“A Talk for All: Thursday, Feb 20, 2025

Is the little historic Town of Coeymans and Village of Ravena really destined for even more polluting industry? CAC Chair, Barbara Heinzen and CAC member, Diana Abadie, sure hope not but this slide presentation portends otherwise. Please join the CAC and help our efforts to maintain what’s left of our Hudson River shoreline and residentially-zoned woodlands.

“What are the Facts?”

“The first fact is we are a very small town. We have just under 7,000 people with town assets of $ 1.9 million. Holcim Worldwide (cement plant) revenue was $29.3 billion in 2023. Helderberg Materials (that bought Carver’s sand and gravel business) revenue was $21 billion last year. And, Carver Company’s revenue was $ 138 million dollars (information from data found on their website). With that kind of pressure coming down on the Town, how are average citizens expected to cope or get our needs met?”

CAC Chair, Barbara Heinzen, delivered an emphatic powerpoint discussion tonight to a small subset of concerned neighbors at the Ravena Library. Her presentation delved into the pressures the Town faces with expanding industrial development along the Hudson River. With help by CAC member, Diana Abadie, the two advocates provided graphs and charts showing the respiratory impacts (asthma, COPD and cancer) affecting a large swath of our area, if not caused by, exacerbated by industrial pollution. Data presented by Abadie was able to conclude that higher incidents of hospitalizations in our area was due, in part, to higher particulates of airborne Class 1 carcinogens in the RCS area, particulates from industry.”