UPCOMING EVENTS THAT COULD PROTECT US FROM HYDROFRACKING!

Protect your drinking water, Protect the DRBC

WHAT IS THE DRBC? The DRBC (Delaware River Basin Commission) was funded by Congress to "protect and manage" the waters of the Delaware River. This watershed provides drinking water to 15.6 million people -- including NYC, Philadelphia, most of South Jersey and almost all of Delaware State. It reaches from upstate New York all the way to Chesapeake Bay. And yet, the DRBC is considering allowing fracking within this singular, pristine, watershed. The Delaware was named the country's most endangered river in 2010 because of this threat. WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE SPECTRA PIPELINE? Drillers contracted to supply gas to NYC via the Spectra pipeline would very much like to frack the Delaware River basin. NYC would end up receiving fracked, radioactive gas from areas where drilling will cause irreversible damage to our water supply, and air pollution from these nearby drill sites will be carried to the metro area. WHEN WILL THEY DECIDE? The DRBC will vote whether or not to allow fracking within the basin next Monday, Nov. 21st. Composed of governor-appointed commissioners from NY, NJ, PA and DE, plus the Army Corps of Engineers as the federal representative, this body needs 3 votes to pass a resolution. NJ and PA will vote pro-fracking. NY and DE very likely will vote against it. That makes the federal government (The Army Corps of Engineers) the deciding factor. HOW CAN YOU KEEP THE DRBC SAFE? The Army Corps is tallying the number of calls for and against drilling in the Delaware River Basin. If the regulations are passed, fracking can begin in the Delaware River Basin. We must ensure this disaster does not happen. Please call by Friday: Office of US Army Corps of Engineers Colonel Christopher Larsen, Commander of the North Atlantic Division, USACE Phone: 347-370-4501 Email: nad-exec@usace.army.mil Also please call or write President Obama: White House Comment Line, until Friday, 9-5 eastern time: 202-456-1111 White House by Email Be there for the vote: Monday, Nov. 21st in Trenton, N.J. 8 am Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive Trenton, N.J. The public is not allowed to comment on the final regulations, but a 2000-seat hall is available to witness the DRBC vote on them. WE ALL NEED TO BE AT THIS MEETING. Bus and carpool locations can be found by zip code here. Rally at the meeting: Two training sessions in lawful, peaceful, first amendment activity will be offered Sunday evening, Nov. 20, in Trenton (6:30-9:15 PM) and in NYC (5-7:00 PM). The NYC training will be held at the Rose Auditorium at Cooper Union, 41 Cooper Square (3rd ave between E. 6th St and E. 7th Streets, just southeast of Astor Place). To sign up: Save The Delaware

Other Upcoming Events

Thursday, Nov. 17, 7-8:30pm, free
Cathedral of Saint John, 1047 Amsterdam Ave. at 112th street
A conversation with Maude Barlow, founder of the Blue Planet Project,
and Wenonah Hauter, Director of Food and Water Watch

Friday, Nov. 18th, 6:30pm, free
New York City Friends of Clearwater
Monthly meeting, songfest and potluck dinner
This month, the meeting will include elections for NYCFC officers, then, starting at 8pm, a workshop run by Edie Kantrowitz on how to write letters to the NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation commenting on their fracking SGEIS. We have only until Dec. 12th to send comments to the DEC.

Weds., Nov. 30, Two sessions: 1-4 and 6-9pm
Save the Date: NYC DEC Hearings on fracking
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, just east of the West Side Highway

Like the FERC process of "reviewing" pipelines, the NY State system for deciding whether or not to frack is a stacked and biased process. Regulations will not protect us from fracking; as with the DRBC, dithering over the distance of setbacks is simply negotiating the circumstances of our own poisoning. The process must be made illegal.

As we did with such great success at the Jersey City and Manhattan Spectra hearings, we must turn out in mass numbers for this DEC (Department of Conservation) hearing. This is the final hearing on the draft SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement) and the only downstate hearing. Please come to testify against the dangers of fracking and to protest the biased regulatory process itself. This is an opportunity to highlight the connection between fracking and pipelines, to reiterate the dangers of radon and toxins to NYC should fracking or new pipelines be allowed.

[courtesy of the Sane Energy Project)