Natural Gas Drilling Threatens Clean Streams

Natural gas drilling as it is being proposed for the Upper Delaware River region threatens devastation.
It threatens to devastate the streams and communities that live in the Upper Delaware and it threatens harm to all those who live down stream and rely upon the Delaware River for drinking water as well as those that rely upon the economic revenue generated by the beauty of the Upper Delaware region.

There are great debates regarding gas drilling taking place today.  The Delaware Riverkeeper Network is at the heart of that debate -- along with so many of the citizens and communities that are put at risk by the proposed drilling practices.

I will be posting more on this issue in the coming weeks - there is so much to learn and to tell.  But here is a video clip that talks about some of the harms threatening the still clean streams we have left in our watershed and region.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px5OfCvKnUQ

Delaware Deepening debated on NPR's Radio Times

Rather than read about it, here is a chance to listen to some of the risks and threats posed by the Delaware deepening project, and to listen to the back and forth debate from both sides.

This is a key issue for our region -- will we allow the health of the Delaware River, and all of the jobs, drinking water, critters and communities who depend upon it be put at risk for false promises that even the Army Corps of Engineers says will never come to pass?

We say no!
Take a listen and see what you think?

And of course, you can always learn more and follow this debate by checking out the information at the Delaware Riverkeeper Network's website (www.delawareriverkeeper.org)

http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2010/02/18/delaware-river-dredging/

Creating Jobs Shouldn't Mean Destroying the Environment

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.
Jobs are very important.
They allow us to eat, to live, to take care of our kids, to enjoy life, to care for ourselves, our families and all we care about.
Jobs are important.

But, creating a job should not be done at the expense of our environment or our communities.
Just the opposite, the best jobs, the ones that last and grow and advance our communities are those that respect, honor and protect our environment.

Making cigarettes creates jobs.  It also kills people.
About 5.4 million people die each year because of tobacco.  By 2030 this is predicted to rise to 8.3 million.
Every 6.5 seconds a current or former smoker dies.
If cigarette companies had argued, way back when, that in the interest of creating jobs they had to kill over 5 million people a year would we have agreed that all of these deaths was worth it to create some jobs?

PCBs now contaminate over 10 species of fish in the Delaware River, you can't eat them or should limit your consumption of them because to do otherwise exposes you to dangerous levels of PCBs.
PCBs have been shown to cause a variety of serious health effects including cancer and serious non-cancer illnesses.  PCBs cause cancer, harm the immune system, harm the nervous system, harm the endocrine system.  PCBs, among other things, harm short term memory development and learning.  PCBs have been shown to change thyroid hormone levels in infants, by affecting thyroid hormone levels PCBs can affect normal growth and development.  PCBs can affect liver toxicity, blood pressure, cholesterol levels.  PCBs can harm the reproductive system.
Having PCBs in the fish of the Delaware River exposes all who eat them -- some by choice but some because they have to in order to feed themselves and their families -- to these dangerous harms.  It also affects the level of commercial and recreational fishing that can and does happen on the Delaware River.
When the creators of PCBs were first embarking on its creation do you think as a community we would have agreed to sacrifice the health of our fish and families in order to support the jobs made by creating PCBs?

Today, folks are quick to overlook the harms to others from a particular project or proposal whenever it is preceded by "but it will create jobs."
The problem is that the short term gain of some jobs, if left unchecked, can so often result in the long term loss of many jobs and the health of many in our communities.

Creating a job should not be an acceptable excuse for creating harm to our environment and others.

The deepening, it is argued, will create some port jobs and therefore, it is argued, should be allowed to happen regardless of its implications for others.
But that is not good enough; it should not be allowed to be good enough for this dangerous project to move forward.

Deepening the Delaware River puts at risk so many - It threatens species already on the brink of extinction, species which now or once supported a tremendous wealth of economic benefit and jobs for our region in a way that did not inflict such wholesale environmental and community harm.  It threatens to move the River's salt line that puts at risk drinking water supplies for South Jersey and Philadelphia, as well as the oysters that support a vibrant and needed industry in our region.  It threatens to change the River in a way that will erode away and harm the wetlands that are important habitat and that provide storm protection to our communities.

Deepening the Delaware River is argued to create some port jobs.  But what about the jobs we know exist, jobs people and families rely upon today, that could be decimated by deepening because of the harm it will do to our River and environments?

Among those environments and associated jobs and economies put at risk by deepening:

ü    The annual harvest of oysters from the Delaware Estuary that now generates up to $80 million of economic benefit.  The loss of this income would be devastating to those communities dependent upon it, some of them the poorest in our region.

ü    The $34 million ecotourism industry dependent upon the horseshoe crabs and migratory shorebird phenomenon of the Delaware Bay, providing crucial support to local economies in the “off-season.  And the additional $34 million of ecotourism generated by other shorebirds dependent upon a healthy Bay.

ü    The $150 million of annual revenue and social welfare value from the horseshoe crab-dependent biomedical industry to whom one pint of Horseshoe Crab blood is worth $15,000 for required testing on medical devices, vaccines and intravenous drugs used by all. 

ü    Spending in the estuary region by recreational anglers valued at an average of $62 to $100 per day which fuels jobs and income critical for many of our region's communities. 

Why is it okay with Senator Specter, Governor Rendell, Delaware Assemblymen J. Johnson, G. Carey and G. Hocker, and the port community to put these jobs and economic benefits on the chopping block? 

Those opposing deepening do not oppose the ports.  In fact we have advocated for wise port investments that will protect the environment and create port jobs at the same time.  Our goal is to protect all communities, all jobs, and all who depend upon the Delaware River; not to sacrifice the many in order to benefit only those who are using this project to further their own political, personal and professional agendas.

The Special Delaware Has Special Atlantic Sturgeon

The Delaware River is unique and special in so very many ways -- in ways that many know, but also in many ways folks don't know.

Did you know that the Delaware River is home to a unique population of Atlantic Sturgeon?  There is a population of Atlantic Sturgeon that lives it the Delaware River which is only found here, in our River -- they are genetically distinct from all other Atlantic Sturgeon on earth.  Amazing.

At one time there were so many sturgeon in the Delaware River that they provided 75% of the caviar nationwide.  But then, as people do, people took advantage and overharvested the sturgeon, to the point of decimation.  By the early 1900s sturgeon fishers were pulling in only 6% of what they had pulled in just two decades before.

The Atlantic Sturgeon have such an extended life cycle, and reproductive cycle, that it has inhibited their recovery.  Females don't sexually mature until around age 16; boys age 12.

But the real reason the Atlantic Sturgeon have not been able to recover is not because of their normal growth and reproductive cycle, it is because people continue to take advantage -- advantage of the sturgeon and the River they live in.  Pollution, dredging, harvest as bycatch from other species, and more all continue to pound the Atlantic Sturgeon into decline.

By some estimates we have less than 100 Atlantic Sturgeon in the Delaware River -- LESS THAN 100!

The Delaware River Atlantic Sturgeon have a special, unique and irreplaceable place in our River and on this earth. They deserve our respect and care.  Whether you appreciate them as another living member of our planet, or as a contributor of food, jobs and income to those who would harvest them and/or eat them -- swift action is needed to restore the Atlantic Sturgeon populations to the Delaware River.

You can help provide the Atlantic Sturgeon the protection they need -- go to the Delaware Riverkeeper Network website at www.delawareriverkeeper.org to learn how you can take action to have the Delaware River Atlantic Sturgeon identified as endangered and receive extra needed protection pursuant to federal law.

February 5, 2010 is the deadline.
Please don't wait to take your action.
We have less than 100 -- the Atlantic Sturgeon need your help now.

Delaware Deepening -- A Threat to Jobs and the Environment

              There is a bounty of data, documents and records to demonstrate the wealth of environmental harm and the lack of economic and job benefits from deepening of the Delaware River.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative office of Congress, is among those who have shown that the claims of economic benefits from deepening the Delaware River an additional five feet are, in large part, a sham.  And sadly the sham was not an accident – it was the result of “miscalculations, invalid assumptions, and outdated information.”

The Army Corps and project supporters admit that resulting shipping benefits from deepening are in the form of increased efficiencies – the same volume of goods will come up the River just in fewer ships.   In fact, the way the Army Corps says it:  “The future volume of cargo passing through the Delaware River port system is determined by macroeconomic factors that are not affected in any measurable way by the channel depth. The purpose of the deepening project is to make it possible to handle … cargo in a more efficient way.  This efficiency takes the form of more-heavily-loaded vessels.  With the deeper channel, fewer total vessel calls will be required because it will be possible to handle more cargo per ship.” 

Less ships, less offloading, same amount of cargo?  Less jobs, not more.

            Agencies and experts have been documenting the threats of deepening for nearly two decades including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Delaware River Basin Commission, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the University of Delaware’s Sea Grant Program, experts associated with the Delaware Estuary program. 

While Deepening will not be the impetus for new port jobs, it will undermine, diminish and jeopardize River jobs – jobs dependent upon the quality of the Delaware River, its fish, shellfish, wildlife and ecosystems.  Introducing toxins into the already overburdened River, damaging habitats critical for fish and shellfish, burying horseshoe crab and Saballaria vulgaris populations, blasting away at reaches of the River, moving the saltline upriver in a way that threatens contamination of New Jersey and Philadelphia drinking water and introduces harm to oysters and freshwater marshes, causing and/or accelerating erosion of marshlands important for habitat and protecting communities from catastrophic storms, subjecting communities to 60 to 94 feet high piles of toxic dredged muck, individually and collectively harms a wide array of commercial, recreational and ecotourism jobs and revenues.   Among those jobs and economies put at risk:

ü    The annual harvest of oysters from the Delaware Estuary is projected to generate from $50 to $80 million of economic benefit.  The loss of this income would be devastating to those communities dependent upon it.

ü    The $34 million ecotourism industry dependent upon the horseshoe crabs and migratory shorebird phenomenon of the Delaware Bay, providing crucial support to local economies in the “off-season.  And the additional $34 million of ecotourism generated by other shorebirds dependent upon a healthy Bay.

ü    The $150 million of annual revenue and social welfare value from the horseshoe crab-dependent biomedical industry to whom one pint of Horseshoe Crab blood is worth $15,000 for required testing on medical devices, vaccines and intravenous drugs used by all. 

ü    Spending in the estuary region by recreational anglers valued at an average of $62 to $100 per day. 

            And much, much more.

            Why is it okay with the port community to put these jobs and economic benefits on the chopping block? 

            Those opposing deepening do not oppose the ports.  In fact we have advocated for wise port investments that will protect the environment and create port jobs at the same time.  Our goal is to protect all communities, all jobs, and all who depend upon the Delaware River; not to sacrifice the many in order to benefit only those who are using this project to further their own political, personal and professional agendas.

Protecting the River from Gas Drilling -- PA Action Happening Now

The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection has proposed regulations for natural gas drilling wastewater and other discharges that are high in Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). A discharge standard of 500 mg/L TDS, 250 mg/L for chlorides and 250 mg/L sulfates have been proposed based on a stated goal of protecting drinking water quality. While this is a step in the right direction, the regulations need to be stronger and the standards need to be protective of fish and aquatic life as well as drinking water -- and to accomplish this 500 mc/L of TDS is simply not strict enough. 

Further, the proposed rules do not include any testing or regulation of the many dangerous chemicals that are used in hydrofracking and that are produced as toxic flowback when a shale gas well is developed; this is a gross oversight.

Most importantly, the State continues to crank out drilling permits and issue discharge permits for facilities that do not meet this standard now; they plan to continue to allow gas projects and discharges to proliferate even though the new rules are not expected to be adopted until 2011.  There must be no new gas well drilling permits nor any wastewater discharge permits issued until protective standards and comprehensive regulations are adopted and implemented by PADEP; it is irresponsible for DEP to continue to issue permits for wells that will produce more wastewater than existing facilities can process. A MORATORIUM should be implemented until our streams and rivers are protected from gas drilling wastewater pollution!

Defending the Delaware from Deepening to Protect the River for All

Today we learned that the Delaware Riverkeeper, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and the organizations that have joined us in our litigation are being allowed to intervene in the call for an injunction to stop the Army Corps from proceeding with the project until our legal challenges are done.  This sound decision by the court will help ensure that the wide variety of legal violations and environmental threats the project poses are fully addressed in the Court's decision.

The Army Corps plan to begin deepening before it has fulfilled all of its obligations under environmental protection laws and before the release of the newest Government Accountability Office Review that is now ongoing seems to demonstrate the tremendous fear the Army Corps has in the outcome of honest environmental and economic reviews.  It has been nearly 20 years since this project was proposed - the rush to act now is clearly driven by fear and/or politics, rather than need.

The Army Corps is claiming that Congress has demonstrated its support for the project.  Such a pronouncement is disingenuous in light of the findings by the Government Accountability Office as recently as 2006 that

  “GAO’s recent reviews of four Corps civil works projects [including the Delaware Deepening] and actions found that the planning studies conducted by the Corps to support these activities were fraught with errors, mistakes, and miscalculations, and used invalid assumptions and outdated data.  Generally, GAO found that the Corps’ studies understated costs and overstated benefits, and therefore did not provide a reasonable basis for decision-making.”

The Army Corps has not given the Congress an accurate picture of the deepening, its environmental threats, or economic ramifications.  Nor has it given an accurate picture to the public, including those who misguidedly support the project.

And the Army Corps, as well as project supporters, have failed to consider the harm that could be done to all those jobs that rely on the healthy fish, shellfish, and wildlife of the Delaware.  We are talking about multi-million dollar industries, put at risk from the environmental harm the deepening threatens.  In fact, when these jobs have been brought to the table for consideration those who support the project quickly and callously dismiss them as unimportant.

Well, they are not unimportant.  They are very important.  The health of the River and its ecosystems are vital to us all and it is not okay for one small sector of the community to seek to harm the River purely for their own private gain, at the expense of everyone else.

The Army Corps is failing to honor its obligation to protect the public; so it is now on the Courts to do so.