Supporting our friends at Beyond Plastics

Judith Enck is our extraordinary local Environmental Policy Expert and good friend to the Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena Coeymans.  She invites you to an in-person book event at the Opalka Gallery at Russell Sage College 140 New Scotland Ave, Albany, NY on Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 PM  to learn about “The Problem with Plastic.”  An eye-opening talk about how we can help protect ourselves and our planet before it’s too late.

It’s free and open to the public so please feel free to invite your friends and family to join you. And, by the way, Judith’s new read has a cover that is not made of plastic, a highly unusual first but not the last.

Judith founded Beyond Plastics in 2019 to end plastic pollution through education, advocacy, and institutional change. She was appointed Regional Administrator of Region 2 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by President Barack Obama. And she was the longest serving EPA Region 2 Regional Administrator. To learn more about all she has been up to since she left the EPA job go to her website: https://judithenck.com/

Proactive not Reactive!

COMPLIMENTS TO COEYMANS TOWN BOARD

BOND RESOLUTION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED!

The Clean Air Coalition would like to thank the Coeymans Town Board for passing the bond resolution on the evening of February 26, 2026.

You can listen to the meeting here on YouTube.

  • The sewer project discussion starts at minute 57 on the red dot timeline (not the time at the bottom of the screen). 
  • Henry Travers makes the first brilliant public comment on the project at minute 1hr:11min.  
  • Travers is followed by others who are just as persuasive, reminding the Board to be “Proactive not Reactive” and “Don’t Play Russian Roulette” with the Sewer
  • The final reading and vote on the resolution starts at minute 1hr 34min.  

Our thanks go to all four members of the Board and especially to everyone who spoke up to ensure this project needs to go ahead.

Let’s not flush away free money!

 

The age-old sewer system in Ravena and the hamlet of Coeymans is on the brink of failing. Increasingly intense rainfall can cause sewage backup and force untreated waste into the Hudson River. Our antiquated system poses problems today that can lead to severe health risks later, including bacterial infections and disease transmission. Repairs are needed now to avoid these serious issues. 

After working on an application for 2 years, the Town has been given $2.5 million to repair the system, but the money will vanish unless ALL four members of the Town Board pass a bond resolution to support the sewer project.  

Tomorrow, Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 6 pm, the Coeymans Town Board will vote on the bond resolution.  Please come to support the resolution.  

The message is simple: 

“I don’t want the sewers to fail.  Pass the bond resolution today.”
No bond = no grant
No grant = no project 
No project = more sewer failures

The CAC has provided you with email links (below) to write to all the town board members today, if you can’t make the meeting tomorrow:

Supervisor, Stephen Donnelly: sdonnelly@coeymans.org;
Deputy Supervisor, Mike Stott: mstott@coeymans.org;
Board member, Steve Schmitt: sschmitt@coeymans.org;
Board member, Patricia Grogan: pgrogan@coeymans.org.

Do you want to wade through sewage after the next heavy rain?   
Let’s fix the system now.  The money is here. 

Happy New Year 2026!

Happy New Year from Hannacroix Bay Swamp Forest & Garden, a Barbets Duet site on the Hudson River. Enjoy this 2025 summary of progress written by our CAC Chair, Barbara Heinzen. Barbara and her friends, Eric Remillard, along with countless neighbors are helping to make a positive difference in the return of a small plot once polluted by industrial debris and invasive growth. Their time, energy and passion have culminated into something special for all to admire and enjoy. If you’d enjoy a tour of the space or would like to volunteer, feel free to email!

Voters of Coeymans!

TO THE VOTERS OF COEYMANS

October 1, 2025

In 2019, then Town Supervisor, Phil Crandall, and the Town Council passed a strong Clean Air Law to limit the use of waste as fuel and reduce toxic emissions. “Without clean air, clean water, and clean soils, you have nothing,” Crandall said. The Law had broad popular support, especially after stopping a 2017 plan to burn Connecticut’s municipal waste at the Ravena cement plant. When George McHugh became Town Supervisor in 2020, he weakened the Clean Air Law and changed local rules to allow a major transfer station. Stephen Donnelly was elected in 2023 but these rollbacks remain in place today.  Coeymans is clearly at risk of becoming a dumping ground: The Port of Coeymans and Coeymans Recycling already handle various waste streams. The Ravena cement plant is committed to burning waste as fuel. And, without action, Coeymans could be overrun by waste, truck traffic, and pollution.

This post entry was paid for by the Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena Coeymans. Not authorized by any candidate or campaign.