Delaware Riverkeeper Honored by NJDEP

 

In celebration of Women’s History Month, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell honored Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, for her leadership role in environmental protection.

Maya was awarded the Advocacy Leadership prize for her accomplishments as executive director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. She joined the Riverkeeper staff in 1994 as assistant director and was named executive director and Delaware Riverkeeper in 1996. Since assuming the role of Riverkeeper, Maya has provided regional leadership on watershed issues such as challenging unnecessary fish kills at the Salem Nuclear Generating Station and opposing dredging that would lead to deposits of contaminated soil on land.

She is also an advocate of legislation that would reduce the risk of future oil spills by allowing only double-hulled oil tankers on the Delaware River and is fighting to prohibit DuPont from dumping treated chemical waste into the river.

Maya and her staff did an incredible job responding to the oil spill in the Delaware River last year, a New Jersey environmental disaster that will go down in history books. She and her staff worked 24/7 orchestrating the clean up. Kudos, Maya!