Waterkeeper Alliance Launches Chesapeake Initiative

(Washington, D.C.) On Thursday, June 24, 2004, Waterkeeper Alliance announced the launch of its Chesapeake Initiative, the first coordinated regional campaign for the Chesapeake Bay.

With the support of over 4,000 members who annually contribute more than 20,000 volunteer hours, eleven local Waterkeeper organizations currently patrol 1,500 miles of tributaries and shoreline throughout the Chesapeake Region. The Chesapeake Initiative will expand the capacity of each of these Waterkeepers for on-the-water, citizen-based enforcement of environmental laws. Such grassroots activism, where communities take charge of their waterways, is critical to protecting the Chesapeake Region from growing pollution threats, such as unchecked development, toxic dumping and sewage discharge.

To kickoff the Alliance’s Chesapeake Initiative, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance, hosted the Inaugural Chesapeake Champions Dinner, June 24, 2004, at the Sequoia Restaurant on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC. Terence Smith, Media Correspondent and Senior Producer for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, co-hosted the event which recognized Senator Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland for his commitment to the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Watershed Waterkeepers:
• Fred Tutman, Patuxent Riverkeeper
• Lee Walker Oxenham, Patapsco Riverkeeper
• Paul Otruba, Upper Susquehanna Riverkeeper
• David Smith, Anacostia Riverkeeper
• Ed Merrifield, Potomac Riverkeeper
• Eileen McLellan, Chester Riverkeeper
• Drew Koslow, South Riverkeeper
• Fred Kelly, Severn Riverkeeper
• Charles Frederickson, James Riverkeeper
• Jay Charland, Assateague Coastkeeper
• Richard Ayers, Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper

Visit www.waterkeeper.org/chesapeake for more information