Make Your Year-End, Tax Deductible Donation Today! By September 2, 2013 This has been quite a year for all of us at Baykeeper! I am so proud of all that we have accomplished in the last 12 months of working to protect, preserve and restore the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary. We are serving more communities than ever and are adding new initiatives and programs to better serve our harbor. I think you’ll like what you’re going to read here and, if you do, I hope that you will make a donation today so we can continue to protect, preserve and restore your waterways. Protect -In April, NJDEP began issuing individual customized permits for combined sewer outfalls, thanks to our lawsuit. -In January, we challenged NJDEP’s public access rule that rolled-back requirements in areas along the northern coast/urban coast. -In March, we exposed a plan by polluters to undermine a full cleanup of the Passaic River – potentially one of the costliest cleanups in the history of the United States – by offering “grants” to local elected officials and then asking those same officials to sign letters opposing EPA’s plans. -Baykeeper is one of the principle partners in the formation of Newark DIG (Doing Infrastructure Green) and is spearheading DIG’s first federal grant application aimed at developing green infrastructure projects in Newark, NJ. Preserve -In November, we signed an option for a major land acquisition in Monmouth County, NJ -This summer, our pumpout boats provided a record number of pumpouts in the Raritan and Jamaica Bays, keeping thousands of gallons of sewage out of our waters. -In June, Baykeeper sponsored four nights of free kayaking trips in Keyport, NJ to reengage local residents with their waterways. Restore -In September, roughly 200,000 baby oysters were placed in the water at Naval Weapons Earle, continuing our commitment to oyster restoration projects in New Jersey. -In June, we expanded our oyster restoration work in the Bronx River to a 1 acre reef with over 41,000 oysters on it. About 3,000 of those oysters are on our new Community Monitoring Reef which aims to involve more local residents in waterfront restoration. 2013 has been a great year for us. I am writing now to ask you to make a tax-deductible year end gift so that we can make 2014 even more successful. Our unique approach of combining legal, policy, scientific, educational and stewardship strategies to achieve great successes with relatively small resources has kept us working for 24 years and, with your support, we will reach our goal of a safe, swimmable and fishable estuary that is accessible for everyone to enjoy. Thank you to everyone who continues to make our work possible. Your tax deductible gift will be an investment toward a healthy NY-NJ Harbor Estuary. Please visit www.nynjbaykeeper.org/donate to donate online. Contact Sarah at [email protected] for more information.