News stories tagged with "save-the-river"

(03/08/12) U.S. Representative Bill Owens says environmentalists shouldn't be concerned about his stand on a new water level plan for Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

The International Joint Commission started controlling high and low water levels in the 1950s. While that's kept a stable water level, the agency now says it's bad for the environment. The new plan allows water levels to reach higher highs and lower lows.

The IJC has yet to release all the plan details. Congressman Owens recently wrote to the agency, urging closer attention to shoreline property damage along Lake Ontario. He says that damage could exceed $3 million annually. more

(02/24/12) Jennifer Caddick has led the environmental protection and education organization Save the River for the past six years. But she's announced now she'll be stepping aside. Reporter Joanna Richards stopped by the offices of the organization to speak with Caddick about the issues that have defined her tenure at the organization and what priorities a new leader will be facing as the group begins a new chapter. more

(07/19/11) New York state is pushing forward with plans to implement tough new rules designed to keep ships on the St. Lawrence Seaway from bringing in invasive plants and animals. The regulations are set to go into effect in 2013.

Researchers say the Seaway has opened the door to dozens of foreign organisms that are wreaking havoc on native ecosystems.

But opponents of the rules, led by the Canadian government, say they're too strict and would stifle trade and commerce in the region. Brian Mann has our story. more

(06/28/11) The Canadian company that wants to ship radioactive waste through the St. Lawrence Seaway has put the project on hold while it schedules talks with Mohawk and other native groups in Canada.

The project, first proposed by Bruce Power last year, has sparked controversy on both sides of the border. The project has also sparked new questions about other kinds of hazardous cargos that are passing through the locks and channels of the St. Lawrence River. Brian Mann has our story. more

(06/09/11) Save the River is the only policy advocate on environmental issues on the U.S. side of the St. Lawrence River.

Now they are collaborating with area schools and taking students on field trips to learn from the river first hand. David Sommerstein tagged along with a group of seventh graders from Thousand Islands middle school and has this report. more

(06/07/11) The St. Lawrence River watchdog group Save the River has announced the final push in a two-and-a-half-year fundraising campaign.

The organization hopes to raise $700,000 to expand its office space and its programs. Joanna Richards reports. more

(02/02/10) Invasive species - from zebra mussels and round gobies to the bloody red shrimp discovered three years ago - are one of the top threats to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. They've done billions of dollars in damage to the region's economy and environment. Most entered the Great Lakes through the ballast water of foreign ships on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Jeff Alexander has reported on invasive species for 25 years. He's also written a book about how most of those critters got here - hidden in the ballast of foreign ships on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The book is called Pandora's Locks: The Opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway. Alexander is the keynote speaker at the Save the River Winter Weekend, Saturday, February 6 at the Clayton Opera House. Alexander told David Sommerstein he first training his reporting in invasive species in 1989, when zebra mussels shut down the municipal water system in Munroe, Michigan.

(11/18/09) Yesterday, we heard St. Lawrence Seaway Chief Terry Johnson say that expanding the locks and channels of the St. Lawrence Seaway is "off the table". He also said this in person this week to the St. Lawrence River's biggest environmental advocate, Save The River. It was Johnson's first visit to the group's Clayton offices since being appointed three years ago. Jennifer Caddick is Save the River's executive director. She told David Sommerstein the Seaway chief made a new distinction in their hour and a half meeting on Monday.

(04/25/08) The U.S. House of representatives voted 395 to 7 yesterday on legislation to force ocean-going freighters to treat ballast water for invasive species before they enter US waters, like the St. Lawrence River. Ballast water is blamed for introducing foreign species like the zebra mussel, sea lampreys and the round goby. The new regulation sets tough standards for the number and size of living organisms that ships can release when they jettison ballast water. New ships have to have treatment technology by next year; all ships must treat ballast water by 2016. The new standard has support from the Great Lakes shipping industry and several environmental groups. Jennifer Caddick is executive director of Save the River, an environmental group based on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, NY. She spoke with Martha Foley this morning.

(08/29/07) Boaters, homeowners, and environmentalists along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario are all anxiously awaiting September 17. That's the day the International Joint Commission announces a draft of a new system for controlling water levels in the Great Lakes. It'll be the first change since the 1960s and comes amidst exceptionally low water levels this summer. The new plan is the result of a five-year, $20 million public study. At a crowded meeting about water levels last weekend in Clayton, rumors circulated about a hybrid of three options made public last year. In today's report, we'll hear from a water levels advocate who fears the study won't turn out as he'd hoped. First, here's a part of David Sommerstein's report from last summer reviewing what this water level study is all about.