I am writing to express my strong concerns and opposition to the proposal to establish a series of anchorage, or parking lots, for oil carrying barges in the Hudson River. The increased amount of oil travelling and held on the river is an incredible risk to the environment as well as greatly reducing the natural beauty of the region. Please do not permit these anchorages to be established.
I first became aware of the natural beauty of the Hudson River over 10 years ago, when I took a job as cook on board the Sloop Clearwater's sister education ship, the Mystic Whaler. Along with my duties as cook I was also one of the educators, teaching thousands of school children from around New York about the biology, ecology and history of the Hudson River.
Part of that history was of a time when so much trash and waste was dumped into the river that it was said, you could light it on fire. As I am sure you are aware, the prevailing reputation of the Hudson was that it was filthy and unsafe. The next phase of the Hudson River's history is of the Sloop Clearwater, a replica Hudson River sloop, built by Pete Seeger and friends to sail the Hudson and educate the public about the importance of being responsible caretakers of the earth and, protecting the environment.
For nearly 50 years the Clearwater plied the Hudson's waters, and each year the river got healthier and healthier. People began littering less, legislation was created to reduce and eliminate sources of pollution, and time was able to bring the river to where is today.
Today, you can swim in the Hudson, safely. In Beacon, at the Pete and Toshi Seeger Waterfront Park you can swim in the River Pool in the summer and enjoy the clean water and vibrant community that was able to flourish with the rehabilitation of the river.
While working on board the Mystic Whaler and the Clearwater, I met my future wife. She told me of her childhood, growing up and swimming in the Hudson and playing on its shores. We have since moved to Garrison to be close to the river and have many times taken our now three year old son to the river to play. For several years there has been a River Swim event, where participants swim the mile distance between Beacon's waterfront to the other shore at Newburgh.
Boating and recreation in the Hudson. would be greatly impacted by the presence of anchorages in the center of the river. Navigating under sail on the river is challenging as the winds within the narrow valleys and ice-age fjords often shifts, veering at times, and reversing in direction completely at others. with the addition of the proposes anchorages, the ability for sailors to navigate will be needlessly hindered.
One of the highlights for students and passengers on board the Sloop Clearwater is the chance to take the great tiller arm into their hands and steer the vessel; to feel the rudder bite, to watch the sails fill, and then to smile as your toes sense the hull begin to hum and sing as she glides through the water. With the addition of anchorages right in main channel of the Hudson, there will be fewer places where the space needed to navigate by sail is possible. Many people will never get the opportunity to steer a historic Hudson River sloop.
I am terribly troubled by the resurgence of Oil industry initiatives to reclaim the river as merely a highway for transporting their products, and as a depot and staging ground for its treatment and refining operations. The increase in traffic and sheer volume of oil and petroleum on the river is a dangerous step backwards for us.
I am concerned that the drive to make profit will see oil companies forgo and sidestep safety measures and regulations where they feel they can get away with it. I am concerned that adequate testing and maintenance on the oil-laiden vessels will not be sufficient to prevent aging and inadequately secured equipment to be put into service to hold the oil.
As with the still in-use DOT-111 oil tanker railcars that have a history of safety problems, and yet still transport oil along the shores of the Hudson; I am afraid that there will not be responsible and appropriate safety precautions taken with respect to the equipment used to ensure safe storage and transport of the oil.
Because the Hudson is a fast moving estuarial body of water, any small spill or accident will be quickly spread up and down the river. At some points, tidal flow can be 5 or more nautical miles per hour, which could move an oil spill up or down the river quite quickly, giving emergency response teams a very small window of opportunity to contain it. Furthermore, due to the narrow width of the river at many points where anchorages are being proposed, oil spills will quickly reach the shorelines and cause enormous and long-lasting damage. Where there are riparian buffer zones, vegetation and wildlife habitats will be at extreme risk to devastation. recovery from a spill would take years, if it is possible at all.
On top of the ecological threat, one of the proposed anchorages is in the immediate vicinity of Indian Point and the nuclear power plant complex located there. As a nuclear facility, and as one so close to the New York metropolitan area, the existing safety concerns for terrorism are multiplied by storing large quantities of flammable and difficult to contain materials so close.
I have made though rough map showing the mid-Hudson and some of the proposed anchorages in orange. The red arrows indicate popular scenic areas that would be affected by the presence of anchorages. This is not as precise as a viewshed analysis, but the number of tourist and recreation spots that would be impacted is very noticeable.
Lastly, the economic gain of allowing these anchorages does not outweigh the value of the Hudson River as a tourist destination. The volume and popularity of the Bear Mountain Bridge and its vistas are but one of the major attracting features of the river. With oil barges moored along many of the highly visible and highly trafficked routes, the natural beauty of the Hudson will be marred by their appearance, dotting the river and breaking the serenity of its mighty flow.
The transport and maneuvering of these large vessels will also increase the noise pollution on the Hudson river. Tugboats of the size needed to move these oil barges are rather noisy due to the power needed for their job. You can already hear the roar of the diesel engines on Tugboat's that currently move freight up and down the river for at leaat a mile, and sometimes more due to the high walls of the valley.
Anchorages would be a source of constant traffic and engine noise. On top of that, the moving vessels would also be required to employ loud horns to signal their intentions. Passing on one or two bells would be heard over even larger distances than the engines- and backing would be an ear numbing dirge.
Pictures of the Hudson River that extol it's beauty as a majestic river will become limited, snapshots of a time when we dared to face the encroachment of industry, and took pride in conserving the earth as a vessel for all humans to enjoy. Once anchorages are established, the door will once again be open for the Oil industry to begin proposing more oil refineries and processing plants on the route. We must not allow this.
Thank you for your attention and kind consideration.
Charles Cheadle
Garrison, NY
Garrison, NY
