Moreover, half the fine was afforded to whoever aided in alerting the public of the violation and allowed citizens to enforce its provisions if government failed to do so. This Act caused a surge in public interest over water pollution in the early 1970s, stirring many citizens to enforce civil (and potentially criminal) violations of a federal statute, and placing pressure on the national government to create effective water protection policy. The HRFA was one of the first groups to rediscover this Act and successfully apply it. Once Boyle familiarized himself with the Refuse Act, he noted its value to the community at once. When the HRFA held their first public meeting, drawing a standing-room only gathering of Hudson Valley masons, commercial fishermen, carpenters and other local laborers at an American Legion Hall, Boyle found an audience to hear his new tactics for citizen empowerment. Of note was the presence of Congressman Richard Ottinger, who was so moved by the turnout of working-class environmentalists who sought redress for the social and environmental inequities in their towns that he cancelled his agenda to discuss these problems. Ottinger was key to the political support structure of HRFA's initial growth. He and others at this meeting heard from fishermen plagued by buyer disdain for Hudson River fish, as well as local factory and construction workers who reported personal observations of pollutant discharges by their employers. Their first target was Penn Central Railroad, which for years released petroleum products into the Croton River, a tributary of the Hudson. HRFA notified the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Attorney by written letters and phone calls to enforce the Refuse Act, but were ignored. In 1968, HRFA and Congressman Ottinger sued Penn Central, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Secretary of the Army. This caught the U.S. Attorney's interest, causing them to join the suit against Penn Central. The railroad lost the suit and provided the first bounty afforded to a private organization from a polluter since the Act's enactment. HRFA, now emboldened, distributed thousands of copies of the Refuse Act on "Bag a Polluter" postcards for citizens to fill in polluters' names and to send back to the HRFA. This effectively found many violators liable for their actions. The HRFA was growing and many members now spread its message to communities and public officials. Richie Garrett, HRFA's president, was a local grave-digger from Ossining, NY who had grown up along the Croton River, fishing and living by means of this waterbody.