48. Kevin McAllister
2010 Power List
He sued Suffolk County to stop mosquito spraying in marshlands. He urged New York State to designate Forge River as an “impaired waterway” in order to qualify it for clean-up grants. And most recently, he successfully petitioned the federal Environmental Protection Agency to designate South Shore bays from Southampton to the New York City border as a “no discharge” zone—meaning boaters can no longer flush wastewater into them. McAllister, a career coastal biologist with more than 20 years experience, is the Peconic Baykeeper, although the title can be misleading. He and his nonprofit environmental watchdog group calls out the government when pollution monitors are not doing their due diligence in protecting the waterways on the East End and the South Shore. And while he has had some successes, his is a job that is never done.