Local Luminary: Alex Matthiessen

Leading Lights of the Community

by Brian K. Mahoney, December 22, 2008

On December 2, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Entergy Corp. v. Riverkeeper. The constitutional issue in question is whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may take into account the costs of a given technology when assessing what is required of industry when utilizing bodies of water for cooling structures. The argument in the case turns on how to interpret the phrase “best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact” in the Clean Water Act. The Supreme Court’s decision (expected in the spring) could affect 500 power plants and manufacturing sites across the country, which collectively draw in 214 billion gallons of water per day. Case in point: Indian Point, Entergy’s Buchanan-based power plant, withdraws billions of gallons of water a day from the Hudson River, killing millions of fish every year. Riverkeeper maintains that the Clean Water Act does not allow federal officials to take into account how much it costs to implement the best technology available when considering cooling water intake structures, and that by implementing a closed-cycle cooling system, Indian Point could reduce its water intake from the Hudson River by up to 97 percent.

Riverkeeper, which has been advocating on behalf of the Hudson in various incarnations since 1966, when it began as a group of concerned fishermen, is helmed by Alex Matthiessen. Since taking over in 2000, Matthiessen has transformed Riverkeeper, increasing membership and adding staff while strengthening the organization’s enforcement presence on the river and developing long-term strategies for preservation through partnerships with leading academic and research institutions such as the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Columbia University School of Law.

I spoke with Matthiessen in early December about Riverkeeper’s day in court and the future of the Hudson River.