HABs Cleanup Campaign Update/I Look Forward to Seeing Activists Tomorrow Evening at a Save Owasco Now Meeting in Auburn, NY

Activists are invited to attend a Save Owasco Now meeting Tuesday evening. I will provide an update about our New York Harmful Algal Blooms Cleanup Campaign. I look forward to conferring with activists who are leading local battles to end HABs that threaten drinking water sources for 10 million New Yorkers.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 6:00pm

Conference Room #3
Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, REC
1879 W. Genesee St Rd.
Auburn, NY

Please Beat the Bushes for More Signatories to our Coalition Letter

We now have 883 signatories to our: Coalition Letter Which Requests That Governor Hochul Take Immediate Regulatory Enforcement Action to Eliminate Harmful Algal Blooms Across New York

Go, Go, Go. Please keep beating the bushes for more signatories. We need at least 1,000 signatories to maintain the dignity of our advocacy efforts in the corridors of political power.

Greetings,

I write to thank each and every activist who is helping to make our New York Harmful Algal Blooms Cleanup Campaign a resounding success. Hundreds of dedicated and knowledgeable advocates are now taking coordinated action to require Governor Hochul to halt HABs across our state by strictly enforcing water quality regulatory requirements.

Bravo. Keep slugging. We have just begun to fight.

Yet Another Deplorable New York HABs Record

To date in 2023, there are 207 waterbodies in New York with confirmed HABs. This is yet another deplorable statewide record. A total of 1,150 individual HABs have been confirmed. Even this late in the year, there are still active HABs all around New York.

Confirmed Harmful Algal Blooms in New York State (10/31/2023) Map

Confirmed Harmful Algal Blooms in New York State (10/31/2023) List

Congratulations to Terry Cuddy and Jimmy Giannettino in Auburn, NY

If you peruse our coalition letter's signatories, you will immediately appreciate the overwhelming number of local officials, organizations, businesses and citizens associated with Auburn, NY, Cayuga County and Owasco Lake, the source of drinking water for more than 45,000 local residents and the waterbody with the second highest number of confirmed HABs in New York. Only Cayuga Lake had more confirmed HABs this year than Owasco Lake.

We should all stand in awe of the incredible organizing efforts of Terry Cuddy, Auburn City Councilor and co-founder of Save Owasco Now, and Jimmy Giannettino, Terry's colleague on the Auburn City Council and SON co-founder, who was just elected to be the 56th Mayor of historic Auburn.

Last summer, Jimmy knocked on thousands of doors to elevate public awareness of Auburn drinking water concerns and helped win a clean sweep in the Auburn City Council. Jimmy and Terry's compatriots won at least seven out of eleven seats in the Cayuga County Legislature. These impressive leaders have worked closely with our campaign since 2017 to safeguard drinking water supplied from Owasco Lake.

Congratulations to Terry, Jimmy and all their colleagues. Wow. Great job. Thanks for all your help.

I am pleased to point out that one U.S. President (Millard Fillmore) and one U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, New York State Senator and Governor (William H. Seward) hailed from Cayuga County and Auburn, NY, respectively. I hope Terry and Jimmy follow in their footsteps to higher offices.

Much Appreciation for Everyone's Hard Work

As Terry and Jimmy demonstrate, our campaign is uniquely effective because we organize activists to take urgent, unified and unrelenting public interest organizing action. That is why I always appreciate receiving inquiries from local advocates, so please allow me to note a few.

Thanks to Laura N. for taking action in agricultural communities in Central New York. Our strategy is to require Governor Hochul to clean up pollution hazards that cause HABs, including by helping farmers and the farming industry curtail uncontrolled nutrient releases that promote HABs.

Much appreciation to Margherita Fabrizio for helping to organize Ithaca residents to safeguard Cayuga Lake from HABs as she knocked on doors while running successfully to be a representative of the Fifth Ward.

Thanks to all those who introduce themselves in stores or tell me on the street that they watch my instructional videos and read my excruciatingly detailed alerts. That is music to my ears.

I salute Erin H. for being eternally vigilant to important developments in the hinterlands she loves so much. Thanks for all your alerts. The last one was a doozie. I am on it.

Thanks to the Ithaca family and a local supporter who contacted me about reviving a major Cayuga Lake cleanup effort that was on pandemic hiatus. We are underway. Hold onto your hats.

A special note of gratitude to Nate F. who is taking advocacy action and monitoring HABs in Owasco Lake as well as Lake Geneva in Laussanne, Switzerland. Can you believe that? Our campaign is now an international movement! Thanks for the heads up.

HABs Warning for Lake Geneva in Lausanne Switzerland (with translation)

Our Powerful Grassroots Coalition is Growing Stronger

In conclusion, all our efforts are building a powerful political base from the ground up to halt HABs in our state. With each new press hit and additional coalition letter signatory, we are helping to generate the political clout needed to require Governor Hochul to fulfill our respectful, well-documented requests.

That pollution battle is about to make a quantum jump.

Thanks so much for all your help. More very shortly, including new media coverage.

Onward and upward,

Walter