Water Quality

A broken pipe in the City of Amsterdam spilled 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into the North Chuctanunda Creek, according to published reports. The press reports about the spill prompted concern from river users as far away as Newburgh, some 140 miles away.

Learn More

Cornell scientists test for pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products; 83 of 117 substances are detected For Immediate Release: July 15, 2016 Contacts: Leah Rae, Riverkeeper media specialist, (914) 478-4501, ext. 238, [email protected] Damian E. Helbling, assistant professor, Cornell University, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, (607) 255-5146, [email protected] Kingston, N.Y. – A first-of-its-kind study of the Hudson River Estuary has found a long and varied list of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and personal care products in the water – 83 out of 117 micropollutants targeted – ranging from the anti-depressant venlafaxine […]

Learn More

A sulphurous stench becomes overpowering as you move up Westchester Creek, one of the New York City waterways that Riverkeeper is now able to explore with a new shallow-draft boat. “Just hold your breath for the next 25 minutes,” our boat captain John Lipscomb says. In this tributary of the East River, an egret stands on the treads of a submerged tire. A heron perches on a sunken motor boat. Plastic bottles, caps and candy wrappers litter the surface. We enter a zone where a strange kind of algae surrounds […]

Learn More