Testa Offers Resolution Opposing New Oil Barge Anchorage Sites on the Hudson

Legislator John Testa (R-Peekskill) is sponsoring a resolution voicing the Westchester Board of Legislators’ opposition to a proposed U.S. Coast Guard rule creating anchorage sites in the Hudson River for commercial vessels, specially oil barges.

The Resolution has been placed on the agenda for review at the next Environment and Health Committee meeting with a vote of the entire BOL expected at the next scheduled meeting Sept. 12.

Requests from maritime organizations for new anchoring spots prompted the Coast Guard to consider putting 10 new anchorage grounds in the Hudson River from Yonkers to Kingston for up to 43 oil vessels between Yonkers and Ulster County.

Nearly 1,000 acres of the Hudson River would be used by the anchorage sites off the shores of Westchester alone, county legislative officials said in a press release.

The Coast Guard has said that holding public hearings, likely in the spring, has always been a part of the process. But the written public comment period ends Sept. 7, 2016. To leave a comment click here.

Testa, the Board of Legislators’ Minority Leader, stood with lawmakers from the state and municipal governments at the Cortlandt waterfront on Tuesday in opposition to the rule.

“I am absolutely opposed to allowing our beautiful and historic Hudson River to become a parking lot for dozens of barges laden with volatile and toxic petroleum products" he said. "In my hometown of Peekskill and in communities up and down the river we have worked hard for decades to reclaim our waterfronts from post-industrial wastelands and turned them into open spaces, trailways, housing and retail centers. The idea that the Coast Guard would unilaterally turn this waterway into a staging area for refinery’s in New Jersey and points south is an outrage.” Testa said, “This resolution, which I hope will be supported unanimously by my fellow Legislators adds our voice to the growing opposition to this misguided proposal.”

Read also:

• Commercial Anchorages on the Hudson: Objections to Coast Guard Plans
• Letter to the Editor: No Commercial Anchorages on the Hudson Near Peekskill
• Westchester Mayors Meet to Show Opposition to Proposed Hudson River Anchorages
  

“I look forward to taking up this resolution in committee and I will be voting in support of it," said Legislator Francis Corcoran (R-Bedford), Chair of the BOL Environment and Health Committee. "Advocates have fought mightily for decades to reverse the effects of the environmental abuses that were inflicted on the Hudson River in the first half of the 20th century. To store millions of barrels of toxic material in barges up and down our waterfronts exposes our residents to potentially catastrophic health and environmental risk. Too many people have worked too hard and for too long to clean up the Hudson River to allow this rule to move forward.”

PHOTO: John Testa with state and local officials at the Cortlandt Waterfront Park on Tuesday, speaking in opposition to the anchorage sites/Westchester BOL

CHART: USCG

CORRECTION: Francis Corcoran's first name was incorrect in the original version of this report.