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Adirondack Council
1. In Chestertown, Warren County, residents were alarmed when State Health Department testing showed high levels of lead and copper in their tap water. Testing at the well and at the cast-iron water main showed no toxic contamination. But once the acidic water sat overnight in the pipes of people's homes, huge amounts of lead were leached out of the lead-soldered pipe joints and out of brass fittings in faucets. The Adirondack Council publicized this problem statewide and called upon the governor to take action. The result was Governor Pataki's executive order requiring deep, new cuts in power plant emissions in New York, and a doubling of the pace of water testing in Adirondack communities. Note: Executive order enacted in March, 2003.
2. More than 22 species of waterfowl, including loons, are harmed when they mistake small lead fishing sinkers for the pebbles the birds eat to aid their digestion. The state wildlife pathologist reported in 2002 that half the adult loons brought to him each year had died from eating lead sinkers. It takes less than a tenth of an ounce of lead to kill an adult loon, egret or great blue heron. By working with sporting groups and scientists, the Adirondack Council helped to persuade the NYS Legislature to ban the sale of lead sinkers one-half-ounce or less. Many alternatives are already available. Larger sizes are too big and heavy for the birds to mistake for pebbles. The ban will take effect in April, 2004, giving dealers a chance to change their stock and environmentalists a chance to educate the public about the need for the ban. In New York State alone, the ban will save thousands of birds each year from a slow, painful poisoning death.
Natural Resources Defense Council
An NRDC-led coalition brought a case to compel the City and State of New York to provide federally mandated diagnosis and treatment services for thousands of homeless children with asthma. The settlement will enhance outreach and information about free preventive medical care to promote early and periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment. The settlement also provides asthma training to shelter facility staff and revises the New York State Department of Health's "Growing up Healthy Hotline", a telephone information service to specifically address asthma, among other conditions. As a result of this action, many hundreds of vulnerable asthmatic children are expected to receive adequate diagnosis and treatment.
In the past two years over 15,000 people have planted more than 2,000,000 daffodils in the largest volunteer planting effort in New York City's history. Conceived as a recurring memorial to the victims of September 11th, the project beautifies and revitalizes parks, playgrounds and community gardens in underserved neighborhoods while serving as a symbol of rebirth for the people of New York and their City. "When spring came and those daffodils appeared through a scattering of snow and began to bloom yellow, yellow, yellow - there was Bruce, our beloved son passed through death to everlasting life."- J.A. Reynolds, father of a Port Authority Police Officer and founder of Bruce's Garden.
Donations to Earth Share of New York supported Open Space Institute's farmland protection program in New York State. Every year, the Valley loses close to 27,000 acres of farmland as a result of unchecked urban sprawl. This year, OSI worked with many landowners, but we were especially pleased to help Phillies Bridge Farm in Ulster County. Phillies Bridge Farm Project is a non-profit organization that operates a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm and provides agricultural education to the local community. Through its "Farm to Families" program, this project donates ten percent of its CSA shares to low-income families during the growing season. The recipients of the farm's fresh, locally grown food are invited to the farm twice a year for hands-on workshops where participants can experience the farm where the food is grown and work together to harvest produce and prepare a meal for all to share.
In March, two young mothers and a baby standing on a median strip on Atlantic Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn were fatally struck by a car whose driver, the police said, was using heroin and cocaine. Transportation Alternatives demanded that the NYC Department of Transportation make that particularly dangerous stretch of Atlantic Avenue safer for pedestrians by giving pedestrians more time to make it across the wide street and by protecting pedestrian areas at the intersection with sturdy bollards. Our advocacy will help prevent motorists from hitting pedestrians on the sidewalk, which accounted for a shocking 1,200 deaths in 2002.