Environmental Conservation

New York State Senator Grisanti was named the winner of the 2012 William B. Hoyt Environmental Excellence Award for his outstanding work on behalf of conservation and the environment. The full award letter can be viewed by clicking here.

“Typically we present this Award to members of the legislature who had a long tenure of fighting for change, but your early dedication to upholding the New York’s State’s environmental laws and your visionary approach to the state’s most pressing conservation issues make you stand out as a most deserving 2012 Hoyt Award Recipient,” said Audubon Council of New York State in the award letter.

With billions of gallons of untreated sewage released in New York’s waters each year, including a recent accident where over 200 million gallons of raw sewage entered the Hudson River, the New York State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee held a major hearing on the issue.

The hearing, organized by Senators Adriano Espaillat and Mark Grisanti, focused on preventing untreated sewage from entering our waterways and establishing strong notification systems to protect the public. 

The hearing took testimony from various experts and activists, including New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Administrator Venetia Lannon.