Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena – Coeymans

Last night, March 20th, four of us met at the entrance to the Hannacroix Creek Preserve around 7:45 pm.  It was just after dark with light rain falling.  The temperature was hovering around 40F and dropping after a warm afternoon in the 50s.  

We only found a handful of frogs trying to cross the road and no live salamander.  The rain was light and had started late in the day, the temperature was so cold that several frogs seemed immobilized in the road until we picked them up and moved them across.   

Our identification of the frogs may not be quite right, but our current guess is that we moved 3 spring peepers, 3 grey tree frogs, 1 pregnant wood frog, and 1 green frog.

We also found 1 dead wood frog, with her eggs on the tarmac, two dead spring peepers, and one dead spotted salamander.

The previous night, March 19, I went out alone and moved one wood frog and one green frog, but came in as there was a lot of thunder and lightning.  The next morning, at 7:45 am on March 20th, I counted 73 corpses of amphibians that had not made it across the road.  That was clearly the night of the big migration.  

This Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights are rainy again but looks like they might be too cold for any amphibians remaining in the woods to head down to the vernal pools by the Hudson River Interpretive Trail.

A big thank you to Larry, Nels, and Nancy H. for their help last night.

The New York Public Interest Group (NYPIRG) reached out to the Clean Air Coalition this weekend because our work is focused on protecting Albany County’s public health. They asked the CAC to sign on to a letter urging New York’s congressional delegation to support the “Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS” Act. Naturally, we did.

The Act aims to ban the use of PFAS in cookware and food containers like the sandwich wrappers, french-fry boxes, and salad bowls used at some fast-food chains. Even microwave popcorn bags and paper bags for baked goods have been found to include PFAS chemicals.

PFAS is a category of man-made chemicals that help to make food containers resistant to grease, oil, water, and heat. But, they are also toxic “forever chemicals” that have proven to be unsafe for the environment, drinking water, and the human body.

The CAC signed onto this congressional bill (S.3169/H.R.6026) because we worry about the prospect of PFAS-treated food containers (like tires) ending up at the nearby Lafarge cement company for incineration in their kilns. Our goal is to stop the possibility of anything other than coal and natural gas from being used to power the kilns for cement production.

There are safer alternatives for the fast-food industry like using

To learn more, here’s the fact sheet:

By CAC volunteer/Selkirk resident, Sonja Stark

Environmental activism is not for the faint of heart. The challenges the CAC faces in Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk are never-ending and always growing. Our vision to see our little Hudson Valley town transition away from polluting plants and dirty politics and replaced with clean progress and principled politicians is a thankless endeavor.

Our frustrations stem from far more than the disappointing passage of LECCLA late last year. Regardless of the ugly truths behind so-called “low-carbon concrete,” Governor Hochul passed it anyway. What a colossal greenwashing ruse. We fear that it’s only a matter of time before Lafarge starts burning TDF if they aren’t already.

As if that isn’t enough to keep us awake late at night… we also battle:

• A Port that continues to expand its’ footprint regardless of increased truck traffic, scrapyard fires, DEC fines, or fugitive airborne particulates.
• A Town Supervisor that continues to cater to industry polluters under the guise of job creation, defunds the local police department to line his own pockets, talks of passing a resolution to increase his strangehold on the community, and much more.

The scary part is this town is made up of a lion’s share of smart and informed residents but many are shaking in their shoes to speak up. They care but are afraid of retribution. They fear that their opinions might prompt a job loss or car tires slashed or a mailbox destroyed. All are valid reasons because all are true consequences to those that are daring enough to speak up.

Honestly, the level of intimidation and coercion taking place in our small, historic hamlet proceeds at a degree that would make a Mafia mob boss blush!

Let’s be honest, here: The CAC is made up of just a small handful of blue-collar, citizen activists who try like hell to protect what little is left. We fight to make right the wrongs of the very rich, the very powerful, and the very well-connected. Are we a threat to their bottom line? Seriously…that’s too funny.

Residents that can afford to move out of here, do, the rest of us dig in our heels and stay the course. Unfortunately, this survival mentality can only last so long. Indifference, apathy, detachment: these are inevitable outcomes of the underdog that gets beaten up one too many times.

Yet, we remain committed to, at the very least, the idea of a win in our favor. With the help of more brave voices, we still hold out hope we can turn the tide.