Dean Naujoks (Potomac Riverkeeper Network)

April Meeting – Dean Naujoks (Potomac Riverkeeper)

Dean Naujoks from the Potomac Riverkeeper Network will discuss the condition of the Potomac River, our club’s namesake, as well as inform of us of additional ways we can help protect the river for future generations. Hope you can join us, as this should prove to be a very informative meeting.

  • WhereMcLean Community Center – Stedman Room, 1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean, VA 22101
  • When: April 27, 2016 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 for socializing)
Dean Naujoks (Potomac Riverkeeper Network)

Dean Naujoks (Potomac Riverkeeper Network)

About Dean

Dean Naujoks, who joined the Potomac Riverkeeper Network in 2015 as the Potomac Riverkeeper, will speak to the April 27 meeting of the Potomac River Smallmouth Club.

Dean has over 20 years of environmental non-profit experience. He began his non-profit career in 1991 with the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. After graduating from North Carolina State University, with a self-created degree in Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development, he was hired as the first Upper Neuse Riverkeeper, serving from 2001 to 2008. He became the first Riverkeeper on the Yadkin River with Yadkin Riverkeeper, Inc. in 2008, also serving as Executive Director until 2014.

Dean was awarded River Network’s 2009 National River Heroes Award. River Network’s River Heroes Award celebrates rivers and those who protect them by recognizing victories and honoring those who provide leadership and inspiration along the way. Yadkin Riverkeeper also won the 2011 North Carolina Wildlife Federation Governor’s Achievement Award Water Conservation Organization of the Year.

Commenting on his work, Dean said: “Clean water is a fundamental human right.  The greatest legacy we can leave for our children is access to clean water. Safe-guarding the Nation’s River, which provides drinking water to approximately 7 million people, is a serious responsibility.”

As the Potomac Riverkeeper, Dean is responsible for watching the issues of the Potomac River from Harpers Ferry to Point Lookout. He considers the biggest issues are nutrient pollution, agricultural runoff, storm water runoff, and sewage overflows, primarily from old sewage plants in Washington, D.C.

According to Dean, the biggest problem of the future is coal ash pollution, largely from Dominion Power holding facilities at Possum Point on Quantico Creek, a tributary to the Potomac, and at Bremo on the James River, among other places. Dean, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, and several other environmental organizations are doing their best to ensure that more untreated coal ash waste is not dumped into the Nation’s River. This waste will only further damage the Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay.