The Coast Guard Cheated: Pace U. Students

PLEASANTVILLE, NY – The Environmental Policy Clinic of the Dyson College Department of Environmental Studies and Science at Pace University has charged the Coast Guard with circumventing its own procedures to the benefit of the shipping industry when the agency launched a proposal to create 43 anchorages for oil barges on the Hudson River.

“This is one of the most egregious violations of public transparency and public trust I have seen in four decades working on Hudson River issues,” said John Cronin, senior fellow at the Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment at Pace, one of the faculty leaders of the Clinic, and a former Riverkeeper. “I suspect the Coast Guard knew the proposal would not survive the level of public scrutiny its own procedures require. The Clinic is therefore calling on the Coast Guard to scrap the proposal and start over, despite the imminent December 6 deadline for public comment.”

A letter authored by Pace students in the Clinic, sent Monday to Coast Guard Commandant Paul F. Zukunft, called for the immediate withdrawal of the proposal by the commandant as the only way to initiate the agency’s proper procedures.

The Coast Guard wants to create 10 new anchorage grounds containing 43 berths along the Hudson River from Yonkers to Kingston. They would be used for commercial vessels, many of which would be carrying oil, and would take up nearly 1,000 acres of the river. They are considering this action, Coast Guard officials said, after receiving requests suggesting that anchorage grounds may improve navigation safety along an extended portion of the Hudson River allowing for a safer and more efficient flow of vessel traffic.

The anchorage sites are Kingston Flats South, Port Ewen, Big Rock Point, Milton, Roseton, Marlboro, Newburgh, Tompkins Cove, Montrose Point and Yonkers extention.

The proposal quickly drew opposition from local residents, politicians and environmental groups, who said the barges would endanger the Hudson River after many years of environmental clean-up and would also endanger billions of dollars of public and private sector investments that have transformed waterfronts from industrial wastelands into housing, recreational facilities, restaurants and shops. Opponents also pointed out that the Coast Guard is claiming the sites would be used for short-term storage, but the sites are defined in the National Register as long-term.

In June, the Coast Guard published the shipping industry proposal in the Federal Register as an “Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking." According to the Clinic, before publishing the ANPR, the Coast Guard should have completed two major studies addressing river hazards and impacts, conducted public sessions with mariners, environmental groups, and government, and provided all members of the public the opportunity to change the proposal, or even prove it unnecessary.

The Clinic further charges that “the premature publication of the proposal triggered a Coast Guard rule that effectively shielded the agency from having to communicate with the public or participate in numerous government forums.”

The Clinic letter cites the Coast Guard’s July 2015 “Waterways Management Anchorage Management Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures” as the basis of its allegations.

Pace student clinician Christina Thomas coordinated the 13-student team that participated in the research.

“The shipping industry has gained a distinct advantage over the public in the regulatory process,” Thomas said. “The Coast Guard was able to decline repeated invitations to public meetings from government officials because once it published the industry proposal, its own rules conveniently barred it from talking to the public.”

The Clinic petition concludes, “It should come as no surprise to the Coast Guard that its decision to forgo its own procedures has caused one of the largest Hudson River controversies in recent history, and at a substantial cost to the Coast Guard in public faith. The only viable remedy is for the Coast Guard to withdraw the proposal and begin the proper public process.”

The Coast Guard initially had the comment period set to close Sept. 7 but extended it to Dec. 6.

Comments are running strongly against the plan. See the comments here.

The Pace Environmental Policy Clinic is housed within the Department of Environmental Studies and Science of the Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment at Pace University. The Clinic trains students in professional policy and advocacy skills through hands-on casework on real-world issues. It is co-taught by Professors John Cronin and Michelle D. Land. Last May, The New York Times Editorial Board cited the Clinic for its work writing and lobbying the Elephant Protection Act, which passed unanimously in the New York State Senate.

About Dyson College Institute of Sustainability and the Environment: DCISE was established to address major issues in sustainability, resilience, the growing urbanization of the 21st century and the impact of these changes on the global environment, through multidisciplinary programs encompassing research, policy-making, education, and building greater community awareness and consensus on how to manage these issues.

• SEE ALSO:
• Deadline Extended for Public Comment on Proposed Hudson River Anchorages
• Rockland Legislature Weighs In On Proposed Hudson Anchorages
• South Nyack Trustees Formally Oppose Anchorages
• Commercial Anchorages on the Hudson: Objections to Coast Guard Plan
• Westchester Legislators Pass Unanimous Resolution Against Anchorages

PHOTO: John Cronin, senior fellow at the Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment at Pace, speaks at press conference Dec. 5 at Kingsland Point Park with Senator Terrence Murphy and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino/ Pace University

MAP/ USCG