Beacon Mayor Randy Casale, left, and Skartados ae among the public
officials opposed
to the proposed anchorages
BEACON – More elected officials are coming out in opposition to
potential short and long term anchorage points for commercial vessels
on the Hudson River.
Assemblyman Frank Skartados (D – Milton) brought together elected officials
and leaders from local environmental organizations from the municipalities
in his district to oppose the idea docking commercial ships and barges.
“We have been in contact and close communication with all the communities
that I represent and we all have something in common, and that is the
Hudson River,” said Skartados. “All the communities I represent
have access to the Hudson River and they are all impacted by what happens
to this mighty, America’s heritage river,” he said.
There has been some confusion as to what exactly is being asked of these
Hudson River communities, where the barges would be placed, for how long
and how large they will be, along with uncertainty about what can be done
about it and when. It was presented as a 10-location, 43-barge total layout
to span from Yonkers to Kingston, but the previously mentioned details
were elusive.
A scale image released shows that the long-term, five-barge anchorage
designed for Newburgh, the one that causes a direct impact to the municipalities
of the 104th District, is not actually in Newburgh. The image shows that
the five connected barges would occupy the channel directly between Beacon
and Newburgh, spanning the distance from approximately Plum Point on the
Orange County side, reaching north well past Denning Point on the Dutchess
County side. It will occupy a width of 1,800 feet and stretch over two
kilometers in length, having a total perimeter of 7.10 km occupied in
the center of the river.
However, Director of Cross-water Initiatives for Hudson Riverkeeper Kate
Hudson said it would be a mistake to construe this as a formal proposal
and that the most important thing will be for the public to use its ability
to immediately squash it before it becomes as such.
“This is not an idea that’s coming from the Coast Guard. They
have been asked to do this by the industry and now the Coast Guard is
turning to us, communities and organizations, and saying, ‘What
do you think of this idea?’,” said Hudson. “I think
it’s really important that we take advantage of that opportunity
that the Coast Guard is giving us to weigh in, by the comment deadline
of September 7, and tell them very clearly what was said today: how much
we do not want to see this move forward,” she said.
Hudson added that the idea these barge anchorages are being sold as a
safety mechanism is bunk since barges traveling on the Hudson already
have the ability to make temporary stops in an emergency situation if
they contact the Coast Guard.
Interim Executive Director for Hudson Clearwater Dave Conover said should
this idea become a reality, it will be devastating for recreational and
tourism based activities along the river.
He said as the river got cleaner, its value to the communities along its
shores increased driving up tourism. The proposed moorings would impact
that tourism and the economy, he said.
Conover maintained the channel where his organization most often sails
its iconic sloop Clearwater, is the exact channel the Newburgh barge anchorage
would occupy.
Beacon Mayor Randy Casale said the issue goes beyond individual localities.
“It’s about the region and we need to take care of our Hudson
Valley region, and the Hudson River is the most important part of our
region that makes us what we are today; that and our mountains,”
he said.
