Gas Drilling in the Delaware Watershed affects Brooklynites

Fwd from a listserv I am on and I personally know these folks. VERY important stuff! --LIGH

Gas Drilling in the Delaware Watershed affects Brooklynites: ACT NOW!

ALL TO ACTION!
Please call or e-mail Governor Patterson today at 518-474-8390 or http://161.11.121.121/govemail to oppose Bill #A10526, which will make it easier for Hallburton to proceed with environmentally disasterous gas drilling practices that will poison the air and water and destroy the natural beauty of the Upper Delaware River watershed including the Catskills, where the NYC reservoirs are located.

WHY YOU SHOULD CALL GOVENOR PATTERSON NOW?
This is regarding the issue of gas drilling in the Upper Delaware Watershed Region, which includes the Catskill/Delaware Watersheds supplying NYC via the Delaware and Catskill Aqueducts.

We live in Brooklyn and have a weekend house on the Upper Delaware River near Narrowsburg, NY. About 6 months ago we heard about landsmen from the major gas companies leasing land from large landowners and farmers in the region to drill deep gas wells. We began to do some research and the more we found out about the science and technology of the drilling and fracing process, the more we actually understood that there was not a safe way to extract the gas without the use of toxic, carcinogenic chemicals (fracing fluids) known to poison and pollute the water and air.

This deep drilling technology was designed by Halliburton and made compliant by Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force; whereby the energy companies were exempt from all existing environmental regulations - even from disclosing the use of some 250 toxic chemicals required in the drilling and fracing processes. This has been going on out West for several years, but the new drilling technologies in conjunction with rising oil prices have created sort of a gold rush, and the gas drilling has been moving from the West to the East like a wildfire.

Jane and I are part of a small non – profit grassroots group called Damascus Citizens for Sustainability – DCS (named after Damascus Township in Wayne Co, PA). We have done a great amount of research including having produced videos and audio testimony from Hickory, PA where we interviewed local farmers whose water was polluted and land basically destroyed. The drilling operation is a major construction project. For instance, each well requires clearing about 5 acres of land, more than a million gallons of water, and many have compared it to a military occupation. Wells in some places have been spaced as close as every 25 acres (this equals destruction of 20% of the landscape). I can go on and on.....

In the Upper Delaware region alone there are plans for as many as 10,000 wells to extract gas from the Marcellus Shale. It adds up to a $50 Billion project – without an Environmental Impact Study. Through my Brooklyn Assemblyman, James Brennan, there is now a bill in the State Assembly asking for a 2 year moratorium to perform an EIS. Many townships around the country are now pursuing the same approach and we are on the verge of aligning a growing national coalition. Jim is presently one of only a few elected officials engaged in this issue.

We are in contact with NRDC, OGAP (Oil and Gas Accountability Project) and Dr. Theo Colborn (Endochrine Exchange in Colorado) who this past fall testified before Congress on the effects of gas drilling in the West; and the Catskill Mountain Keepers, Delaware River Keepers and others on the local level. Representatives from these national organizations have been here recently (NY Times article; June 29, front page Metro) to share their stories about the destruction of their farms, ranches, natural environments and communities.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has assumed responsibility for water quantity and quality with respect to the drilling and will be reviewing and approving permits. This has been a benchmark for us from the start. Nevertheless, DCS along with other groups in the region, are poised to take legal action to challenge the first well permit in the watershed.

We are encouraged that the recent NY Times article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/nyregion/03towns.html ) has brought this issue to NYC. I hope this alerts the public officials and especially those involved with the protection of the NYC water supply, as well as those in communities further south who are dependent on water from the Delaware River.

In many parts of the country the natural environment is now being irreparably altered or polluted and destroyed. What’s at stake here is at least a major threat to NYC’s water supply, not to mention the beautiful Delaware River and the Upper NY State region. The rapid encroachment of the major gas companies in this region requires immediate action.

Here is a link to the DRBC press release: http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/newsrel_NatGasMining060908.htm

For the real truth on gas drilling, watch our documentary on YouTube:


The following are links to Delaware Watershed maps:

http://www.newjersey.gov/drbc/spw4.htm
http://www.newjersey.gov/drbc/maps/counties3.htm
http://www.newjersey.gov/drbc/spw.htm

Please help us and help yourself by acting NOW!

Sincerely,

Joe Levine and Jane Cyphers
http://www.DamascusCitizens.Org