NY/NJ Baykeeper

In June 2026, NY/NJ Baykeeper was among the environmental organizations that sued the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to provide more complete public notification of untreated and partially treated sewage discharges. The group also participated in 2025-2026 federal litigation challenging approvals for the Northeast Supply Enhancement natural-gas pipeline project and in a 2026 New Jersey lawsuit challenging a 60-year marina lease at Liberty State Park. ^{2  3  4}

Background

NY/NJ Baykeeper was founded in 1989 by Andrew Willner, a Staten Island boatbuilder who is claimed to have become involved in water-quality advocacy after observing pollution in waters around Staten Island and the effects of the Exxon Bayway oil spill on the Arthur Kill, also known as the Staten Island Sound. The organization stated that existing Hudson Riverkeeper (Riverkeeper), Long Island Soundkeeper, and other bay-keeper organizations helped Willner establish the program. Willner remained with NY/NJ Baykeeper until 2008. ⁵

The organization initially operated as Raritan Baykeeper, Inc. (Baykeeper), doing business as NY/NJ Baykeeper, with its own board and federal tax-exempt status. Its work expanded beyond monitoring and enforcement into land preservation, oyster restoration, public-waterfront access, and infrastructure projects intended to reduce sewer overflows. As of 2026, Baykeeper reported that it and its partners had allegedly preserved or restored more than 3,000 acres of habitat and planted more than 8 million oysters in harbor waters. ^{1  6}

Advocacy and Litigation

Combined Sewer Overflows

NY/NJ Baykeeper joined Hudson Riverkeeper (Riverkeeper) and other organizations in a New York proceeding seeking to push New York City into complying with New York’s Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act. In November 2023, the New York Supreme Court in Queens County ordered the city environmental department to provide legally required notification of untreated and partially treated sewage discharges. ⁷

On June 3, 2026 the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the lower court, ruling that the department had failed on multiple occasions to provide required public notices and that its water-quality advisories did not comply with the state law. The court cited evidence identifying 20 dates in 2019 when rainfall triggered a combined sewer overflow but no alert was issued, as well as an alert that omitted required location and discharge-rate information. NY/NJ Baykeeper was part of the coalition that publicized the ruling. ^{8 2}

Conventional-Fuel Infrastructure

NY/NJ Baykeeper has opposed the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Project, a Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company project intended to increase natural-gas transportation capacity for National Grid affiliates. In 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied a rehearing request submitted by NY/NJ Baykeeper, Food and Water Watch-New Jersey, the Central Jersey Safe Energy Coalition, the Princeton Manor Homeowners Association, and the Surfrider Foundation after FERC had authorized the project. ⁹

The dispute resumed after later project approvals. In October and November 2025, NY/NJ Baykeeper joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Food and Water Watch, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, and the Sierra Club in federal petitions challenging federal and New Jersey approvals. The Second Circuit transferred the state-permit petitions to the Third Circuit in February 2026. In July 2026, a Third Circuit panel heard arguments over the scope of New Jersey’s water-quality review for the project. ^{4  10}

Liberty State Park and Public Access

In 2015, NY/NJ Baykeeper and Hackensack Riverkeeper successfully challenged a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection public-access rule. Baykeeper later supported legislation codifying public access to tidal waterways under the Public Trust Doctrine, and then-New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed the measure in May 2019. ¹¹

In March 2026, NY/NJ Baykeeper joined several organizations in an appeal challenging the New Jersey State House Commission’s approval of a 60-year lease for Liberty Landing Marina at Liberty State Park. The groups objected to a proposed boat-storage building and alleged that the state had not formally appraised the lease or adequately explained the commission’s approval. The lawsuit named Friends of Liberty State Park, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, NY/NJ Baykeeper, New Jersey Environmental Lobby, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, New Jersey Highlands Coalition, and Ramapough Culture and Land Foundation as appellants. ³

Industrial-Pollution Citizen Suits

In March 2024, Raritan Baykeeper filed suit against All American Alloys and Recycling and related defendants in federal court in New Jersey. In September 2025, it filed another Clean Water Act action against Fortune Metal Group and related defendants; by February 2026, the parties were reporting settlement efforts to the court. ^{12  13}

In December 2025, Baykeeper filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Dependable Iron and Metal Company and two individuals. As of June 2026, the federal court had extended the defendants’ deadline to answer until August 17, 2026. ^{14  15}

Conservation and Restoration

Alongside its litigation and policy work, NY/NJ Baykeeper has operated conservation, oyster-restoration, pumpout-boat, education, and Raritan Riverkeeper programs. The group claimed to have begun oyster-restoration work in 1999 and later established oyster gardens, a living-shoreline project, and an aquaculture facility at Naval Weapons Station Earle. By 2026, its website reported that the organization had planted more than 8 million oysters and helped preserve or restore more than 3,000 acres in the harbor region. ^{5  6}

In 2023, Baykeeper transferred its coastal resilience and restoration portfolio, including work led by restoration director Meredith Comi, to Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute. Baykeeper said it would remain involved in related coastal-resilience work while the university institute assumed the restoration projects. ¹⁶

Financials

NY/NJ Baykeeper has received support from both private foundations and government agencies. The organization has identified the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) among its funders. In addition, it has received funding from grantmaking organizations including the Victoria Foundation, John and Wendy Neu Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Fund for New Jersey, and Environmental Endowment for New Jersey. In 2022, NJDEP awarded Baykeeper $220,000 for an expansion of its living-shoreline project at Naval Weapons Station Earle, while the EPA previously awarded the organization $48,150 through its Urban Waters Small Grants program in 2016.

Leadership

As of August 2026, Greg Remaud is the executive director of NY/NJ Baykeeper. Prior to this, Remaud had worked on land-preservation and restoration projects in the region and was also serving as a trustee of the Meadowlands Conservation Trust and as a board member and past president of the Liberty State Park Conservancy. ^{17  18}

As of August 2026, retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge John D’Amico was chairing NY/NJ Baykeeper’s board of trustees. D’Amico previously served as a New Jersey state senator and Monmouth County freeholder and had sponsored environmental legislation, including a 1989 bond measure that provided grants and low-interest loans for stormwater management and combined-sewer-overflow projects. ^{19  20}

NY/NJ Baykeeper’s board also included Bradley Campbell. Campbell previously worked as president of the Conservation Law Foundation and had previously been a Clinton administration appointee, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Mid-Atlantic regional administrator, and New Jersey environmental protection commissioner. ²¹