Legislature opposes river anchorage request

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. >> Dutchess County lawmakers have joined their counterparts in Ulster and Orange counties to oppose the commercial marine industry’s request of the Coast Guard to expand barge anchorage sites on the Hudson River.

There was bipartisan support for the Dutchess Legislature’s memorializing resolution, with all present supporting the measure except Alan Surman, R-Dover/ Union Vale.

Surman said his colleagues were not looking at the big picture.

“The shipment of oil down the Hudson River has been going on for years, mostly through very, very long freight trains, and they are more problematic,” he said, noting the CSX train derailment in Newburgh last week.

“Transporting oil by barge is far safer,” Surman said, arguing the county has no business involving itself in interstate commerce.

Minority Leader Micki Strawinski, D-Red Hook, said Surman was missing the point.

“The resolution talks about anchoraging these barges, berthing them in several places along the Hudson River,” Strawinski said. “... Many of us believe that this is a very dangerous thing and could cause us more problems.”

The Maritime Association of the Port of New York/New Jersey Tug and Barge Committee, the Hudson River Port Pilots Association and the American Waterways Operators have proposed 10 new sites on the Hudson River with 43 anchorages.

Among the proposed anchorage sites are:

• Kingston Flats South, covering about 280 acres for up to three vessels.

• Port Ewen, covering about 50 acres for one vessel.

• Big Rock Point, covering about 210 acres for up to four vessels.

• Roseton, covering about 305 acres for up to three vessels.

• Milton, covering about 75 acres for up to two vessels.

• Marlboro, covering about 155 acres for up to three vessels.

The plan has drawn significant criticism from elected officials and environmental groups up and down the Hudson River, including Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, the Ulster County Legislature, Kingston Mayor Steve Noble, the Kingston Common Council and supervisors of towns on both sides of the river.

Opponents say they fear the river will become a parking lot for commercial vessels waiting their turn at the Port of Albany and that the number of vessels carrying Bakken crude oil along the river could increase significantly, creating a potential hazard.

The industry has said the sites are needed to create safe places for ships to stop and crews to rest.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which has jurisdiction over the application, is reviewing more than 10,000 comments on the proposal.