St. Lawrence Cement spent $58 million (U.S.) dollars over more than six years in a failed effort to build a massive, coal-fired plant that would have overwhelmed the small but historic City of Hudson (NY) — population 7,500. This is the story of how one small town stood up to a giant corporation, and won... A narrative of the fight published by OUR TOWN can be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.

• SEP 14
  In Canada, St. Lawrence Cement quietly announces plans for a 2.2 million ton, $300 million coal-fired cement plant in Hudson and Greenport, New York, near the banks of the Hudson River. SLC is a subsidiary of Holderbank (now Holcim), which at the time was the largest cement manufacturer in the world.

• JAN 6
  James Dolan Jr. and Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera hold hearing "seeking ideas" for a $600k Canal Corridor (HUD) grant application
  
• JAN 9
  First telephone poll about cement plant carried out by Market Strategies, Inc. for SLC
  
• JAN 25
  At Partnership meeting, residents discover from Jim Callendar and Bernadina Torrey that unnamed recipient of proposed grant would be Americlean, based in Canada | Afternoon research by Sam Pratt reveals Americlean's main business is processing dry cleaning waste, not coat hangers and polybags
  
• JAN 27
  First press release | Common Council, Dolan, Scalera, and consultant Bill Loewenstein get earful from residents, who insist on forum with Americlean
  
• JAN 29
  Pratt has testy phone conversation with Americlean exec | Residents write letters and emails to company
  
• JAN 31
  Ad proposed by Byrne Fone, paid for by 12 residents, appears in Register-Star (at right)
  
• FEB 3
  Coincidentally, front page Wall Street Journal article warns of perils of perchloroethylene | Fred Lebrun blasts Athens Gen in Times-Union
  
• FEB 10
  Members gather at Hudson waterfront, garner coverage of Americlean on Channel 10 (ABC)
  
• FEB 16
  Members meet at 32 Warren Street to review lists of questions for public hearing
  
• FEB 17
  Members go door-to-door in Hudson's 1st and 3rd wards with Americlean hearing flyers
  
• FEB 18
  Resident Jack Harrell brings chemist Monona Rossol to quiz Americlean at 7 pm hearing | disastrous appearance by VP Brett Walker is widely covered by Albany TV | Mayor says he's "totally embarrassed" by the public's behavior
  
• APR
  After City adopts citizen demand to eliminate perc from plan, Americlean formally withdraws
  
• MAY
  Following more polls, residents receive a long series of colorful SLC postcards
  
• JUN 25
  Scoping hearing on SLC moved from a small upstairs room at 401 State Street to the Supervisor's chambers after 100 turn up
  
• JUN 30
  50 residents submit to DEC 13 pages of scoping comments under Friends' name
  
• JUL 23
  Atlas union chief Al Cook, resident Allon Schoener and Pratt meet with Dirk Cox of SLC | Company reluctant to hold joint public forum
  
• AUG 6
  FoH moves its online discussions to a secure email listserv called "Clover"
  
• AUG 12
  Sam Pratt, Peter Jung and Claudia Bruce form initial Friends of Hudson board
  
• SEP
  Friends of Hudson becomes a project of The Open Space Institute, a 501c(3) organization
  
• OCT 15
  Albany law firm Young, Sommer..llc retained, with Jeff Baker as lead counsel
  
• 0ct 27
  Pratt receives annual "Quality of Life" award from Hudson Teachers Association
  
• DEC 31
  Camp, Dresser & McKee, the nationally-known engineering firm, is retained by FoH

• "SLC World" -- company newsletter touting project: PDF

• JAN
  Thomas Chizmadia, Holnam vice president for public relations, visits area editorial boards
  
• JAN 11
  Ribbon-cutting at SLC testing lab by Mayor Kenneth Cranna raised some local hackles
  
• JAN 22
  Meeting with Clover Reach members in Claverack to discuss involvement in plant issue
  
• FEB 9
  "Scoping" review completed by DEC staff of issues to be included in SLC application
  
• FEB 21
  Meeting at the home of Irma Brownfield and Frederick Rostock in Claverack with Dr. Ira Marks about health impacts of plant
  
• FEB 22
  Register-Star headline: "St. Lawrence foes pick up momentum"
  
• MAR 1
  Greenport Town Board votes to welcome SLC
  
• MAR 6
  Friends enlists 8 other groups on letter asking DEC for more than minimum 30 days comment period once SLC application deemed complete
  
• MAR 7
  First draft of SLC Draft Environmental Impact Statement delivered to NYS DEC
  
• MAR 10
  Hudson residents raise SLC issue at Chamber's Patterns for Progress meeting at Kozel's
  
• MAR 12
  First major public presentation on Friends' SLC concerns is held at Time & Space Ltd. | Videos shown include "Danger Downwind"
  
• MAR 13
  New York Times article on reindustrialization of Hudson River Valley hits front page
  
• MAR 17
  SLC announces creation of Community Forum moderated by Sandor Schumann
  
• APR 1
  Company p.r. rep caught attempting to take sign-in sheet from Friends event at St. James Church in Chatham
  
• APR 23
  Lawn signs painted at Earth Day bazaar
  
• MAY 10
  Anti-plant protestors picket on corner of 6th and Warren during visit by U.S. Rep. Sweeney
  
• MAY 24
  St. Charles Hotel too small for first Forum meeting as residents grill SLC reps | Future meetings moved to Community College
  
• MAY 27
  John Muzio and Frederick Rostock help move group into office donated by Steve Kingsley of Hudson Michael Realty at 554 Warren Street
  
• JUN 28
  Friends of Hudson hosts Tivoli meeting on SLC
  
• JUL 30
  Members paint more lawn signs at Kipp Farm, home of Diana Jelinek and Ed Lebar
  
• AUG
  Intense debate over accepting SLC donations ensues as 3 StageWorks board members resign
  
• AUG 2
  Plant supporter restrained after physically attacking Friends director at Forum
  
• AUG 9
  SLC pledges $130,000 for Greenport park
  
• AUG 25
  Company flies Forum members to Midlothian, Texas to visit parent company's "model" plant
  
• AUG 30
  Plant supporters threaten Travis Kline, an EPA expert from Claverack, at Forum meeting
  
• OCT 29
  Information session on SLC by Columbia Action Now! (CAN!) at Chatham firehouse
  
• FALL
  Friends' billboards on health add to those of the Hudson Valley Billboard Project featuring Annie Leibowitz, Peter Hujar et al.
  
• NOV 23
  Mystery vandal rips down 2 anti-SLC billboards
  
• DEC 22
  Columbia Memorial Hospital doctors organize task force to study SLC proposal
  
• DEC 31
  Binders with over 3,000 signatures against the cement plant proposal sent to 14 officials

• JAN 1
  Newspapers report PG&E-Scenic Hudson deal, paving the way for Athens Gen approval
  
• JAN 12
  Friends organizes River Roundtable, bringing together groups to discuss mutual concerns
  
• FEB 8
  Chamber of Commerce nominates Friends director for Crystal Apple award
  
• FEB 12
  EPA New England chief urges caution on SLC
  
• FEB 23
  Friends files brief with on Lehigh expansion
  
• MAR 10
  500+ members celebrate in Friends' first annual party in St. Mary's Academy gym
  
• MAR 12
  Hudson Supervisor Daniel Grandinetti comes out against SLC
  
• MAR 18
  Friends of Hudson supports remaining Athens Gen opponents in Corps hearing in Albany
  
• MAR 22
  Letter from 20 business leaders protests SLC
  
• MAR 30
  CMH doctors come out against SLC
  
• APR 30
  SLC "balloon test" alarms residents | Friends receives $5,000 grant from the National Trust
  
• MAY 10
  Organization passes 2,000 member and 5,000 petition-signer milestones
  
• JUN 20
  Members flood hearing at Columbia-Greene Community College (CGCC)
  
• JUN 29
  EPA: SLC design is not "state-of-the-art"
  
• JUN 30
  National coverage in The New York Times
  
• JUL 2
  Hundreds of well-informed letters submitted to DEC Administrative Law Judges
  
• JUL 5
  Research by Don Christensen reveals SLC land title problems at Hudson waterfront
  
• JUL 7
  Second annual picnic at Sportsmen's Club | "Run for Clean Air" organized by Lenny Collins
  
• JUL 11
  Friends files 89-page party status application
  
• JUL 20
  International TV coverage on Lou Dobbs' Moneyline on CNN
  
• JUL 24
  Members confront Governor Pataki about SLC at the dedication of a new park in Valatie
  
• AUG 5
  State Comptroller H. Carl McCall speaks out against SLC in Greenport
  
• AUG 16
  Friends, Olana, HVPC conclude 3-week Issues Conference, making cases for party status
  
• SEP 7
  Friends' attorneys file issues and reply briefs
  
• SEP 28
  about Issues Conference to secure party status
  
• OCT 2
  Engineering study: SLC emissions of fine particulate matter would exceed key limits
  
• OCT 22
  Friends director addresses 100+ person meeting in Lenox, Massachusetts
  
• NOV 10
  Organization takes on two full-time and one part-time staffer for new Warren Street office
  
• NOV 17
  Storefront office open in Hudson with show of Tom Teich's Hudson river photos
  
• NOV 29
  Three Hudson officials blast SLC in letter
  
• DEC 2
  Scores visit new office during the Opera House's annual Hudson WinterWalk
  
• DEC 7
  140-page decision by ALJ supports 88% of Friends' arguments
  
• DEC 13
  Hudson Planning Board tables deal with SLC
  
• DEC 18
  Friends announces expanded board, officers

• Transcript of 11-hour DEC hearing: HTML
• July legal brief to DEC (Part I): PDF
• July legal brief to DEC (Part II): PDF
• Petition for DEC party status: PDF
• September brief to DEC: PDF
• Early member guide to Coastal review process: PDF
• Early member guide to OGS comment process: PDF
• Goldberger issues ruling for DEC: PDF
• Letter from John Faso about Swiss environmental regulations: HTML

• JAN 4
  Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal threatens court action to stop SLC
  
• JAN 8
  FoH files suit to block $200,000 agreement between Greenport Town Board and SLC
  
• JAN 17
  SLC's brand new Camden, New Jersey plant is fined $20,550 for violations of reporting and monitoring requirements
  
• FEB 3
  281-page appeal of the judges' ruling shows "the process" isn't going as SLC had hoped
  
• MAR 2
  Annual FoH members' party at St Mary's draws nearly 500
  
• MAR 23
  Actress Kaiulani Lee presents show on Rachel Carson, while husband and renowned activist Andrew Kimbrell teams up with Miriam MacGillis at FoH-sponsored events
  
• APR 4
  Friends' lawsuit forces G'port to nix SLC deal
  
• APR 27
  Members join Rotary in river cleanup
  
• JUN 6
  FoH helps organize annual Second Ward cleanup day
  
• JUN 14
  Local newspapers reveal slew of pro-SLC letters are phony
  
• JUN 25
  SLC jobs rhetoric is undermined as State Department of Labor report reveals near-full employment, tight local job market
  
• JUL 6
  Annual FoH picnic at Polish Sportsmen's Club. Hand-painted signs auctioned | Tom Tom Club concert for FoH, co-organized by Club Helsinki, draws over 700 to the Basilica
  
• JUL 9
  Berkshire Eagle editorial: "Wrong Cement Plant in the Wrong Place"
  
• AUG 12
  SLC Harvard expert admits he wouldn't want to live near plant, as Dr. Marks is barred from company's "public dialogue" on health
  
• AUG 20
  "Model" Midlothian plant, visited by SLC forum, is fined $223,000 by Texas regulators
  
• AUG 27
  Assemblyman Manning cites health risks in a call for full adjudication of SLC proposal
  
• SEP 13
  Kaz-sponsored poll finds SLC opponents now in majority, 50 to 43%
  
• SEP 21
  Member Ken McCarthy organizes 200-person dinner in Tivoli to benefit Friends of Hudson
  
• OCT 7
  The New York Times blasts the SLC proposal in a scathing editorial, "The Hudson at Risk."
  
• DEC 7
  DEC Comissioner Crotty issues First Interim Decision, calling for adjudication of noise, traffic, mining | Crotty postpones decision on pollution, visuals, community character et al
  
• DEC 8
  Open house for Winter Walk at Friends' office
  
• DEC 9
  20 members sing Christmas carols outside City Hall before meeting on possible deal with SLC to prevent company from packing the hall
  
• DEC 15
  Poughkeepsie Journal editorial: "Cement plant needs full review"
  
• DEC 16
  Spain opens investigation into insider trading by Holcim president Thomas Schmidheiny

• Factsheet summarizing economic issues: PDF
• March legal brief to DEC challenging SLC motions: PDF
• Chronogram article by Joe Brill: LINK
• Pratt article in Clearwater newsletter: PDF

• JAN 31
  Forum with New Jersey and Texas cement activists
  
• FEB 9
  Francesca Tanksley benefit concert in Hudson
  
• FEB 28
  A model of the St. Lawence Cement proposal, commissioned by Richard Katzman of Kaz, Inc., goes on display for a month in the window of Vincent Mulford's shop at 417 Warren Street to show the plant's relation to its surroundings
  
• MAR 8
  Annual party at St. Mary's gymnasium in Hudson again draws more than 500
  
• MAR
  DEC adjudicatory hearings in Greenport on whether to "undgrandfather" SLC mine
  
• MAR 12
  Public hearings on Glens Falls Lehigh plant in Catskill held in Germantown
  
• MAR 18
  U.S. Army Corps holds two days of hearings at
  
• MAR 19
  Columbia-Greene ommunity College
  
• APR 3
  Dutchess County EMC decides to review plant's impacts | "Ungrandfathering" hearings continue at Greenport Town Hall
  
• APR 13
  James Howard Kunstler lectures on planning at Hudson River Theater
  
• APR 20
  Members mail hundreds of letters before Corps' comment deadline
  
• APR 25
  Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection joins other groups in calling for stricter air standards
  
• MAY 1
  Premiere issue of The Hudson Valley Record
  
• MAY 31
  1,000 attend Patti Smith benefit concert at the Basilica Industria, where the Americlean project was once to be sited
  
• JUN 16
  DEC judges issue ruling, recommending that SLC mine be"ungrandfathered"
  
• JUL 6
  Friends Community Quilt unveiled and raffled at annual picnic at Sportsmen's Club
  
• JUL 12
  Concerned Women of Claverack Tag Sale again raises funds for FoH and HVPC
  
• JUL
  Three separate newspaper editorials question the coal-fired St. Lawrence Cement project
  
• AUG 9
  FoH included in Copake Charity Auction
  
• AUG 13
  Friends, HVPC debate SLC in Rhinebeck
  
• AUG 23
  Scottish activist and author Alastair McIntosh speaks in Hudson
  
• AUG 28
  Friends volunteers staff popular booth at Columbia County Fair
  
• SEP 2
  Pratt receives activism award on national radio show, etown, in Colorado
  
• SEP 24
  DEC sends tough letter on noise to SLC
  OCT DEC noise and traffic hearings in Greenport | SLC doubles maximum round trips
  
• OCT 11
  Friends of Hudson table at Hudson Arts Walk
  
• DEC 6
  Friends' office open for Winter Walk
  
• DEC 22
  Assemblyman Pat Manning speaks out about SLC in Capital District Business Review

• Full-page advertisement against the plant: PDF
• Legal brief to Army Corps: PDF
• Factsheet summarizing main issues with project: PDF
• 16-page "Record" publication: PDF

• JAN 10
  Well-attended Friends presentation on SLC in Great Barrington
  
• JAN 10
  Friends co-sponsors "State of the Community" symposium
  
• JAN 11
  Valatie meeting at Wilde house about Lafarge tire-burning plan
  
• JAN 21
  Director Sam Pratt addresses business group at Kozel's
  
• JAN 31
  Kinderhook meeting at Collins residence on Lafarge
  
• FEB 5
  Friends' engineers deliver major study to regulators on "state of the art" pollution controls for cement plants internationally
  
• FEB 7
  Informational meeting about Lafarge plan at North Pointe
  
• FEB 27
  Senator Hillary Clinton tells Preservation Magazine that cement plant would be "a big step backward" for region
  
• FEB 28
  Update on St. Lawrence for Berkshires members in Sheffield
  
• MAR 2
  Public meeting on SLC?"host agreement" with Hudson; deal tabled as it never comes to vote in following months
  
• MAR 5
  Publication of 5th Anniversary insert in The Independent
  
• MAR 6
  Informational meeting in Stuyvesant about Lafarge plan is sponsored by local farmers
  
• MAR 9
  New York's Dept. of State deals setback to SLC, deeming company's Coastal application incomplete in 10 key areas
  
• MAR 13
  Annual party in St. Mary's gym draws 500 members
  
• APR 17
  Benefit concert with Philip Glass nets $40,000 for Friends
  
• APR 22
  State-ordered balloon test proves plant would be highly visible throughout the Hudson-Greenport-Claverack area
  
• APR 26
  Friends retains engineer Paul Supple to review Lafarge tire plan
  
• MAY 5
  J.P. Morgan report reveals SLC has spent $55 million so far on trying to get Greenport project approved
  
• MAY 7
  Friends members catch SLC illegally bulldozing wetlands
  
• MAY 15
  Opening of the Friends of Hudson 5th Anniversary Retrospective at Time + Space Ltd.
  
• JUN 12
  Flag Day float (with Lisa Durfee as St. Winifred) wins "Best Columbia County theme" award
  
• JUN 23
  US Army Corps, DEC cite SLC for wetlands violation
  
• JUL 25
  Friends of Hudson sponsors lecture by local author Andrew Rieser on the Chatauqua movement
  
• AUG 28
  Jeff Baker and Sam Pratt face off with unprepared SLC spokesmen at Rhinebeck debate
  
• AUG 18
  Intervenors talk way into SLC?media event at St. Charles Hotel in Hudson
  
• AUG 25
  Friends' membership passes 4,000 mark
  
• SEP 4
  Friends of Hudson picnic at Federation of Polish Sportsmen draws 300 members and kids
  
• SEP 9
  New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin Crotty deals "triple setback" to SLC by ungrandfathering its Becraft Mountain mine, and ordering trials on 10 major issues cited by opponents
  
• SEP 11
  Copake Auctions charity event benefits Friends' legal fund
  
• SEP 21
  Columbia Memorial Hospital doctors vote 55-0 to voice concern over health impacts of SLC design changes
  
• OCT 18
  Director Sam Pratt addresses Hudson Rotary for 3rd time
  
• OCT 21
  SLC shuts intervenors out of Greenport press conference
  
• OCT 24
  Director Sam Pratt gives talk on cement industry at Yale
  
• OCT 31
  Annual open farm day at Blackberry Hill in Livingston
  
• NOV 16
  CDM report shows that redesigned SLC plant still far dirtier than Catskill
  
• NOV 28
  NYT notes spread of anti-SLC signs into Litchfield County
  
• DEC 3
  Surprise visit to Holcim HQ in Waltham, Mass., with Jay Rasku of Toxics Action Center rattles parent company
  
• DEC 24
  NYS DOS announces the start of a 30-day public comment period for SLC... on Christmas Eve
  
• DEC 27
  Lawyers for opponents call on DOS to extend comment period, provide documents to public
  

• DEC interim decision by Erin Crotty: PDF

• JAN-MAR
  Friends hold two dozen meetings in homes and public spaces to discuss pending Coastal decision, write letters
  
• JAN-MAR
  Mailers, postcards, briefing papers and other materials circulated to spur public comment
  
• MAR 5
  Final Friends gathering at St. Mary's Academy rouses troops for last round
  
• FEB 24
  DOS extends deadline for public comment on coastal permit a second time, to March 18th
  
• MAR 21
  United opponents summarize case, call on State to end project
  
• MAR 28
  Review finds 87% of record 13,663 comments oppose project, along with more than three dozen organizations
  
• APR 10
  New editorials by NYT, Independent support opposition
  
• APR 19
  Secretary of State Randy Daniels and Hudson Common Council deal final blows to SLC
  
• APR 19
  Opponents celebrate at Red Dot on Warren Street
  
• APR 23
  Even bigger celebration at Vincent Mulford's "Tin Ballroom"
  
• APR 24
  St. Lawrence Cement announces it is abandoning the Greenport project
  

• Joint comments by intervenors opposing Coastal Consistency: PDF
• April press release about SLC waste-burningPDF
• Late editorial against the plant: PDF
• Coastal Ruling by Secretary of State Daniels: PDF
• Independent article PDF
• Fax announcing the victory: PDF
• Press release on SLC withdrawalPDF
• Victory flyer PDF
• Advance press release for final picnic PDF
• Press release for NYS Preservation League Pillars award: PDF
• SLC Annual Report '05: PDF
• Metroland letter regarding Scenic Hudson's role: HTML