Expert Educates Mercy About Hudson Pollution
Deniz Tuzun
Issue date: 11/27/06 Section: News
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On Dec. 5, John Cronin, Executive Director of the Beacon Institute, discussed with Mercy students the new techniques and breakthroughs in the attempt to uncontaminate the Hudson River.
Cronin is the founder of the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace Law
School, and for more than 30 years he has been working on the protection of the American environment.
Cronin is also the director of the Pace Academy for the Environment at Pace University. During the class visit, Cronin talked about the history of the Hudson River and gave broad information about the Beacon Institute, it's environmental mission, as well as it's future plans.
An interesting question from a student wondering what made people participate in the clean up of the Hudson River made Cronin discuss an environmentalist's motivation. Cronin answered, "A majority believed the condition of the Hudson River wasn't fine and people believed that the discharge of pollutants was against the law, both of which were true." He continued, "A majority of people said that the government was not doing enough."
In addition, he has been an advocate, lobbyist, commercial fisherman, and legislative aide involved in Hudson River issues. He is also the writer of an award-winning documentary. With his experience as a river keeper for 17 years, Cronin informed Mercy students about the Hudson River's importance for the public and for the country.
According to Cronin, the way the Hudson works now is linked to what happened historically and what happened economically. He talked about the importance of the role of Earth Day, started in the 1970s with the clean water act of 1972.
There were some serious issues like Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) or economic issues relating to tourism. The highly toxic PCB, is an organic pollutant that can affect the food chain, has caused toxic waste and has been linked to cancer.
The General Electric Co. has been accused of depositing between 209,000 and 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River from manufacturing plants located in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward. The pollution was so devastating that the state of New York banned fishing of striped bass. In 1995, fishing rights were restored on a catch and release basis.
Cronin is the founder of the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace Law
School, and for more than 30 years he has been working on the protection of the American environment.
Cronin is also the director of the Pace Academy for the Environment at Pace University. During the class visit, Cronin talked about the history of the Hudson River and gave broad information about the Beacon Institute, it's environmental mission, as well as it's future plans.
An interesting question from a student wondering what made people participate in the clean up of the Hudson River made Cronin discuss an environmentalist's motivation. Cronin answered, "A majority believed the condition of the Hudson River wasn't fine and people believed that the discharge of pollutants was against the law, both of which were true." He continued, "A majority of people said that the government was not doing enough."
In addition, he has been an advocate, lobbyist, commercial fisherman, and legislative aide involved in Hudson River issues. He is also the writer of an award-winning documentary. With his experience as a river keeper for 17 years, Cronin informed Mercy students about the Hudson River's importance for the public and for the country.
According to Cronin, the way the Hudson works now is linked to what happened historically and what happened economically. He talked about the importance of the role of Earth Day, started in the 1970s with the clean water act of 1972.
There were some serious issues like Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) or economic issues relating to tourism. The highly toxic PCB, is an organic pollutant that can affect the food chain, has caused toxic waste and has been linked to cancer.
The General Electric Co. has been accused of depositing between 209,000 and 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River from manufacturing plants located in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward. The pollution was so devastating that the state of New York banned fishing of striped bass. In 1995, fishing rights were restored on a catch and release basis.
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