Yadkin Riverkeeper Wins 2009 National River Heroes Award
Winston-Salem, NC, May 29, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Zoe Gamble, Board of Directors President for Yadkin Riverkeeper® Inc., has announced that Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, has been awarded the River Network’s 2009 National River Heroes Award. Created in 2001 by the National River Network, the River Heroes Award recognizes individuals and groups who provide leadership, inspire the work of others, utilize innovative strategies and techniques to achieve significant results, and foster the growth and sustainability of a United States watershed community.
Naujoks will be presented the award at the 10th annual National River Rally in Baltimore, Md. on May 29 – June 1 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The awards ceremony is held in conjunction with the River Network’s annual national River Rally. To date, twenty-eight outstanding individuals have been honored as National River Heroes.
Naujoks served as the Upper Neuse Riverkeeper for seven years before becoming the Yadkin Riverkeeper in October 2008. As part of Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc., he works to respect, protect and improve the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advocacy and action.
Naujoks’ efforts to reduce pollution in Badin Lake, a major reservoir on the Yadkin River, have attracted local and national media coverage as the Yadkin RiverKeeper takes on Alcoa, one of the world’s leading producers of aluminum. Alcoa has leased the lake’s water rights since 1958 to conduct aluminum smelting operations in an adjacent Badin Works plant. Recent reports show that Alcoa has discharged pollutants into the air, land and waterways during the operation of the Badin Works Plant, contaminating the local water supply and threatening human health.
The Yadkin Riverkeeper has built a growing coalition of concerned parties in support of opposing Alcoa’s relicensing efforts. Naujoks has sent press releases worldwide and been featured in a major profile by The Winston-Salem Journal, one of North Carolina’s largest newspapers. Naujoks recorded a video on “Badin Lake Pollution” at a Yadkin reservoir with the N.C. Water Rights Committee that is available for viewing on YouTube as well as the Yadkin Riverkeeper Web site. Most recently, Naujoks commissioned a poll to gauge public opinion surrounding the construction of a Fibrowatt LLC power plant in Surry County along the Yadkin River. Poll results show that voters from both Surry and Stanly countries overwhelming oppose the use of taxpayer money to fund a new Fibrowatt plant.
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, protect and improve the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advocacy and action. It is aimed at creating a clean and healthy river that sustains life and is cherished by its people. To achieve this vision, it seeks to accomplish the following objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably improve water quality, reestablish native bio-diversity, preserve and enhance the forest canopy, bring legal action to enforce state and federal environmental laws, and teach and practice a “river ethic” of ecological respect to all ages. For more information, visit http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or call 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, employed by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc since the fall of 2008 to manage and implement a river advocacy program for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will keep it a healthy and vibrant river for residents and businesses in the long term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a licensed member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice and champion clean water for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime water quality advocate, Naujoks became the first Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to monitor conditions and advocate for protection of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the joint government PCB Task Force to address PCB contamination in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A graduate of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own major in environmental policy and sustainable development. He also worked for the NC Wildlife Federation from 1991-1999.
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
###
Naujoks will be presented the award at the 10th annual National River Rally in Baltimore, Md. on May 29 – June 1 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The awards ceremony is held in conjunction with the River Network’s annual national River Rally. To date, twenty-eight outstanding individuals have been honored as National River Heroes.
Naujoks served as the Upper Neuse Riverkeeper for seven years before becoming the Yadkin Riverkeeper in October 2008. As part of Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc., he works to respect, protect and improve the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advocacy and action.
Naujoks’ efforts to reduce pollution in Badin Lake, a major reservoir on the Yadkin River, have attracted local and national media coverage as the Yadkin RiverKeeper takes on Alcoa, one of the world’s leading producers of aluminum. Alcoa has leased the lake’s water rights since 1958 to conduct aluminum smelting operations in an adjacent Badin Works plant. Recent reports show that Alcoa has discharged pollutants into the air, land and waterways during the operation of the Badin Works Plant, contaminating the local water supply and threatening human health.
The Yadkin Riverkeeper has built a growing coalition of concerned parties in support of opposing Alcoa’s relicensing efforts. Naujoks has sent press releases worldwide and been featured in a major profile by The Winston-Salem Journal, one of North Carolina’s largest newspapers. Naujoks recorded a video on “Badin Lake Pollution” at a Yadkin reservoir with the N.C. Water Rights Committee that is available for viewing on YouTube as well as the Yadkin Riverkeeper Web site. Most recently, Naujoks commissioned a poll to gauge public opinion surrounding the construction of a Fibrowatt LLC power plant in Surry County along the Yadkin River. Poll results show that voters from both Surry and Stanly countries overwhelming oppose the use of taxpayer money to fund a new Fibrowatt plant.
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, protect and improve the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advocacy and action. It is aimed at creating a clean and healthy river that sustains life and is cherished by its people. To achieve this vision, it seeks to accomplish the following objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably improve water quality, reestablish native bio-diversity, preserve and enhance the forest canopy, bring legal action to enforce state and federal environmental laws, and teach and practice a “river ethic” of ecological respect to all ages. For more information, visit http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or call 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, employed by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc since the fall of 2008 to manage and implement a river advocacy program for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will keep it a healthy and vibrant river for residents and businesses in the long term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a licensed member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice and champion clean water for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime water quality advocate, Naujoks became the first Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to monitor conditions and advocate for protection of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the joint government PCB Task Force to address PCB contamination in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A graduate of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own major in environmental policy and sustainable development. He also worked for the NC Wildlife Federation from 1991-1999.
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
###
Contact
Yadkin Riverkeeper
Dean Naujoks
919-233-6600
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Dean Naujoks
919-233-6600
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Contact
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