FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 7, 2013 CONTACT:                                                                                                    Andrew Fisk, Executive Director, afisk@ctriver.org, 413-772-2020 ext.208, 413-210-9207 (cell) Andrea Donlon, Massachusetts River Steward, adonlon@ctriver.org, 413-772-2020 ext.205 Greenfield, MA – March 1st marked a major deadline for public comments on five hydroelectric facilities on the Connecticut River seeking renewal of their operating licenses. The [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Greenfield, MA, March 6, 2013. – The Vermont Public Service Board admitted the Connecticut River Watershed Council’s (CRWC) four expert reports as part of the on-going Certificate of Public Good relicensing hearings for the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear facility. These reports – developed by experts with decades of experience in biology, thermal [...]

Paul S. Ducheney Superintendent – Electric Production Holyoke Gas & Electric 99 Suffolk Street, Holyoke, MA 01040 February 7, 2013 Paul, I have reviewed the Application for Authoriziation of Non-Project Use on behalf of the Connecticut River Watershed Council.  The Holyoke Canal system seems well-suited as a demonstration area for the testing of innovative small [...]

January 16, 2013 Paul Ducheney Superintendent – Hydro Holyoke Gas and Electric Department 99 Suffolk Street Holyoke, MA 01040-5082 Re: Monitoring Report:  Upstream Fish Passage at HG&E’s Holyoke Dam Fishway, Spring and Fall, 2012 Dear Paul, I have reviewed the agency review draft of Monitoring Report:Upstream Fish Passage at HG&E’s Holyoke Dam Fishway, Spring and Fall [...]

August 2, 2012 Paul Ducheney Superintendent – Hydro Holyoke Gas and Electric Department 99 Suffolk Street Holyoke, MA 01040-5082 Dear Paul, The Connecticut River Watershed Council, Inc. (CRWC) is writing in response to HG&E’s July 2, 2012 draft “Application for Non-Capacity Amendment of License.”  CRWC is a member of the Cooperative Consultation Team (CCT), and [...]

April 5, 2012 Paul Ducheney Superintendent – Hydro Holyoke Gas and Electric Department 99 Suffolk Street Holyoke, MA 01040-5082 Dear Paul, The Connecticut River Watershed Council, Inc. (CRWC) agrees that the work proposed by HG&E as discussed on the March 8, 2012 conference call is aimed at meeting the Settlement goal for downstream shortnose sturgeon [...]

March 14, 2012 Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426 Re:    COMMENTS Application for a Preliminary Permit, FERC #13273-001 Proposed Canton Hydroelectric Project Farmington River, Hartford County, CT Dear Secretary Bose, This responds to your public notice, dated January 19, 2012, regarding the application for preliminary permit [...]

by Andrew Fisk, CRWC Executive Director. The Connecticut River Watershed Council appreciates Vernon Representative Hebert’s engagement with our recent evaluation of Vermont Yankee’s now long-pending application to renew their long-expired thermal discharge permit.  I’m sorry however that he’s rushed into the breach without hearing what our experts said, understanding the law or listening to the [...]

CONTACT: Andrew Fisk, Executive Director afisk@ctriver.org 413-772-2020 x 208 or 413-210-9207 (cell) Laura Murphy, Vermont Law School lmurphy@vermontlaw.edu  802-831-1123 or 802-829-9304 (cell) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Montpelier, VT and Greenfield, MA. February 17, 2012 – Entergy Vermont Yankee’s scientific basis for continuing its thermal pollution of the Connecticut River is significantly flawed, according to two reports [...]

Sometimes you are just doing your job when some unexpected wild things happen to you. When you work to protect a river you can look at all the concerns, ideas to address the concerns, paper plans and engineering designs you want to, but if you are going to truly work with a river you have [...]

The Connecticut River is a working river. It provides transportation, power, irrigation and recreation. The upper river started providing direct hydro power to the earliest settlements for their mills. The river floated the first log drives starting in the early 1700s to bring lumber to southern New England, drives that did not end until early [...]

SAXTONS RIVER, VERMONT. DECEMBER 18, 2009. According the Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRWC), the Vermont Supreme Court upheld a 2008 Environmental Court decision allowing the Entergy Vermont Yankee (ENVY) nuclear power plant to increase the temperature of the Connecticut River. CRWC, Deerfield/Millers Trout Unlimited chapter, Citizen Awareness Network, represented by the Environmental and Natural Resources [...]

GREENFIELD, MA. AUGUST 20, 2009. On Wednesday August 19, 2009, Chief Presiding Officer Salvatore M. Giorlandino of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution issued his recommended final decision that a water withdrawal permit DEP issued to Russell Biomass Inc., in July of 2008 be upheld. The Connecticut River Watershed [...]

GREENFIELD, MA, AUGUST 12, 2009. The Connecticut River Watershed Council is seeking volunteers for its 13th Source to Sea Cleanup to be held on Saturday, October 3, 2009. In twelve years, CRWC’s volunteer fall effort has removed hundreds of tons of trash, tires, and derelict appliances from the riverbanks of the 410-mile Connecticut and its [...]

ACTION ALERT: Endangered Species Act under attack A few minutes of your time could help preserve America’s natural heritage.  The Endangered Species Act, the country’s landmark legislation that helped rescue the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, the grizzly bear and black footed ferret–the Act that is currently protecting rare plants, endangered frogs, migratory sturgeon, butterflies [...]

A helping hand for the Connecticut River: The Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund JULY 2008 — Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes with enough good will and resolve environmental interests and business interests both reach their goals. In the case of relicensing the Fifteen Mile Falls Hydroelectric Project both interests were served, river protection [...]