Sheehan Tapped For Regional Leadership Position

Assumes Co-Chairmanship of NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Program’s

 Citizens Advisory Committee

 

by Hugh Carola

 

Hackensack Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan has been named the new co-chairman of the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee (HEP C.A.C.). He replaces environmental attorney Debbie Mans who recently accepted a position with the Corzine administration as a Policy Advisor on the Environment and Energy. According to Laura Bartovics, the HEP’s Outreach Coordinator, Sheehan was approved by a unanimous vote.

“The New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program is thrilled to have Captain Bill Sheehan as a new co-chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee,” said Robert M. Nyman, HEP Director. “Captain Bill has been a strong environmental leader in the Hackensack River watershed and we look forward to his thoughtful participation in our regional management work.”

Among the C.A.C.’s ongoing projects are monitoring the ongoing dredging of the shipping channels, helping to prioritize environmental restoration sites and engaging in wide-ranging environmental education initiatives in both New York and New Jersey. Among the most visible projects is the work being done by the C.A.C’s Harbor Herons Work Group to study, monitor and protect the habitats of the nearly 4,000 wading birds that nest in the region.

The HEP is a National Estuary Program authorized in 1987 by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The program is a multi-year effort to develop and implement a plan to protect, conserve and restore the estuary which includes the waters of New York Harbor and the tidally influenced portions of all rivers and streams that empty into it. Participants in the program include representatives from local, state, and federal environmental agencies, scientists, citizens, business interests, environmentalists, and others stakeholder groups from both states.