William J. Kemble reports in The Daily Freeman on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal for storm surge barriers in New York Harbor that might affect communities along the 153-mile long Hudson River estuary upstream. The Hudson River protection group Riverkeeper is warning about the proposal that they believe the only option that should be considered is one limiting construction of barriers to the city’s shoreline area. Riverkeeper says on its website that the proposals for other surge barriers could diminish tidal flows that as far north as Troy. “These offshore barriers would start to restrict the tidal flow, contaminant and sediment transport, and migration of fish,” Riverkeeper says on its website. “They would impede the tidal respiration of the river. We fear that a slow death would be inflicted on the river and that, in time, the barriers would slowly but surely strangle the life out of the river as we know it.” Nancy Brighton, watershed section chief for the Army Corps of Engineers says studies are being conducted now to determine the impact upstream on the Hudson River ecosystem. “The Corp of Engineers research laboratory is doing some modeling on how the water would move ... [and] what happens, if anything, to the tides,” she said. The Army Corps will host an information session July 11 in Poughkeepsie 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hudson Valley Community Center at 110 S. Grand Ave. The proposals can be viewed online at a link on the WGXC Newsroom. Written comments should be emailed by Aug. 20 to NYNJHarbor.TribStudy@usace.army.mil. The also can be sent by mail to Nancy Brighton, Watershed Section, Environmental Analysis Branch Planning Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 2151, New York, N.Y. 10279-0090. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.