Activist helps keep the world's polluters at bay NY/NJ Baykeeper head traveled to China offering environmental advice BY LORI ANNE OLIWA Correspondent NY/NJ Baykeeper Executive Director Andy Willner (third from right) traveled to China recently to discuss environmental protection strategies with local activists. KEYPORT - A borough man has just returned from a groundbreaking two-week trip to China to advise some of the country's environmental groups. As a board member of the international environmental organization Waterkeeper Alliance, Andy Willner, the executive director of the Keyport-based NY/NJ Baykeeper, made the late-February trip at the request of several nongovernmental environmental organizations in China that are looking to become stewards of that country's waterways. The Waterkeeper Alliance assists countries that want to improve their environmental stewardship, he said. "The Waterkeeper Alliance is unique among international environmental groups in that it is a grassroots-up type of movement. One of its purposes is to establish international waterkeeping programs," he said. Waterkeepers, riverkeepers and baykeepers are protectors and stewards of specific bodies of water, Willner said. In order for someone to earn one of those designations, he or she must apply to the Waterkeeper Alliance directly. "The overwhelming consensus in this meeting between all parties was that one-person stewardship would work." - Andy Willner "The words are actually trademarked and are unique to the organization," Willner said. "Someone can't just decide to call himself or herself a waterkeeper without going through the application process and training." The other half of the water stewardship program is obtaining proper permissions from foreign governments to implement and operate the programs. Willner met with Bei Tao, the legal director of the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency, and the two discussed how the United States and its citizens enforce environmental laws. Of particular interest to him was how the U.S. files lawsuits against polluters, Willner said. Willner discussed the entire process with Tao and elaborated on letters of intent to sue, settlement agreements and court-ordered settlements. He was invited to a forum on environmental laws, which he said was "a very significant step." Willner was also accompanied in his meeting with the Chinese EPA by two Chinese environmental advocates who had applied to the Waterkeeper Alliance for designation as waterkeepers. "The overwhelming consensus in this meeting between all parties was that one-person stewardship would work," Willner said. Yun Jianli, "a remarkable woman," according to Willner, will be the riverkeeper of the Han River. A committed volunteer, Jianli is part of an organization called the Green Han River. The organization, in conjunction with Jianli as riverkeeper, will also be assisting victims of water pollution. "Along the Han River, more and more manufacturing facilities are being built, like paper mills, and these businesses are booming at the expense of the environment. The bottom line is that they are polluters," Willner stated. Residents of the farming villages downstream from these factories are experiencing high incidents of cancer because the farmers are drinking water and irrigating their fields with the polluted water, he said. Many of these villagers are not literate, but Jianli is organizing them and meeting with them on a regular basis. "Jianli intends to bring lawsuits against the government, and public hearings will be held. This is significant because it is something new in China," Willner said. "China is way behind us in environmental remediation." The Beijing North Canal is the second body of water in China that will now have a waterkeeper, according to Willner. Zhang Junfeng has been selected to be the North Canal waterkeeper and will oversee all waterways in Beijing. Part of his responsibilities will also be to help victims of water pollution obtain compensation, Willner said. While discussing this program, Willner mentioned the significance of the 2008 Olympics, which will take place in Beijing. "The Olympics is actually providing an incentive to the Chinese government, who has promised to clean up the water. Can you imagine all the world visitors arriving in Beijing and seeing raw sewage in the water?" Willner said. Junfeng will also be responsible for holding forums on the Olympics and will play a key role in the improvements made. "This is a unique situation for China," Willner said. "Environmental advocacy is something relatively new there. Here in the United States, advocacy groups have been around since the beginnings of the country." The publicity being generated by these two new waterkeepers is encouraging others to become involved, and Willner met with two other environmental organizations interested in appointing riverkeepers. Two potential programs will target the Yangtze River and the Nu River, he said. Trying to describe the lessons learned from this historical trip, Willner commented, "The environment is so fragile. The U.S. is not so far from China in having environmental problems which it must rectify. The U.S. has also back-slided, and we are dangerously close to the edge of significant environmental degradation."