Coast Guard Announces Decision Not To Install Anchorages Sites On The Hudson

DOBBS FERRY, NY — The Coast Guard announced it will not seek to install additional anchorage sites in the Hudson River. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, said Admiral Steve D. Poulin of the U.S. Coast Guard announced it would “suspend future rule making decisions” regarding the designation of additional anchorages site in the Hudson between Yonkers and Kingston. Maloney said that effectively killed the proposal.

“I am glad the Coast Guard has come around to our way of thinking,” Maloney said.

“This is a victory that the Hudson Valley won together — from the 10,000 residents who submitted comments to the bipartisan coalition of elected officials across all levels of government who came together with one voice to protest this terrible idea,” he said. “Our river is a national treasure that should be preserved and protected for generations — not turned into a parking lot for commercial oil ships.”

The Coast Guard was considering adopting regulations to create 43 new places for commercial vessels to anchor at 10 sites along the Hudson River.

If it had come to fruition, more than 2,400 acres of the river would become parking lots for barges, many of which would contain crude oil.

Scenic Hudson said container ships can hold up to 4 million gallons, making any accident deadly.

A bill to safeguard the Hudson River and waterfront communites recently passed both the Assembly and Senate in Albany.

Sponsored by Senator Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park, and Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, D-Hudson, it would have bolstered the state’s ability to exercise jurisdiction over the river.

Photo credit: Michael Woyton/Patch Staff.