Results tagged “riverkeeper”

The Gowanus Canal, currently in the midst of a battle over Superfund status, now has Riverkeeper watching its slimy, green, polluted back. Reportedly the folks at the organization are prepared to sue property owners along it, "including the city, for ongoing pollution problems ... [including] illegally dumping garbage into the already fetid corpse of water." The litterbugs have 60 days to clean up before they'll file the suit.

A coalition of bottled water companies—including Nestle Waters, which owns Poland Spring, and Keeper Springs, a smaller company owned by environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—filed a lawsuit yesterday to challenge a new state law that would require bottled water companies to charge a 5 cent deposit fee. The complaint argues that the law violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause because it exempts drinks with sugar added, such as competitors like Glacéau, makers of Vitamin Water. Lawyers also say the deposit would violate the Constitution’s interstate commerce protections the law because it could be interpreted as prohibiting companies from selling the New York-labeled bottles in other states.

Good news for metro mammals; the New York City tap water is still safe to drink, according to a report card released yesterday by Riverkeeper and the Clean Drinking Water Coalition. The longstanding environmental advocacy group gives our water system A grades for reducing fecal coliform from waterfowl, managing stormwater runoff and waterborne disease risk assessment. High-five!