anchor. 13 And we know, like you talked about the 14 licensing and credentials that our captains need, 15 that they would understand and know the Hudson 16 River. So it is not all adding up to me in terms of 17 if you can anchor now, what has changed, or can now 18 anchor now? Are they doing it illegally maybe shed 19 light on that. 20 EDWARD KELLY: In any emergency situation, 21 you can anchor wherever you feel you have to anchor. 22 The question is if you know there is a designated 23 anchorage, say you have gear adjustments or things 24 to make, these are designated spots that have proven 25 to be safe. 1 SENATOR CARLUCCI: So we could expect, I 2 guess that now with these designations, that this 3 would be a destination for cargo traveling up the 4 Hudson. So we could expect that they will be 5 filled. 6 EDWARD KELLY: Not filled but they will be 7 used. And these as I say, because of the 8 geophysical characteristics of these particular 9 locations that are being proposed, these are the 10 places that are already currently in use because it 11 is deep enough so that they don't run aground as 12 they swing, where there is lesser impact to the 13 current, where there is not a very narrow section of 14 the river so it precludes other people getting 15 around them. 16 There are a lot of factors that go into 17 finding a good place to anchor without hurting the 18 bottom, et cetera. 19 SENATOR CARLUCCI: As the regulations as we 20 read them say three barges could be anchored at any 21 one time. 22 EDWARD KELLY: Could be. In some of them 23 there is space for one, some two, some four. 24 SENATOR CARLUCCI: The ones in this region in 25 the Westchester-Rockland area, we are talking about 1 three each. 2 And so you don't see that now. We would only 3 see one maybe sporadically anchored at a time? 4 EDWARD KELLY: And the provision that they 5 exist does not mean that they will all be used. And 6 to go back to the parking lot concept, it doesn't 7 make economic sense. 8 SENATOR CARLUCCI: So why allow that in the 9 regulations or put that in the regulations? Are 10 they expecting some explosion in terms of travel 11 along the Hudson? 12 Are they expecting, you know, we talk about 13 the 600 foot barge, and I guess I might have read it 14 wrong, but I thought the requirements or the 15 regulations were allowing for a barge up to 600 feet 16 to be parked. 17 EDWARD KELLY: Those are different types of 18 vessels than are barges. There are barges that move 19 and carry cement. There is a lot of cement that 20 moves up here, again construction materials that 21 move in what are called coastal vessels. 22 SENATOR CARLUCCI: So a coastal vessel up to 23 600 feet could be parked at one of these spots. 24 EDWARD KELLY: Yes. Depending on the amount 25 of anchor swing and provision, how much space would 1 be needed. 2 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Another thing I have 3 trouble with, caring deeply about the Hudson and 4 wanting to preserve its integrity. You mention 5 about oil spills or oil leakage in the Hudson, that 6 none has been documented. 7 How far back are we talking about that 8 documentation? 9 EDWARD KELLY: That goes back to the corps 10 records which are not that far back. It goes back 11 to about 2010. 12 SENATOR CARLUCCI: 2010. 13 EDWARD KELLY: Six years of impeccable safety 14 record. It doesn't go back that long. 15 These are the same type of anchorages and the 16 same type of commercial operations that are taking 17 place in other federal navigable channels, the 18 Mississippi, Columbia, so this is not unique to the 19 Hudson Valley. 20 SENATOR CARLUCCI: I appreciate your 21 answering these questions, and it is a delight for 22 me to have someone who can answer these with 23 integrity and authority. The other question I have 24 is just that many of our elected officials and 25 residents have brought up is the safety. And the 1 fact that we have to deal with the reality of soft 2 targets in our community and just the advent of what 3 type of materials are going to be transported along 4 the river. 5 Is there any type of mechanism where local 6 law enforcement, the community will be notified 7 about what type of materials are being parked in 8 their community? In terms of toxins or crude... 9 EDWARD KELLY: We can and do work with state 10 and municipal entities, their abilities to deal with 11 different issues, whether they be security based or 12 environmentally based. 13 Our industry and Coast Guard and Corps of 14 Engineers, we work extensively with security-related 15 things. Obviously if we want to talk about 16 security, I'm from New York City. We know about 17 9/11. We don't just talk about it, and we have 18 existing security protocols that integrate local, 19 municipal and state first responders, OEMs, 20 et cetera. 21 If there are any failures on the part of 22 communities or state issues to take a look and 23 consider they ought to engage with people running 24 and how can we best work together, this industry is 25 working together. We have operators that work this 1 river work in New York City and the harbor. We are 2 the people that lifted the people off Manhattan 3 Island when the towers came down and it burned. 4 Bee don't want to talk about security. We'll 5 show you security. We take it seriously in this 6 business because we lived with it. We had to take 7 those people off that burning island that day, and 8 we have built that. 9 Captain Sully, those people didn't get off 10 that plane by accident. It's because we have 11 trained and worked and coordinated our commercial 12 navigators with OEM, New York Department of Fire, 13 police, all those people. That's how those people 14 got off that plane because we drill and practice 15 that, and your local communities should do it as 16 well. 17 And frankly being very blunt, New York State 18 in this area doesn't spend enough money on doing 19 what they ought to do to do those things. We stand 20 ready to work with people. We hope the communities 21 will reach out to us and other organizations like us 22 to enhance the security and ecology of this river. 23 It's important to us. We hope it's also important 24 to you. We don't talk about it. We live security. 25 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Well, I appreciate your 1 commitment to security and that's great to hear. 2 EDWARD KELLY: Every one of our professional 3 Mariners as I've said is a U.S. citizen, they have 4 extensive background checks. We have more 5 background checks than you need to be a member of 6 NYPD. 7 We are federal. It's done by TSA. We have 8 transport worker identification credentials with 9 embedded credentials, picture I.D.s. 10 We take this seriously. Every one of our 11 Mariners has to be certified by Coast Guard. Every 12 vessel has to have a vessel security plan. Every 13 company has to have a company security plan. Every 14 facility needs a facility security plan that is 15 inspected physically in person by Coast Guard at 16 least once a year. Our vessels are certified. We 17 are willing to talk about any of this. 18 SENATOR CARLUCCI: I appreciate your 19 commitment to safety and security. I think what 20 would be, what is refreshing to hear is the 21 commitment to work with local law enforcement to 22 share that information with what is being stored out 23 in the river. 24 EDWARD KELLY: Absolutely. 25 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Thank you. 1 Senator Serino. 2 SENATOR SERINO: Ed, I think you can 3 understand our concern especially with the proximity 4 to Indian Point nuclear power plant. I think you'll 5 hear that from the crowd as we've spoken about 6 tonight the crazy world we live in now, you never 7 know what to expect so that is a verified fear that 8 we all have. 9 Actually you've given us a lot more 10 information tonight than we've heard and thank you 11 for that. And I think that's what everybody feels 12 the same way because we didn't have any answers. We 13 didn't even have somebody to ask a question to. I 14 actually did meet with the Coast Guard, and I asked 15 them the question about having five barges like tied 16 up or anchored together, and he couldn't answer yes 17 or no because I don't think that they have a plan, 18 and that's a huge part of the problem, and the 19 unknown is really scaring the daylights out of 20 everybody. 21 EDWARD KELLY: We can help you get to the 22 right people in Coast Guard. Again, the people that 23 just are the administrators and rule making are not 24 the people that are waterways management security. 25 So you might have gotten into the wrong people in 1 the Coast Guard. So we know there are people in 2 Coast Guard that can and will respond to these types 3 of questions. 4 SENATOR SERINO: As you mentioned that they 5 don't notify us but, you know, they should have 6 notified us so we could talk to the public, and let 7 them know what we found out, or at least that there 8 was a notification that this was even something that 9 was on the radar. 10 EDWARD KELLY: Sure. 11 SENATOR SERINO: We didn't know about that. 12 EDWARD KELLY: They use the Federal Register. 13 SENATOR MURPHY: Three weeks, 2,000 people 14 signed a petition. We got questions. We had to 15 really kind of start saying -- they wanted to hold a 16 public hearing in the spring, the Coast Guard. 17 EDWARD KELLY: Probably what will happen. 18 SENATOR MURPHY: In the spring. You know 19 public comments ending December. 20 EDWARD KELLY: Public written comments and 21 the Coast Guard procedures which are standard 22 federal procedures, once the written comment period 23 concludes, they evaluate the written comments. They 24 put them in the proper piles and however they sort 25 them out, and based on this, certainly on this 1 issue, they would say there is sufficient concern 2 that they would schedule public hearings. They put 3 that into the Federal Register to notify people. 4 They pick out locations scattered throughout the 5 region. They would establish, get places and they 6 will be open for public hearings, but because of the 7 public notice period through the Federal Register, I 8 would expect the real public hearings would start in 9 the spring. 10 SENATOR MURPHY: Ed, you know as well as I 11 do, we are dealing with the federal government, and 12 you know how that works. You know how that works. 13 EDWARD KELLY: Slowly but surely. 14 SENATOR MURPHY: I appreciate your coming out 15 of your way and getting here. This is the most 16 information that I've heard. We have been asking 17 questions, and like Senator Serino said, we have had 18 no one to ask the question to. You are the first 19 person, you are the first person. We can't get in 20 touch with the Coast Guard. 21 It's disgraceful that they're not here 22 tonight. I have the ultimate respect for our 23 military and Coast Guard. I respect them, but this 24 doesn't hold water, so to speak. It doesn't hold 25 water. 1 Thank you for being here. 2 EDWARD KELLY: Thank you. If anybody would 3 like a followup, please. 4 MATT SLATER: Next we are going to be 5 inviting county legislators John G. Testa and 6 Barbara Scuccimarra. Barbara is representing 7 MaryEllen Odell, County Executive of Putnam County. 8 SENATOR MURPHY: Excuse me, Ed, I know you 9 are being bombarded. I don't mean to be 10 disrespectful. I would like to keep this moving if 11 we can go outside. 12 Thank you County Legislator Testa, County 13 Legislator Scuccimarra. Thank you for being here. 14 LEGISLATOR BARBARA SCUCCIMARRA: Thank you 15 for having this tonight. 16 SENATOR MURPHY: Excuse me, can we respect 17 everybody's time here, please. 18 LEGISLATOR BARBARA SCUCCIMARRA: I appreciate 19 you having this public hearing. I attended your 20 August public hearing, and that was the first time I 21 heard about this and my community. And on behalf 22 Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell and the 23 Putnam County Legislature, I stand with my community 24 in opposition to the Coast Guard proposed rule. 25 The west side of Putnam county borders the 1 Hudson from Bear Mountain Bridge to Beacon, and 2 although we are only a little bit in there, we value 3 our river, and we value the river communities, and 4 we have to stand together. 5 I've lived on the river for over 40 years. 6 Or near the river. I overlook it. And I see barges 7 all the time going up and down the river, and 8 actually it's a lovely sight to see these barges. 9 But what this gentleman is talking about, this 10 increased amount of these barges, I think, is going 11 to be problematic, no matter how you look at it. 12 And the fact that they're so increased and 13 they're going to be parking in the middle of the 14 river at times. And when you had your public 15 hearing, we were in Verplank, and just looking out 16 at the water, and I think one barge is too many 17 barges. 18 You have to respect the people that live 19 along the river. You have to. Parking acres of 20 barges -- now first we heard 10 locations and now 21 it's 16, would risk undoing environmental efforts 22 which have transformed a sick, polluted river into a 23 vibrant and beautiful ecological environment that 24 continues to draw people. And that's what we have 25 to focus on. We can't focus on the commerce. I'm 1 sorry. We have to focus on the people that live 2 along the river and enjoy the river. The fishermen, 3 the boaters. I can't even wrap my head around more 4 barges on that river. I just can't do that. 5 Millions of gallons of bakken crude oil -- 6 and Scenic Hudson touched on this -- are being 7 transported by rail along the river. These trains 8 lack any of the basic safety mechanisms and are a 9 constant threat to all our communities. Bakken 10 crude oil is a very heavy consistency that sinks, 11 and it is very flammable. 12 Our communities along the river are not 13 capable of fighting a fire of bakken crude. They're 14 not. And by the time the Coast Guard gets there, 15 it's going to be devastating. 16 SENATOR MURPHY: As he said. 17 LEGISLATOR BARBARA SCUCCIMARRA: A resolution 18 has been drafted and sent in opposition to this 19 proposed rule, and we are in communication with the 20 governor and the Secretary of State to have this not 21 move forward. 22 You know, again, I thank you all for having 23 this, and I thank people like you for coming to this 24 because these are the people that are going to stop 25 this. These are the people. 1 I don't mean to date myself, but back in the 2 70s, they proposed a hydro electric plant on Storm 3 King Mountain, and if it wasn't for Scenic Hudson 4 and grassroots efforts, that mountain would have 5 been destroyed. But it was stopped. So I'm hoping 6 the same thing will happen here. Thank you so much. 7 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you. 8 [ Applause ] 9 LEGISLATOR JOHN TESTA: Thank you for fitting 10 me in with Barbara. This is a pleasure. And I 11 really want to thank you, Senator Murphy, for 12 spearheading this and the other senators for being a 13 part of it and to really bring this to the public 14 eye. 15 As you mentioned before, we would not have 16 known about it, and we have known with the federal 17 government, if you don't find out early enough in 18 the process, you are not going to do anything about 19 it. So by having the early warning signs and to 20 have our voices heard early and now tonight to put 21 them on notice again, I think is very, very 22 important. 23 I was pleased to be able to bring a 24 resolution to the Board of Legislators in 25 Westchester, unanimously approved by all my 1 colleagues on both sides of the aisle. That 2 resolution has been posted to the Coast Guard site 3 so they know the County of Westchester as we know 4 with the County Executive are against these, against 5 this proposal. 6 And it seems to me after tonight, this is 7 really a matter of volume. As Barbara said, we've 8 always seen boats going up and barges and tug boats 9 going up and down the Hudson. I grew up on 10 Peekskill on the river. This is a volume problem 11 and we have to think of it as the worst case 12 scenario, as we do in government with all the things 13 we plan. When you see a full contingent of barges 14 parked in these areas, it's taking up the whole 15 center of the river just about, and our area 16 especially. 17 What I'm concerned about is the safety on all 18 aspects that was mentioned tonight -- I'm not going 19 to reiterate everything that has been said -- but 20 just look what happened when the Tappan Zee Bridge 21 started. There was one barge put there for the 22 staging for the beginning of the construction, and 23 there as was a fatal accident there with just one 24 barge. Think of all the barges up and down the 25 center of the Hudson what could happen for 1 recreational boaters. Who is this going to fall on? 2 Is it going to fall on the counties and individual 3 municipalities? Are they going to have to have 4 maritime response teams? Are they going to have to 5 expand their police force? Expand their fire 6 departments? Millions and millions of dollars per 7 community is going to be needed. Where that money 8 going to come from? Is the federal government going 9 to subsidize? I don't think so. 10 SENATOR MURPHY: Can you say unfunded 11 mandate? 12 LEGISLATOR JOHN TESTA: Perfect. I won't get 13 into my schoolteacher mode of historic lecture, but 14 this area, the Verplank Montrose area, Stony Point 15 and Heritage River, this is the cradle of our nation 16 was formed there. People might not realize it, but 17 it's the most historic area in our country as far as 18 I'm concerned. Protecting West Point, the whole 19 issue of the spies and Benedict Arnold, that has 20 become a very popular narrative over the past few 21 years. Books have been written about it movies made 22 about it. TV shows have been made about it. This 23 is where it happened. People come here just to see 24 that area because that's where history began for our 25 United States of America. 1 So to have barges all up and down the Hudson, 2 people don't come to see barges. That's not what 3 they are coming for. They're coming to enjoy the 4 Hudson. Just in my lifetime so much has been 5 tremendously done to improve the Hudson River. We 6 used to go swimming even though we were told not to 7 back in the day. Now it's not even a problem to go 8 out there and jump in the river, and people do it 9 all the time. It's going to change, and we can't 10 let that change after all this hard work we've done. 11 Thank you for letting us stay. 12 SENATOR MURPHY: Very briefly. You know, as 13 a resident of Peekskill, you have been there a 14 number of years, the former mayor of Peekskill you 15 have been there a number of years, and now as the 16 county legislator, you have seen drastic, drastic 17 changes that have gone on there. That walkway is 18 just absolutely beautiful what has gone on down 19 there, and to turn around and start walking down 20 that walk way and see niece anchorage sites and 21 barges to be able to park there with the investment 22 that some of your business owners put down there and 23 it's just not right. 24 Barb, thank you for being there from day one. 25 LEGISLATOR BARBARA SCUCCIMARRA: Sure. 1 SENATOR MURPHY: You came to the first public 2 comment period that we had, our press conference 3 just to pound the drum on this and get it notified, 4 you know, so I appreciate all that you do and thank 5 you for you being you and representing the county 6 executive up in Putnam County. So keep up the great 7 work and thank you for being here tonight, and I'm 8 sorry you had to wait for so long. 9 MATT SLATER: Next up we have John Cronin of 10 the Pace University Environmental Law School. 11 John? 12 JOHN CRONIN: Good evening. 13 SENATOR MURPHY: Good evening, John. Thank 14 you for being here. 15 JOHN CRONIN: Thank you. I appreciate each 16 one of you holding this meeting tonight. 17 My name is John Cronin. I'm senior fellow 18 for environmental affairs at the Pace University 19 Academy for Applied Environmental Studies. I'm a 20 resident of Cold Spring, New York. 21 And Senator Serino, when I was a commercial 22 fisherman I lived on the docks in Nyack, New York. 23 Senator Murphy, I'm here tonight with my 24 co-faculty Michelle Land from the Land Environmental 25 Policy Clinic and students from the clinic where you 1 are our environmental hero for reasons that don't 2 relate to even to the Coast Guard. The Elephant 3 Protection Act which our students worked with you 4 on, and you delivered for us in New York State 5 Senate, and we are greatly appreciative of that. 6 I want to start out my comments by saying 7 something about the Coast Guard. We throw the term 8 Coast Guard around very loosely. Let's be clear 9 about something. The rank and file of the Coast 10 Guard is our front line of maritime defense for 11 Homeland Security. They do drug interdiction, they 12 do spilled response. The Coast Guard swimmers are 13 amongst the bravest of those in the American 14 service, and I have nothing but the greatest respect 15 for the Coast Guard rank and file. 16 But as those in the maritime industry like to 17 say, and they do, there are two Coast Guards. There 18 is the rank and file Coast Guard who does everything 19 that I told you about, and there is what they call 20 the other Coast Guard. And I want to talk a little 21 bit tonight about the other Coast Guard. 22 If you asked anyone five years ago to 23 describe the maritime nexus for South Dakota, they 24 probably would have said zero. The bakken oil 25 fields have changed that dynamic dramatically as 1 tank barges move product to market. It is no 2 coincidence that Senator Thune of South Dakota is 3 chairman of the Senate Committee with oversight for 4 the Coast Guard. South Dakota most certainly has a 5 maritime nexus today. 6 Those are not my words. Those are the words 7 of Admiral Paul, the head of the Coast Guard at the 8 annual meeting of the American Waterways Operators 9 last April. 10 He concluded his remarks by saying the Coast 11 Guard will facilitate economic prosperity. Let's be 12 clear that is not the Coast Guard's job. The Coast 13 Guard's job is navigation. The Coast Guard's job is 14 safety. The Coast Guard's job is the health of the 15 environment. It is not to facilitate the commercial 16 success of the oil industry. But that was the... 17 [ Applause ] 18 But that was the thrust of his remarks at the 19 American Waterway operators last April at their 20 annual meeting. 21 And why is this important? It's important 22 because the special anchorage designation that the 23 Coast Guard is asking for is exempt from the 24 National Environmental Policy Act. A federal 25 regulation that exempts the Coast Guard from having 1 to do an environmental impact statement under the 2 National Environmental Policy Act because special 3 anchorages are an exempt activity. 4 Now the problem with exempt activities is 5 that they're pretty broad. Once you've got that 6 power, you've got that power. You can declare a 7 special anchorage, and you are exempt. You don't 8 have to do an environmental impact statement. 9 I would argue that even if this is not -- 10 does not fly in the face of the letter of the law, 11 it does in the spirit. It is clear to me, and a lot 12 of people have looked at this issue, that in fact 13 this is about facilitating economic growth outside 14 of New York State. It is not about navigation and 15 safety. And I will get to some of those issues. 16 And let me just tell you for those of you who 17 don't know. I've spent a lot of time on the Hudson 18 River. I've worked on it for 43 years. I'm a 19 former licensed Coast Guard captain. I was the 20 Hudson Riverkeeper for 17 years. I was a commercial 21 fisherman for three years on the Hudson River. I 22 know my way around the river. 23 SENATOR MURPHY: I'm going to consider you an 24 expert. 25 [ Applause ] 1 JOHN CRONIN: Better others say it than I, 2 but -- and part of that experience is some pretty 3 dramatic stuff. In 1977, I was one of the 4 organizers of the bird cleaning station in Rockland 5 county when the Ethel H. barge went up on Con Hook 6 Reef and spilled over 640,000 gallons of fuel oil in 7 the Hudson River, fuel oil that took over a year to 8 dissipate. 9 I cleaned the birds. I watched the birds 10 die. My brother helped us at the bird cleaning 11 station. He euthanized the birds that couldn't make 12 it anymore. We saw their dissolved internal organs 13 from trying to preen themselves of the oil. 14 This is serious business when you are talking 15 about the transport of oil. If we were doing an 16 environmental impact statement on this proposal, I 17 want you to consider what actually would be in 18 writing right now because you said very rightfully, 19 Senator Murphy, that we don't have enough 20 information. 21 If there were an environmental impact 22 statement, it would spell out the environmental 23 impacts, the social impacts, the cultural impacts, 24 the visual impacts, the economic impacts and any 25 contributory impacts to climate change. It would 1 have to spell out alternatives to special anchorages 2 including the no action alternative, and it would 3 have to give all the reasons to defend every one of 4 those alternatives. 5 Now by way of example, in Kingston, New York, 6 the Hudson River pilots call Kingston, New York, the 7 point of no return. They call it the point of no 8 return because there is not room for more than one 9 vessel. And once the vessel is committed up there, 10 that vessel cannot turn around until it gets up to 11 the point of Albany. They call it the point of no 12 return. 13 SENATOR MURPHY: Didn't know that. 14 JOHN CRONIN: Here is the question that would 15 have to be answered in an environmental impact 16 statement. If above Kingston is such a narrow 17 channel that it is the point of no return, why do we 18 need 17 anchorages in Yonkers, New York? 19 It doesn't compute why we would need 17 20 anchorages in Yonkers, New York, when 70 miles 21 upriver you can't squeeze more than one tug and 22 barge on its way to the port of Albany. 23 Explaining that is important. We are not 24 seeing those explanations, and I don't think we are 25 going to. We are going see contested testimony in a 1 spring hearing. Were there an environmental impact 2 statement, however, we would see all of this and 3 more. 4 So what is the Coast Guard asking us to do? 5 The Coast Guard is asking us to trust the Coast 6 Guard. I trust the rank and file of the Coast 7 Guard. My problem with is the decision makers. And 8 let me give you a firsthand experience that I had. 9 In 1983, in my first year as Hudson 10 Riverkeeper, I spent the summer training oil tankers 11 up and down the Hudson River. They would anchor at 12 the anchorage Port Ewen and anchor at the anchorage 13 at Kingston. They would rinse themselves out, fill 14 up with Hudson River water, they would bring the 15 water to the island of Aruba. When they anchored at 16 the village of Port Ewen, they discharged benzene, 17 ethyl benzine, toluene and xylene 1500 feet from the 18 drinking water intake of the village of Port Ewen. I 19 personally did the sampling from the tanker, and we 20 brought it to a laboratory. 21 We brought the information and the evidence 22 to the United States Coast Guard, and this is what 23 the United States Coast Guard said. We decline to 24 investigate because this is part of the normal 25 operations of the vessel. 1 Now were there an environmental impact 2 statement, the issue of monitoring enforcement would 3 also have to be addressed. 4 In 1990, there were what was called the high 5 grade spill. It was A barge that went up on Diamond 6 Reef, a kerosene spill that dumped 164,000 gallons 7 of kerosene into the Hudson River. These reefs I'm 8 talking about are well known navigation hazards on 9 the Hudson. 10 The immediate Coast Guard response, and its 11 public statement to the newspapers was, it was due 12 to high winds and choppy water. The winds that 13 night were 8 to 10 miles per hour with occasional 14 gusts to 20. It was a clear night, and months after 15 those public statements were made to the newspapers, 16 "The New York Times," "The Times Herald Record," 17 months after that an investigation was done, and the 18 captain was suspended. 19 But the first inclination, the first response 20 of the Coast Guard was it was the fault of the 21 river. It was not the fault of the captain behind 22 the wheel. 23 You can see this repeated in incident after 24 incident. In the 1980s to 1990, there were over a 25 period of one decade, there were 10 significant 1 spills by barges going up on reefs in the Hudson 2 River. In June 5, 1991, there was a Congressional 3 hearing held. I testified at this Congressional 4 hearing. I had also testified at a Congressional 5 hearing about navigation two years before the 6 Merchant Marine Fisheries Committee. That doesn't 7 exist anymore, but when they had the subcommittee at 8 navigation and the Coast Guard. I proposed, and 9 Congresswoman Nita Lowey proposed that any tug and 10 barge that brought hazardous cargo up the Hudson 11 River should have an independent Hudson River pilot 12 aboard in addition to the captain to assure the 13 safety of that tug and barge. 14 The reason for this is Hudson River pilots 15 are required on board tankers, and you have to look 16 long and hard to find a tanker accident on the 17 Hudson River because the Hudson River pilots are on 18 board. But guess what? The Coast Guard showed up 19 at the hearing and testified against the idea. They 20 said there was no evidence that there were safety 21 problems. There were no evidence that there were 22 accidents, and the commercial industry testified 23 against it because they said it would increase their 24 costs for navigating on the Hudson River. 25 Now mind you, every single one of these 1 spills had a licensed captain behind the wheel, but 2 almost none of them had significant Hudson River 3 experience. I'm replaying this history to you to 4 explain to you in part the real world problems that 5 we have had on the Hudson River when navigation 6 and-- I take that back. The Coast Guard calls it 7 incidents. They don't call them accidents and for 8 good reason. When I trained for my Coast Guard 9 license, what was drilled into me there is no such 10 thing as an accident. There is somebody's fault and 11 an act of God. That's all there is, and this is 12 true. On the water, there is somebody's fault, and 13 there is an act of God. There is no in between. 14 That's the way it works, and not one of those barge 15 incidents was due to an act of God. 16 Now when I look at this proposal, I look at 17 other things as well. We have a rich history of 18 having had a commercial fishery on the Hudson River. 19 I was a commercial fisherman for three years, part 20 of the time living in the back of a pickup truck on 21 the Bird Street Dock working with the Gabrielson 22 family. 23 We used to have hundreds of commercial 24 fishermen on the Hudson River. And there is a sad 25 story there. Striped bass and American eel were 1 banned from fishing in 1976. Sturgeon were banned 2 from fishing in 1996. Shad was banned from fishing 3 in 2010. The net commercial net fisheries no longer 4 occupies the Hudson River. We wanted to some day, 5 but a lot of these anchorages will be located in 6 former commercial fishing locations. In other 7 words, the federal government is giving up on the 8 idea that we are going to have commercial fishermen 9 again on the Hudson River. 10 To me, if nothing else, this is totally 11 unacceptable. This is part of our working life on 12 the Hudson, part of our culture and history, an 13 economic safety net in times of economic duress for 14 people who needed another income. This is important 15 for us. Commercial fishermen are not the cause of 16 any of them losing their jobs. The federal 17 government has a lot to do with them losing their 18 jobs. 19 And so let me turn my attention to that just 20 for a moment before I conclude. The federal 21 government has a lot to answer for on the Hudson 22 River, and the Coast Guard proposal is the latest. 23 Since the 1960s, citizens groups on the Hudson 24 River, and this is no exaggeration, have spent tens 25 of millions of dollars -- I suppose it has probably 1 reached close to $60 million to $70 million at this 2 point fighting federal proposals. 3 Make no mistake. The Storm King Mountain 4 proposal that Barbara Scuccimarra referred to, yes, 5 it was a Con Ed proposal, a Federal Power Commission 6 proposal in the exact same way the proposal in front 7 of us tonight is not a proposal from American 8 Waterway Operators. It's a proposal from the Coast 9 Guard, because when we testified, when Congressman 10 Lowey and I testified and went to the Coast Guard 11 and said we want better safety measures in the pilot 12 house, in those tugs, the Coast Guard didn't take 13 our idea and publish it for everybody to comment on. 14 The Coast Guard filtered it out. The Coast Guard 15 publishes things it wants. 16 So make no mistake about it. This is in the 17 Federal Register because the Coast Guard wants it. 18 If the Coast Guard didn't want it, it would never 19 see print, in the same way our request for 20 requirement for pilots and better training for 21 captains never saw print in the proposed regulation 22 from the Coast Guard on the Hudson River. 23 The Hudson River Expressway that would fill 24 in the shallows of the Hudson River in Westchester 25 County, Westway, that would have filled in the 1 striped bass spawning wintering grounds off the 2 coast of Manhattan, the PCB discharge permit given 3 by the E.P.A. to General Electric in 1973 when the 4 E.P.A. had in its hand a report that said it would 5 result in the contamination of Hudson River striped 6 bass. 7 I can go through a list of these, at least a 8 dozen incidents and proposals by the federal 9 government that we have had to fight over the last 10 four to five decades to keep this Hudson River safe, 11 this Coast Guard proposal is the latest. 12 Let me give you something to contrast this 13 with. Does anybody here want to guess how much 14 money Congress is going to spend on protection, 15 restoration and rebuilding of Chesapeake Bay next 16 year -- this year -- on the Chesapeake Bay estuary? 17 They're going to spend $65 million restoring and 18 protecting the Chesapeake Bay estuary in a special 19 program for the Chesapeake Bay that has a permanent 20 line item in the Congressional budget every single 21 year. 22 There is no such line item for the Hudson 23 River. We are here talking about a backroom fight 24 to protect this river when we should be having a 25 hearing about is how much money should the federal 1 government be investing in the restoration of the 2 Hudson River and estuary? 3 [ Applause ] 4 Not fighting off yet another agency proposal. 5 When is the commercial fishery coming back? When 6 are the shores of our cities going to be rebuilt? 7 Where are the docks for the tour boats that used to 8 be the boast of the Hudson River that brought people 9 up here by water? 10 Let's not bring oil up here by water. Let's 11 bring people up here by water for God's sakes. 12 That's what we should be doing on the Hudson River. 13 But most of all, I want to stress to you, and 14 I implore you to make this request, and I invite the 15 Maritime Association of the Port of New York and 16 New Jersey to join us in a request that the Coast 17 Guard do a full environmental impact statement with 18 all the alternatives, all the impacts from social to 19 economic to environmental so that we can examine 20 this proposal and the kind of detail that it should 21 be examined. And then let's start talking about the 22 money we should be spending from the federal 23 government on restoring this river, not creating 24 anchorages for bakken oil from South Dakota because 25 the senator from South Dakota is the chair of the 1 Coast Guard subcommittee. 2 JOHN CRONIN: Thank you very much. 3 [ Applause ] 4 SENATOR MURPHY: John, one second if you 5 don't mind. Like I said, like I said, thank you. 6 Thank you for being here tonight. You are a 7 plethora of information. The stuff that you can 8 dial in on, I would love to make sure that if you 9 are available when we have more of these things 10 because you know what we are up against. I love the 11 analogy of the rank and file versus the really -- 12 the kind of nonsense that we get put into. And when 13 they do that E.I.S., it's going to be this big. 14 It's going to be that big. It is going to be 15 unbelievable, and I did not know that it was -- they 16 did not -- it was the anchorage were exempt. I did 17 not know that. 18 JOHN CRONIN: Special anchorages are exempt. 19 It's a Coast Guard regulation. 20 SENATOR MURPHY: So I thank you for being 21 here tonight. I know you have been at the press 22 conferences, and you are an information source for 23 myself that I can only just learn more from you and 24 dial this in and we can fight it together. 25 So thank you for going out of your way and 1 I'm sorry we couldn't get you on earlier. 2 JOHN CRONIN: Let me ask one final thought 3 before I walk away. If the Coast Guard does not -- 4 refuses to do an E.I.S., our environmental policy 5 clinic is in the midst of preparing a massive 6 freedom of information request that goes back 30 7 years, trying to get the documentation that would 8 show up in an E.I.S. 9 The December 6 deadline should be extended 10 because we have to engage in our own process to 11 collect the information. And they have 20 days to 12 respond to the freedom of information request. It's 13 going to take them probably two months to comply 14 with it, and the hearing and notice, the comment 15 period will be over. 16 This comment period should be extended and 17 there should be -- the record should be open and 18 included in the hearing that takes place in the 19 spring. There is no reason to close the record now 20 or any time between now and when the hearing takes 21 place. 22 SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you very much. 23 [ Applause ] 24 MATT SLATER: Thank you, John. 25 Our next speaker is Betsy Garthwaite. She is 1 the Chairman of the Board for Clearwater. 2 Betsy? 3 BETSY GARTHWAITE: Good evening. Whoever's 4 idea it was that I had to follow John Cronin -- 5 [ Laughter ] 6 SENATOR MURPHY: A tough act to follow, huh. 7 BETSY GARTHWAITE: I want to thank the 8 senators tonight and especially Senator Murphy for 9 reaching out to Clearwater to ask us to participate 10 this evening. 11 My name is Betsy Garthwaite, and I am the 12 president of the Board of Directors of Hudson River 13 Clearwater and also former captain of the Sloop 14 Clearwater, and for the record as a United States 15 Coast Guard captain, I have a deep respect for other 16 maritime professionals and their concerns about 17 safety. 18 As most everyone knows, the Sloop Clearwater 19 was the brainchild of the late folk singer Pete 20 Seeger. Pete had an idea to build a replica of the 21 old Hudson River sailing vessels of 18th and 19th 22 centuries not just as a nod to the valley's maritime 23 history, but as a way to focus people's attention on 24 what was then a very polluted Hudson River. And 25 Pete's scheme worked. 1 That first summer in 1969, the sloop 2 attracted many thousands of people in waterfront 3 communities up and down the river. Today, nearly 4 50 years after Clearwater first sailed up the 5 Hudson, the river is noticeably cleaner. 6 No one environmental organization, no one 7 piece of clean water legislation, no one lawsuit can 8 take credit for cleaning up the Hudson. It took 9 many organizations and government leaders and 10 concerned citizens coming together and working 11 toward a common goal. And because of the efforts of 12 people decades ago, and the ongoing efforts of 13 people today, we live in one of the most beautiful 14 regions in these United States. 15 The Hudson is no longer a place that people 16 avoid. Rather, people flock to it. They swim in 17 the river, fish in the river, canoe, kayak and wind 18 surf, dine along the river's edge. You name it. 19 Just about any recreational activity that can be 20 done on the water or next to the water is happening 21 up and down the Hudson. 22 Today, tourism is a multi-billion-dollar 23 industry here in the valley, and it is growing with 24 every year. But now the maritime ministry has 25 requested 10 additional federally-designated 1 anchorages between Yonkers and Kingston with a total 2 capacity up to 43 vessels. By its own admission, 3 this request is being made due to the anticipated 4 increase in traffic of bakken crude oil on the 5 Hudson after the lifting of the crude oil export ban 6 last December. 7 Our communities will be assuming a huge 8 amount of risk with the promise of little to no 9 reward from the increase in shipments of crude oil 10 which, unlike the home heating oil that is 11 transported upriver each winter, is not intended for 12 our consumption. This oil will be headed overseas. 13 I believe that the Hudson River is 14 New York State's greatest natural resource, and the 15 Hudson has always had value to the people of 16 New York and New Jersey as a shipping route. But 17 those interests have got to be balanced with the 18 many other interests that we, as residents of the 19 valley, also hold dear and depend on. 20 I believe that additional anchorages are not 21 in the best interest of Hudson River residents, and 22 on behalf of the Clearwater organization, exempt or 23 not, I am asking the Coast Guard for a full 24 environmental impact statement. 25 Funny that John mentioned the ethyl h today. 1 I was going to bring it up myself. To this day, it 2 is my understanding that it was the largest single 3 crude oil spill to occur in the river north of 4 New York Harbor, and the bird cleaning center that 5 was set up operated around the clock for 10 days by 6 volunteers and professionals caring for the captured 7 birds. 8 Early attempts at using dish detergent to 9 clean those birds proved ineffective, so a solvent 10 made by the Shell Oil company was used which 11 required the cleaners to don suits, gloves and 12 respirators. The Coast Guard responded to the spill 13 with a 300-person team. By their own estimate, they 14 recovered less than 25% of the oil spilled. Of the 15 hundreds or even thousands of birds that may have 16 been contaminated, just 50 were captured, and one 17 third of them did not survive. 18 This is a stark reminder that nearly 40 years 19 later, our ability to clean up spills and save 20 wildlife has not improved greatly. We can put a 21 price on the value of a tanker full of crude oil. 22 We can also put a price on the cost of an oil spill 23 cleanup and resulting economic damage. These spills 24 may be uncommon in part thanks to the 25 professionalism of the Hudson River pilots and the 1 tug and barge captains and crew, but they do happen. 2 And make no mistake, oil companies consider such 3 spills part of the cost of doing business. 4 There is one thing, however, that we can't 5 put a price tag on, and that's the quality of life 6 we enjoy here in the Hudson Valley today, and I 7 believe that quality of life is worth protecting. 8 [ Applause ] 9 SENATOR MURPHY: Betsy, I'm sorry had you to 10 go after John, but thank you very much for being 11 here tonight and testifying because this is all 12 being recorded by the New York State Senate, and 13 it's going to be distributed to the Coast Guard. 14 And the E.I.S. is a great start. 15 [ Applause ] 16 BETSY GARTHWAITE: Thank you very much. 17 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you, Betsy. Thank 18 you. 19 MATT SLATER: John Parker is with us. He is 20 the Director of Legal Programs for Riverkeeper. 21 John, thank you for being here. 22 JOHN PARKER: Thank you, sir. 23 SENATOR MURPHY: Thanks, John. 24 JOHN PARKER: Thank you, Senators. 25 On behalf of Riverkeeper, its members and 1 constituents, we thank you for calling attention to 2 the request for 10 new anchorage grounds with 43 3 berths in the Hudson River. 4 In the many concerns that have been expressed 5 by numerous people today, I'm going to go through a 6 couple of things again because I think it bears 7 important merit to talk about some of the aspects of 8 the claims with respect to the justification for 9 these proposals and a little bit of the detail about 10 the environmental impact statement process. So here 11 we go. 12 SENATOR MURPHY: You're on. 13 JOHN PARKER: Thank you. Ready. 14 Riverkeeper opposes the proposed request for 15 additional anchorages because it is clearly driven 16 by a desire to vastly increase industrialization, 17 reindustrialization of this river corridor, and 18 because the industry has tied the need to increase 19 safety, instead of the vast increase in crude oil 20 transport to and from Albany. 21 The river has had its share of industry and 22 industry impacts, and the public now with its 23 overwhelming outpouring of concern, condemnation and 24 critique, is pushing back to say no more. 25 The advanced proposed rule making requested 1 by the maritime industry to establish new anchorage 2 grounds is particularly discouraging given the time 3 that has been spent in the recovery of the river and 4 the communities along it. They are finally 5 rebounding from a legacy of its industrial past. 6 Our residents and communities appreciate the 7 Hudson as a living river in ways that are much 8 stronger today and much stronger than they've ever 9 been before, and this understanding is increasing. 10 Riverkeeper's concerns about the proposed 11 dramatic increase in anchorage grounds focuses on 12 two core areas: First, the industry's claims 13 regarding the need for additional anchorage grounds 14 will go through now are unsubstantiated, and second, 15 as we've heard discussed tonight, should this 16 advanced proposal become an actual proposal, it must 17 be subject to a full and comprehensive environmental 18 impact statement, and that includes things like we 19 are doing here tonight: Robust public participation 20 and opportunity for those impacted to have their say 21 before any decisions are made. 22 So are the increased number of anchorage 23 grounds necessary? We say no. We say the facts say 24 no. 25 The Coast Guard has the power to define and 1 establish anchorage grounds, and they have that 2 power for over a century under existing law. The 3 maritime industry on January 21 of this year claimed 4 that the anchorages are, quote, critical to 5 America's economy, navigational safety, 6 environmental protection and energy independence. 7 There are many factual points that refute 8 these claims. First, commercial vessels already 9 have the ability to anchor in the event of any 10 unexpected events or conditions which place them at 11 risk, including mechanical failure or 12 weather-related hazards. 13 Hurricane Sandy is an excellent example of 14 the Coast Guard giving emergency and temporary 15 authorization in times of trouble to multiple 16 vessels in the harbor of New York. 17 In fact, these types of requests for 18 authorization are always granted for safety. The 19 industry lobbyists we've heard tonight have admitted 20 such. Second, Riverkeeper's patrol boats and staff, 21 some of which have spoken tonight, have patrolled 22 the Hudson estuary and the river for thousands and 23 thousands of miles and many, many years. 24 JOHN CRONIN: The industry's request for 25 43 berths in 10 areas does not appear to be related 1 to any demonstrated need. We have never witnessed 2 within a half dozen commercial vessels anchored 3 between the George Washington Bridge in Albany in 4 the existing two authorized anchorage grounds. 5 In fact, only on the rarest of occasions are 6 the existing Hyde Park and Yonkers anchorages full. 7 Third, on closer examination, the fact that industry 8 has requested eight berths at the Kingston hub which 9 we have heard discussed tonight, and 16 additional 10 berths at the existing Yonkers anchorage grounds, 11 clearly show the true reason for the request. The 12 Kingston hub is the Northern-most area of the river 13 with swinging room for large vessels. 14 The Yonkers extension is the closest 15 anchorage to the Port of New York and New Jersey. 16 There is no possible safety-related scenario where 17 eight additional vessels would need emergency 18 anchorages in Kingston and where 16 additional 19 vessels would be needed for emergency anchors off 20 Yonkers. No possible scenario. 21 The industry representatives have made clear 22 their security and security credentials that 23 demonstrate there are few, in fact, few emergencies, 24 and again, when and where they can anchor in those 25 emergencies. Simply the proposal is an effort to 1 expand the ports of Albany and New York Harbor to 2 relieve congestion and support an expansion of 3 commercial transport of oil as we'll discuss. 4 It is not about recreational use increasing, 5 and it's not about using traditionally-used 6 anchorages. 7 Fourth, both the oil and maritime industries 8 expect a significant increase in crude oil 9 transport. This is tied to the 2015 federal 10 government's action that lifted the ban on the 11 export of oil to foreign nations. 12 The many millions gallons of crude that 13 already travel this corridor will be dramatically 14 increased, but for foreign markets. 15 Fifth, transport of crude oil on the Hudson 16 Valley presents unacceptable threats to public 17 health as we've heard tonight. For example, again, 18 public drinking water supplies are along the Hudson 19 River and use the Hudson River as that supply. 20 The shipment of crude oil on the Hudson River 21 itself is a hazardous condition because spills are 22 essentially unrecoverable. And it only takes one 23 such spill to wreak havoc here. That needs to be 24 stressed. It doesn't need to be multiple for us to 25 get the point. 1 Bakken crude which has been discussed tonight 2 from the midwest cannot be recovered in moving water 3 bodies like the Hudson River. Burning bakken is 4 left to burn itself out. 5 Again and again, we've seen examples where 6 the fires are too hot to extinguish. It is the 7 risk. 8 Further, the tar sand crude oil that might be 9 coming as well in the future, if spilled, sinks to 10 the bottom, not recoverable. 11 Despite industry claims that there is no need 12 for the additional anchorages to support delivery of 13 refined petroleum products -- sorry, excuse me. 14 There is no need for additional barges to bring 15 refined oil products to and from Albany. 16 For many, many decades, as we all know, the 17 barges have gone to Albany, and they've come back 18 and there has never been a concern. This is just a 19 scare tactic. It's not real. It's not been 20 witnessed ever. 21 Moving to the environmental impact statement, 22 because I think it's important we discuss this, it's 23 our position, and I think it's the position of many 24 others, that there is a need for a comprehensive 25 environmental impact statement. 1 We are not talking a comprehensive 2 environmental assessment, and we are not talking 3 about a comprehensive environmental review. We are 4 talking about a comprehensive environmental impact 5 statement. 6 You've heard others before me talk about the 7 reasons, the comprehensive nature. The national 8 environment policy act which would authorize such a 9 comprehensive statement requires a comprehensive 10 look at potentially-significant environmental 11 impacts before decisions are made. And that is very 12 important and it's very meaningful, particularly in 13 this in case. And as we've also heard, there is a 14 problem and it is not a small one. 15 This review of this expansion of anchorages 16 is categorically excluded, but we have done work and 17 we are convinced that there is and are bases that 18 the substantial impacts we've identified and will 19 discuss now provide the legal grounds for the Coast 20 Guard to, in fact, go beyond the exclusion and 21 prepare what we will ask you tonight and what you've 22 discussed the need for the full impact statement. 23 So we ask you and urge you to join us in that 24 request. 25 The impacts are many. We've heard them 1 discussed tonight, and I'll summarize them as air, 2 noise, light pollution, scarring and scouring of the 3 Hudson River and its related impacts to the fish 4 that call this place, this river, their home, and 5 the associated impacts from the reindustrialization 6 of the river corridor. 7 This proposal also creates a worst case 8 scenario. As I mentioned earlier, it's the oil 9 spill. There isn't going to be a response to the 10 oil spill that's going to recover anything. It's 11 just going to happen, and it's going to be over. 12 Thousands of public comments to date and 13 dozens of town and elected officials and community 14 leaders have demonstrated the clear opposition and 15 concern. 16 The historical properties' impacts alone are 17 significant. As we've heard and we agree, the 18 Hudson River is American history. It's clear from 19 the Battery to the Hudson Highlands, from West Point 20 to the Erie Canal, it's all right here. 21 Finally, it's inconsistent with several 22 environmental laws that the state implements and 23 that the state has passed. These include the 24 state's authority under the endangered species act. 25 We've heard discussions about the Coastal Zone 1 Management Act that empowers local communities up 2 and down the Hudson River to create a vision for 3 their communities as the river is restored, for 4 economic and ecological benefit and future economic 5 growth, and very importantly, as we've just 6 mentioned, the National Historic Preservation Act. 7 Any of these factors alone would be 8 sufficient to prompt a full environmental review 9 under the regulations of the Coast Guard. 10 That this proposal implicates all of them 11 leads to the clear and undeniable conclusion that it 12 must undergo full environmental review, but public 13 support, public pressure, public officials, 14 concerned community groups and everybody else is 15 going to be necessary to make that happen. 16 The public deserves an opportunity to be 17 heard on all of this. There needs to be extensive 18 public hearings up and down the river in all of the 19 communities impacted. 20 In conclusion, the proposal to establish new 21 anchor grounds is being made to the federal 22 government. It's a federal action. We've discussed 23 this tonight. But it has tremendous and significant 24 implications for our state, for our state's future, 25 and for our community and its residents. 1 Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are 2 relying on their state representatives, to you, to 3 challenge this proposal, to raise these substantive 4 and significant issues we've raised and to ensure 5 that their voices are heard throughout the process. 6 Riverkeeper at our website Riverkeeper.org 7 has taken extensive efforts to both identify and 8 document from both our experience and others the 9 multitude of issues we found community by community, 10 resolution by resolution, along this entire valley 11 and its corridor, and we encourage folks to use 12 those resources, investigate them and help us 13 understand better what is necessary to be done with 14 respect to each individual community. 15 And in the end, we thank you, and we ask you 16 and urge you to be part of our voice, all of our 17 voices, as this proposal seems like it's going to 18 advance. 19 So thank you very much. 20 SENATOR MURPHY: John, thanks for coming 21 tonight. You know, this is the reason why we are 22 here. We call this a federal issue. We are your 23 state representatives. I don't see any one federal 24 representative here tonight. 25 [ Applause ] 1 I don't know where they are, but they should 2 be here. So we are pounding the drum on this, and 3 this is what we are trying do is bring light to it 4 and get the questions answered. 5 There is a tremendous amount of questions 6 that we've had. We've said it over and over and 7 over tonight. Thank you for being here. 8 This is something that Senator Serino and 9 Senator Carlucci, who is coming back in right now, 10 and myself, have been trying to make sure that we 11 represent the people that put us in these leadership 12 rolls and these elected position. That's what we 13 are supposed to do, and that's why we are doing this 14 tonight. And we have been here for what, three 15 hours now and it's not going to be enough. 16 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Agreed, and as we 17 mentioned, this is the beginning. Advanced notice. 18 We thank you for your continued support. 19 SENATOR SERINO: I believe Congressman 20 Maloney has the bill against the barges. He made a 21 statement. 22 But thank you very much. 23 [ Applause ] 24 MATT SLATER: Our next speaker is Frank 25 Bergman. Is Frank here? There we go. Frank is the 1 president of the Hudson River Boat and Yacht Club 2 Association. 3 Frank, thank you for joining us today. 4 [ Applause ] 5 FRANK BERGMAN: I represent Hudson River Boat 6 and Yacht Club Association. And first of all, we 7 want to thank you for holding this hearing. 8 Hudson River Boat and Yacht Club Association 9 represents 31 boat clubs from Poughkeepsie, from 10 Pirate Canoe Club down to Yonkers Yacht Club, and on 11 the east shore, Marlboro Yacht Club, and down to 12 north Jersey on the west shore. 13 We've got about 3,000 members and in 31 boat 14 clubs. We are very concerned, and we're strongly 15 opposed to the U.S. Coast Guard proposal to put 16 barge anchorage sites along the Hudson River. 17 We consider the proposal for these anchorages 18 seriously flawed. While the oil companies may 19 benefit greatly from using the Hudson River as a 20 parking lot, most others will surely see 21 overwhelming disadvantages. 22 The Hudson River and the public are losers. 23 Let's examine some reasons. All of the boat clubs 24 in Hudson River Boat and Yacht Club Association are 25 opposed to this proposal. Letters opposing it with 1 specific objections have been sent to the Coast 2 Guard from New Hamburg Yacht Club, Chelsea Yacht 3 Club, and Minisceongo Yacht Club. 4 Individual Hudson River Boat and Yacht Club 5 Association members have also expressed their 6 concerns. 7 New Hamburg Yacht Club is especially worried 8 about water contamination, boater safety, noise, air 9 and light pollution. 10 Chelsea Yacht Club is one of the worst 11 affected. They're concerned about the dangers posed 12 by the anchorage in Rosedon interfering with their 13 mooring fields which New York State authorizes 14 through a submerged land license. 15 The proposed anchorage would also obstruct 16 the racing course and impede the safety of their 17 boats, essentially fencing them off from the river 18 at certain times if there are three barges across 19 there swinging at anchorage. 20 Minisceongo has many environmental and safety 21 boater interference concerns. 22 In addition, our association has received 23 letters from Peekskill, Mountain and Yonkers Yacht 24 Clubs expressing similar apprehensions. Many others 25 have been vocal at our meetings about how this 1 proposal would, without a careful consideration of 2 the damage that could be done, reverse all the 3 progress made over the years, over recent years 4 especially, to have the Hudson River keep its 5 designation as a National Heritage River. 6 In addition, from an environmental 7 standpoint, from the public record, the Hudson River 8 Estuary Action Agenda published by the 9 New York State D.E.C. and formulated by the Hudson 10 River Estuary Management Advisory Committee cites 11 six major benefits of a strong and vibrant Hudson 12 River ecosystem. 13 It strives to achieve those benefits through 14 action plans. Those benefits are: clean water, 15 resilient communities, vital estuary ecosystems, 16 estuary fish, wildlife and habitats, natural 17 scenery, education, river access, recreation and 18 inspiration. 19 Hudson River Estuary Management Advisory 20 Committee has worked hard to achieve these goals 21 over time. None of them is advanced by this U.S. 22 Coast Guard proposal, and most of them are negated 23 or harmed by it. 24 The consequences could be catastrophic. 25 For clean water, this proposal would 1 seriously open up the risks of spills and pollution. 2 For resilient communities, it would bring in noise, 3 light and air pollution. For vital estuary 4 ecosystem protection, it would disturb the submerged 5 aquatic vegetation beds so essential for a balanced 6 and clean river. 7 For estuary fish, wildlife and habitats, the 8 anchorages are in the spawning grounds of Atlantic 9 sturgeon. They would scar the river bottom and 10 destroy underwater vegetation. 11 For natural scenery, it would turn the river 12 into a barge parking lot. For education, river 13 access, recreation and inspiration, the anchorages 14 would negate all of the progress that Hudson River 15 Estuary Management Advisory Committee has achieved 16 over the years. 17 These public and public concerns are very 18 important and deserve thorough consideration. 19 Again, we urge the U.S. Coast Guard to hold 20 accessible public hearings, not in New York City and 21 Albany, but up and down the river communities that 22 we represent, that they hold them up and down the 23 river so that they may hear for themselves what this 24 proposal will do to our magnificent National 25 Heritage Hudson River. 1 We also respectfully request that a thorough 2 environmental review be conducted to ensure that we 3 do not undo all of the progress made in recent years 4 to make the Hudson the public asset and jewel it is 5 today. 6 Thank you. 7 [ Applause ] 8 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Thank you for being here, 9 and I really appreciate your advocacy and 10 particularly when you talk about boater safety. 11 And I know we've worked together and it was 12 mentioned working with Assemblywoman Galef to 13 actually pass a boater safety requirement in 14 New York State, and we know we've got a long way to 15 go. But that's something that I think really hasn't 16 been talked about too much tonight. And something 17 that should be highlighted is that now we did pass 18 the legislation that we are phasing in, depending 19 how old you are, who is required to take a basic 20 boater safety education. 21 It was mentioned about some of the horrific 22 accidents we've seen, the tragedies, the life that 23 has been lost, and we know that that is a direct 24 correlation to people that just did not have that 25 basic safety education. 1 And so I appreciate you highlighting that, 2 and I think that's something that as we have more 3 barges on the river, even though it has been 4 highlighted in the positive of doing this, that it 5 could be more safe. We know that as a recreational 6 user that it could be a hazard as well. 7 So I think that's another thing that we have 8 to highlight and talk about in terms of how this 9 could be a more dangerous circumstance given the 10 lack of requirement in terms of who needs that basic 11 boater safety education on the river, and the people 12 that have testified that know how unique the Hudson 13 River is and how education and experience is 14 something that is extremely important. 15 FRANK BERGMAN: Right. 16 And we really appreciate the efforts that you 17 and Sandy Galef have worked on for safety and boater 18 education, and I've spoken at some of your news 19 conferences about that as well. 20 SENATOR MURPHY: Frank, thank you for being 21 here tonight. Thank you for coming out of your way. 22 FRANK BERGMAN: Thank you very much. 23 [ Applause ] 24 MATT SLATER: I would like to invite 25 Emily Majer, who is the Deputy Mayor for the Village 1 of Tivoli, all the way up in northern Dutchess 2 County. 3 Emily. 4 [ Applause ] 5 SENATOR SERINO: Emily, I want to say thank 6 you because you have traveled even further than I 7 have. 8 EMILY MAJER: It's an honor to be here. 9 SENATOR SERINO: So thank you. You are the 10 last one to speak. Sorry you had to wait so long. 11 EMILY MAJER: That's okay. I'll make it 12 brief. Thank you for doing this, and thank you for 13 the invitation. 14 The Village of Tivoli adds our collective 15 voice to the chorus expressing concern over the 16 request from the Maritime Association of the Port of 17 New York and New Jersey, the American Waterways 18 Operators and other industry organizations to 19 increase the number of federally-designated 20 anchorages on the Hudson River between Yonkers and 21 Kingston. 22 The Maritime Association of the Port of 23 New York and New Jersey stated in their letter to 24 the Coast Guard dated January 21, 2016, "Trade will 25 increase on the Hudson River significantly over the 1 next few years with the lifting of the ban on 2 American crude exports for foreign trade, and 3 federally-designated anchorages are key to 4 supporting trade." 5 The Kingston hub of unofficial anchorages 6 below -- just south of the Kingston-Rhinecliff 7 Bridge at Kingston Flats, Port Ewen, and Big Rock 8 Point, in addition to the existing designated berths 9 at Hyde Park anticipate this increased trade. 10 There are certainly conversations to be had 11 about larger issues, about the environmental costs 12 of energy independence and how to plan for our 13 future energy needs. 14 I'm not qualified to speak to those issues, 15 but as a resident and representative of Tivoli, 16 which is just north of a cluster of three proposed 17 anchorage sites, I can talk about the impact that 18 increased industrial traffic will have on one tiny 19 village and the section of river that we call home. 20 Tivoli was active in maritime trade by the 21 mid-18th century. Wharfs and warehouses lined the 22 shore, but the construction of the railroad 23 gradually choked out that business, and by the early 24 20th century, the riverfront was comparatively 25 quiet, most businesses having moved a mile inland. 1 The waterfront, although currently 2 undeveloped, is well used by fishermen, kayakers, 3 and people, residents and visitors who come to 4 admire the Hudson and the views of the Catskills. 5 Although there are no proposed anchorages 6 within the Tivoli reach of the Hudson, the traffic 7 that will be encouraged and enabled by this change 8 will have immediate and dramatic physical impacts 9 upon our waterfront. 10 Within yards of the channel, our shoreline is 11 eroded by the wake of each tanker ship and barge 12 that passes. Consistent with our local waterfront 13 revitalization plan, the village has engaged the 14 Department of State, D.E.C., Dutchess County 15 Planning and Scenic Hudson to stabilize our 16 shoreline with the goal of creating a public park to 17 secure access to the water. 18 Along with this obvious immeasurable impact, 19 we are concerned about the environmental effects. 20 Legitimatizing the anchorages south of the 21 Kingstone-Rhinecliff Bridge, in conjunction with 22 future increased capacity at the Port of Albany, 23 could potentially allow an endless, noisy diesel 24 parade just off our shore. This would essentially 25 cut off river access to those recreational boaters 1 and fishermen, diminish the quality of life of 2 residents and visitors, and severely compromise the 3 public's experience of this scenic area of statewide 4 significance which is also within the Mid-Hudson 5 Historic Shoreline Scenic District and the Hudson 6 Valley Historic Landmark District. 7 Most worrisome and potentially disastrous is 8 the effect that this would have on the coves and 9 tidal marshes of the Tivoli Bay's Wildlife 10 Management area and the furred, feathered, and 11 finned inhabitants therein. 12 The Tivoli Bay's area is 1700 acres of tidal 13 marsh and upland forest with hiking trails, boat 14 launches and a bike path connecting the Village of 15 Tivoli to Bard College. 16 The bays are a designated New York bird 17 conservation area in recognition of its unique marsh 18 bird community. Its importance as a staging area 19 for migrating water fowl and migratory stopover 20 habitat for warblers. 21 Furthermore, the area is a New York State 22 Natural Heritage area recognized by the Department 23 of Environmental Conversation to call attention to 24 and protect the rare animals, rare plants and 25 significant natural communities on the state-owned 1 land. 2 The bays are also part of the Hudson River 3 Estuary and Research Preserve which provide field 4 laboratories for estuary, research, stewardship and 5 education by the D.E.C. 6 This unique and sensitive site is imperilled 7 by every petroleum product-bearing tanker that 8 passes by, and increasing the traffic increases the 9 risk. 10 We are well aware that accidents or incidents 11 do occur as evidenced by the running aground of a 12 dirt-bearing barge on the rocks of Magdalene Island 13 April 2013. 14 The impacts and dangers to Tivoli and other 15 communities, especially the natural resources along 16 the river that would be courted by allowing more 17 federally-designated anchorages are undeniable, and 18 in our estimation, the proposal is unsupportable. 19 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you very much, Emily. 20 [ Applause ] 21 Thank you, Emily, and you know what has been 22 the greatest thing about tonight is this concern is 23 not an R or a D situation. It is a quality of life. 24 It would only take one accident because they are 25 accidents that. You know, we have people that take 1 their drinking water out of the river. What do we 2 do? This is about our children and our 3 grandchildren having sustainability with our clean 4 water because our river is getting cleaner. I water 5 skied in that river for many years. 6 I thank you very much for traveling and for 7 everyone that has come tonight and stayed tonight 8 through the whole session. So thank you very much. 9 SENATOR MURPHY: Emily, thank you. 10 [ Applause ] 11 MATT SLATER: We have one last speaker not on 12 the agenda tonight, Jerry -- I'm going to botch your 13 name -- Faiella, from Hudson River Historic River 14 Towns. 15 JERRY FAIELLA: Thank you very much. 16 I appreciate the ability to put a comment on the 17 record. 18 Senators Murphy, Carlucci, and Serino, thank 19 you for putting organizing this event, and I 20 apologize for not pre-registering. I appreciate the 21 opportunity to speak. 22 I'm Jerry Faiella, the Executive Director of 23 Historic Hudson River Towns. HHRT, we are a 24 not-for-profit organization formed in 1984, and we 25 are one of the intermunicipal organizations to help 1 the Hudson Valley riverfront communities build 2 tourism, marketing, revitalization and downtown 3 renewal. 4 We are very active with Hudson Valley 5 Greenway, and we also have a seat on the Hudson 6 River Estuary Management Advisory Committee, the 7 D.E.C., something that Frank Bergman mentioned. 8 We are very committed to the region both for 9 tourism and to the protection of the Hudson River. 10 Our membership consists of 20 local jurisdictions on 11 the lower Hudson Valley, both sides of the river 12 from Yonkers to Beacon and from Nyack to Newburgh, 13 and we have been working closely with the City of 14 Yonkers and Riverkeeper on this endeavor. 15 I'm talking fast because the hour is late. I 16 appreciate the time. 17 The direct impacts of the designated 18 anchorage areas vary from community to community, 19 and it is not HHRT's position to simply move the 20 issue from one riverfront community to another. We 21 think a reasonable solution needs to be developed 22 that protects the community's waterfront which many 23 communities consider now as their front door, 24 something that is environmental sound and 25 esthetically acceptable. 1 As such, the Coast Guard should recognize the 2 need for an E.I.S. which you've heard tonight 3 already, because this proposal should not be 4 included in an categorical exemption normally 5 bestowed upon the placement of anchorages. 6 You heard from Deb Malone tonight that 7 tourism is a $4.7 billion industry in the region 8 that employs 81,000 people. We should not lose 9 sight of that as an economic driver when people talk 10 about this as an economic driver. 11 Our fears rest with the underlying intention 12 that has not been stated up front, but is clearly 13 evident when you start to read between the lines of 14 the letters that have been submitted in support of 15 this proposal. And it comes from the Pilot's 16 Association letter where they talk about this as 17 supply chain management. 18 So when you think about supply chain 19 management, you have to conclude that we are talking 20 about the movement of 2.8 billion gallons of bakken 21 crude oil through the Port of Albany a year. And 22 most of this is not for domestic refineries since 23 the Linden plant is at 85% capacity, but is 24 predominantly targeted for foreign consumption now 25 that the federal ban has been lifted. 1 We believe these anchorage locations will 2 grow into floating storage facilities that will 3 impede the growth of the tourism industry throughout 4 the valley. 5 So HHRT, we have engaged the firm of 6 Blanchard and Wilson to see what our legal rights 7 are or for what the legal rights are for the 8 jurisdictions in this proposal so we can have an 9 impact on the outcome. 10 Now you've heard about the federal Coastal 11 Zone Management Program. What that does is it 12 provides local jurisdictions empowered through the 13 New York State Department of State to adopt local 14 waterfront revitalization plans, and these plans, 15 once adopted, and approved by the New York 16 Department of State and the federal government, 17 requires all parties, governmental and private, that 18 are putting forth an action, to be consistent, and 19 we stress the word consistent -- you've heard that 20 here tonight -- with the plan. 21 In addition, New York State law provides 22 local jurisdictions with the authority to legislate 23 land use issues and develop local zoning which you 24 are all familiar with. The adoption of a 25 comprehensive master plan gives the local 1 jurisdictions considerable authority in determining 2 their overall development strategy. 3 We think understanding these two principles, 4 which I think Ned Sullivan talked about, HRRT is 5 developing for its member community a draft 6 resolution that will initiative a systematic review 7 of their LWRP and comprehensive land use plans, to 8 incorporate the importance of maintaining river 9 access to the navigable channel for commercial 10 tourism use, address coastal uses within and 11 immediately beyond their boundaries so as to not 12 negatively impact passive recreational use of the 13 waterfront, and to preserve the esthetic water 14 quality for mixed-use development and protect the 15 environmental features of the Hudson River and its 16 estuaries to maintain a balanced ecosystem for 17 water-related recreational use. 18 We think it's going to be imperative for the 19 communities to move in that direction because that's 20 going to give them standing here in this case. 21 We think it's imperative for the Coast Guard 22 anchorage program to prove that it is consistent 23 with the goals stated in these LWRPs and local land 24 use comprehensive plans and use that as the 25 objective to force the need for review that we are 1 talking about tonight. 2 Some argue that the rule making is exempt, 3 but we think that, we believe that in this instance 4 because consistency with the CZM, federal 5 regulations will justify the preparation of an E.I.S 6 and really address the potential impacts. 7 Without further knowledge of the actual terms 8 and conditions of the rule making, it is difficult 9 to further comment, but at this particular point in 10 time, we are taking the position that we really want 11 to see the E.I.S. developed. 12 Thank you very much for your time. 13 Appreciate it. 14 [ Applause ] 15 SENATOR MURPHY: I believe that was our last 16 speaker for the evening. 17 Senator Serino, do you want to say any 18 closing words, then I'll go to Senator Carlucci. 19 SENATOR SERINO: I just want to say thank 20 you. And I also believe -- I don't know if anyone 21 is here from the Women's Council of Realtors or the 22 Dutchess County Association of Realtors because they 23 both came out in opposition. 24 I am a realtor myself in opposition of the 25 barges, and thank you once again everyone for being 1 here this evening. Thank you. 2 SENATOR MURPHY: Senator Carlucci. 3 SENATOR CARLUCCI: I want to thank Senator 4 Murphy and Senator Serino for being here and 5 everyone that has testified and everyone that is 6 here. 7 We've heard the reasons why this is so 8 important. I also wanted to mention Councilwoman 9 Elizabeth Feldman is here from Ossining who I forgot 10 to announce earlier. Thank you. You have been here 11 since the beginning and sat all the way through. We 12 know you think this is very important. 13 And Jerry who spoke. We talked about 14 tourism. One of the things we are working on and we 15 believe is a reality is building a museum at 16 Sing-Sing. And we talk about how, Jerry talked about 17 that the river is the front door to many of the 18 communities along the Hudson River, and it's 19 something that we have to protect dearly. And we've 20 heard so many great and enlightening words being 21 spoken tonight. And the fact that we've got to make 22 sure we don't tread lightly, that we leave no stone 23 unturned, that we dot our Is and cross our Ts 24 because if we learn anything from history, it's the 25 mistake of past generations. And we can't allow 1 that mistake to happen again. 2 So I appreciate everyone, no matter what side 3 of the issue you are on. All of us have to work 4 together to make sure that we protect the integrity 5 of the river and protect the quality of life of the 6 residents living among the river. 7 So I look forward to working with all of you, 8 everyone in this room and beyond, to make sure that 9 the best decisions are being made for us currently 10 and for future generations. 11 So thank you so much for being here. I look 12 forward to working with everyone in the future. 13 Thank you. 14 [ Applause ] 15 SENATOR MURPHY: I would just like to thank 16 Mayor Schmidt. I'm not sure if he is still here, 17 but he is the one who opened up his doors to allow 18 us all to be here tonight. 19 And to the residents hanging in there with us 20 for close to four hours, for being here tonight on 21 this incredible, incredibly important topic. 22 To the 14 people who testified tonight. 23 And to Ed Cook for actually coming up and 24 giving us a few answers. Ed, I know you traveled... 25 you're a trooper. Thank you for coming up and 1 answering some of our questions. We truly 2 appreciate it. 3 There is going to be much, much more, but 4 this is a start in the right direction to figure out 5 what we have to do. 6 The Hudson River is one of the most majestic 7 places, I believe, in not only New York State but in 8 the United States. Look at the foliage that is 9 going on the foliage. It is absolutely beautiful. 10 I'll put it up against anybody and any place in the 11 United States. 12 Some of the stuff that we've talked about 13 tonight, these LWRPs, these local waterfront 14 revitalization plans, and these are important 15 designations to our community and to the waterfront 16 areas. 17 I personally over the past two years have 18 passed 14 bills to designate some of our lakes and 19 some of our estuaries to make sure that we can keep 20 these places the beautiful little lakes and 21 estuaries that they are. 22 This are stuff that Senator Serino said, 23 there is no D on this. There is no R on this. 24 There is no I on this. There is no C on this. This 25 is the right thing to do for our environment, for 1 our kids, and for our future. And these are the 2 reasons why we are having -- and we are going to 3 continue beating the drum of having these public 4 hearings. I'm not going to wait for the Coast Guard 5 to show up, because they didn't. 6 [ Applause ] 7 They were invited. They were invited here 8 and no one had the courtesy to show up on an 9 important event, knowing that these anchorage sites 10 that they're proposing, they won't even come and 11 give us answers about. To me that's is graceful, 12 and I -- don't get me wrong -- I hold them in high 13 regard. They do wonderful work. And like 14 Mr. Cronin said, there is the rank and file and 15 then there is the administration, and the 16 administration is again, like I said before, put the 17 federal government in it and they can screw up 18 anything. Okay. 19 So I thank you all for being patient here 20 tonight. I thank you for participating, for the 21 people who testified, for Senator Carlucci coming 22 across from Rockland County. Thank you. It's 23 always great working with you. For Senator Serino 24 coming down from Dutchess County, and my colleagues, 25 I appreciate the support here. This is something 1 that is vital to all of us. 2 Between the three of us, we represent close 3 to a million people, and your voices are going to be 4 heard through us. I can promise you that. 5 Thank you, and good night. 6 7 (Whereupon, the Hudson River Barge 8 Public Hearing, concluded and adjourned.) 9 10 ---oOo--- 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25