February 14, 2011
Gasland at County Theater Feb. 15 & 17, 5:30 p.m.
The documentary Gasland will be screened at the County Theater this Tuesday and Thursday, February 15 and 17 at 5:30 p.m.
February 13, 2011
Submit your comments to the DRBC by April 15!
DRBC Extends Comment Period on Draft Natural Gas Development Regulations
West Trenton, N.J. (March 2) – The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) today announced that the period for submitting written comments on the proposed natural gas development rulemaking will be extended an additional 30 days through the close of business (5 p.m.) April 15, 2011. The comment period was to have ended March 16. . . .
Written comments will be accepted by two methods only:
1. Electronic submission using a web-based form available on the DRBC web site (preferred method); or
2. Paper submission mailed or delivered to: Commission Secretary, DRBC, P.O. Box 7360, 25 State Police Drive, West Trenton, NJ 08628-0360. Please include the name, address, and affiliation (if any) of the commenter.
The Delaware Riverkeeper offers a sample letter on their action page. A volunteer with Damascus Citizens for Sustainability offers a personal letter of her own as a sample and adds, "Urgent! Please write your own letter or print, sign and send this one. Thanks for helping save our drinking water! New York City saved theirs with 10,000 letters; we can do it too."
As a citizen of PA who lives in the Delaware River Basin, I strongly urge you to heed the advice of the Philadelphia Inquirer editorial “Is our water safe?” published March 20, 2011, which states, “Growing doubts about the safety of high-pressure drilling for natural gas should persuade the Delaware River Commission to extend its drilling ban.” The gas has been in the Marcellus Shale for millions of years and it can wait several more years for the EPA Study that is underway to show us how hydraulic fracturing for gas can be done safely and if it can be done without risking our water and health.
These are my recommendations regarding the regulations you have proposed:
1. Don’t allow any toxic chemicals from gas drilling to be discharged into our streams and rivers through sewer plants or in any other way. Our drinking water and health must be our top priority and the DRBC is responsible for protecting us.
2. Don’t allow uncovered “impoundments” or holding ponds to be used to store toxic wastewater and don’t allow importing of toxic wastewater from gas drilling outside the Delaware Basin. The wind can carry methane gas with carcinogenic and/or radioactive materials more than 100 miles and we can’t risk asthma in children or other health problems.
3. Don’t allow deep injection wells to be used to dispose of toxic wastewater because they have been linked with induced earthquakes in four other states and there is also the risk of aquifer contamination.
4. Don’t allow toxic and sometimes radioactive drill cuttings to be disposed of in landfills since they can leach into the ground and pollute aquifers.
In summary, please wait for the EPA study to provide guidance and direction before finalizing regulations!
DRBC Commissioners
25 State Police Drive
P.O. Box 7360
West Trenton, NJ 08628-0360
Dear DRBC Commissioners:
These are my recommendations regarding the regulations you have proposed:
1. Don’t allow any toxic chemicals from gas drilling to be discharged into our streams and rivers through sewer plants or in any other way. Our drinking water and health must be our top priority and the DRBC is responsible for protecting us.
2. Don’t allow uncovered “impoundments” or holding ponds to be used to store toxic wastewater and don’t allow importing of toxic wastewater from gas drilling outside the Delaware Basin. The wind can carry methane gas with carcinogenic and/or radioactive materials more than 100 miles and we can’t risk asthma in children or other health problems.
3. Don’t allow deep injection wells to be used to dispose of toxic wastewater because they have been linked with induced earthquakes in four other states and there is also the risk of aquifer contamination.
4. Don’t allow toxic and sometimes radioactive drill cuttings to be disposed of in landfills since they can leach into the ground and pollute aquifers.
In summary, please wait for the EPA study to provide guidance and direction before finalizing regulations!
Sincerely,
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