Pennsylvania Politicians Steal Property Rights to Support Gas Drilling

My daughter and husband playing by the brook on our land

Governor Rendell and many Pennsylvania politicians often resist issuing regulations to protect us from pollution, runoff and other environmental degradations -- even if water would be contaminated, communities flooded or economies harmed -- because to do so might strip a property owner of their rights to use the land for economic gain.

Now, by contrast, Governor Rendell is planning to strip me of my property rights to protect my 68 acres in Columbia County from misuse and harm.  These are the acres my Mother cherished and which, on her death bed, she called on me to protect from harm.

My Mum enjoying her land still during that last year
when she was battling her pancreatic cancer

Governor Rendell and others are seeking legislation called "forced pooling" that would strip me of my right to say no to natural gas drilling under my land.  

Drilling for natural gas on any portion of my property (whether the drill pad is located on the grounds or the drilling and injection of fracking chemicals are allowed to take place under the ground) puts at risk the waters that feed the tiny brook that flows through that land (a brook named after my daughter), threatens the many springs of fresh water that come to the surface all over, and puts at risk the well water I and my kids drink in the house.  

Gas Drilling happening nearby our property

With this legislation, I would be stripped of my legal right to say no to drilling, the injection of chemicals and the extraction of gas from the rock, soils and minerals that are part of my land (and therefore part of my legally owned property), if neighbors of mine decide to open up their lands to drilling.  

So Governor Rendell and other PA politicians are happy to defend the rights of property owners in order to prevent environmental and community protection laws from being passed; and yet now they are eager to strip me of my property rights to say no to the misuse of my land in a way that will harm the environment, my family and my community.  

There is one word to describe this kind of politicking -- "hypocrisy".

Music - One of My Ways to Stay Strong for the River

People often ask me:  “how do you keep going in face of all of the opposition and challenges you face every day?”

There are a lot of ways I keep my passion and strength up to face the daily challenges and attacks I face in my job.  One of them is music, good music about protecting the environment. 

Before itunes and the like I had a cassette of songs I put together.  I’d listen to it all the time when in the car on the way to a hearing or a meeting or just to and from work.  Eventually it wore out.  And so for a long time I was without my environmental protection/social justice music.  But once I learned how to use today’s modern technology to amass this kind of music again I got to work. I haven’t found all of the songs I had in my original collection, but I found a lot and recently have found much more.

I’m always looking for good songs to add to my play list so if you have ideas please share them as a comment to this blog.  I need to expand my repertoire.

And for those who are interested, here are some of the songs that really help keep my mind and heart focused on taking on and winning the daily challenges for the River:

• Of course: “Maya van Rossum’s Blues” by the Donuts (a song about the Athos I oil spill on the Delaware River)
•  “Clear Blue Skies” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
•  “The Rape of the World” by Tracy Chapman – listen for the part where she urges you to “stand up and testify”
• “Nature’s Way” by Spirit
•  “We Bought it” by Brother Tree
• “Help Your Mother” by Brother Tree
• “All Over” by Brother Tree
• “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson
•   “Not Ready to Make Nice” by the Dixie Chicks as I see this as a song about speaking for what you believe is right despite the opposition you face
•  “If a Tree Falls” by Bruce Cockburn
• “Way of the World” by Chante Pierce
•  “Good bye to a River” by Don Henley
• “Simple Living” by Fred Small
• “Treehugger” by J.P. Taylor
• “Rise to the Challenge” by J.P. Taylor
• “Down along the River” by J.P. Taylor
• “Hug the Earth” by J.P. Taylor
• “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver
•  “Don’t Cut Me Down” by Olivia Newton John
• “Silent Ruin” by Olivia Newton John

Boaters Beware -- Robbing the River From the Public, From Boaters, Is Plan of Some in Wake of Duck Boat Tragedy

River Belongs to the Public -- Including the Day to Day Boaters

Speakers on the radio, in the news, authors of letters to the editor and others are starting to assert that by virtue of the fact that they were operating on the Delaware River, including in and around the main navigation channel, the Duck Boat operators are somehow primarily responsible for the accident that took place on July 7, 2010. These characterizations are not only wrong -- blame cannot be placed simply because the Ducks Boats were operating on the Delaware River -- but they are now being used by some like the Maritime Exchange, to try to kick boaters off the water in Philadelphia leaving it open only to barge, tug, tanker and container traffic.  

The Duck Boat tragedy should not be used as a messaging tool to attempt to deprive the public, boaters, fishers and small business operations from free and appropriate access to the Delaware River.  This issue of boat access is a bit like the defense of the first amendment, we need to protect it for all; sometimes that means protecting it for the one in order to protect it for the all.  And so boaters and fishers of all kinds need to stand together to protect access to the Delaware River, no matter what kind of boat we are talking about.

The Delaware is a shared resource – it is a resource that belongs to the public and which we choose to share with industry.   The Delaware River does not belong to the ports or industry.  It is wholly inappropriate for any individual or entity to suggest that port operators or big business have a higher right to travel upon the Delaware River than the public.   It is wholly inappropriate for any individual or entity to attempt to use this tragedy to urge the ejection of the public, boaters, fishers or small business from travelling in any portion of the Delaware River if they are behaving responsibly, operating with the correct safety equipment, and operating in accordance with safe boating operations and measures.

BP's Lesson for the Delaware River and Region

The BP oil spill should teach all of our legislators, regulators, friends and neighbors a huge lesson – the health of our Rivers, oceans, wetlands, streams, matter – they matter for every level of life.  In addition to clean waterways for drinking water, recreation, and our health, we need the clean water and healthy habitats to sustain the jobs that sustain lives, families and whole economies.   This is as true here along the Delaware River as it is in the Gulf.  The Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s recently released River Values report proves that. (found at www.delawareriverkeeper.org)

And yet, now that the spill has been weeks in happening, once again we hear conservative anti-environmentalists attacking any and all who are seeking strong laws and regulations and actions to protect our rivers, oceans and environments from the never-ending search for fossil fuels – whether it is oil drilling in the ocean, natural gas drilling in the Upper Delaware, or drastic deepening projects and LNG facilities to make transportation of that fuel cheaper for the oil companies and their profits.  This reality despite that seeking cleaner energy strategies are better long term job creating and community protecting investments.

(Please notice I said “conservative anti-environmentalists” not republicans.  This is not a political party issue.  Protecting our environment should be the highest priority for all political parties and at many points in history has been.)

We can no longer allow extremist groups rob us of the environmental protection we deserve and need – they do it by capturing the message and capturing the press.  But if we were to rise together in a common voice for the River, for the environment, for the health and future of our selves, our families, our children, and the critters that enrich our lives the extremists could not rob us of the message and in so doing rob us of strong action by our political representatives. 

 

When the extremist anti-enviros steal the message our politicians seem to cower.  Instead they need to stand strong and proud and take back the message, stressing that we best protect ourselves when we best protect our River and environments.  If the politicians on either side of the aisle don’t have the backbone to take back the message and take the action on their own to protect our River and environment, it is our job as the public to give them the strength and spine they need to help them -- to force them -- to do it.

New Report Documents Failure of New Jersey Towns to Protect from Runoff and Enforce Law -- Now the Governor Needs to Listen

A new report was released today, Monday May 24, 2010, (New Jersey Stormwater Management Implementation – A Case Study of Hamilton Township) which documents:

• improper implementation of New Jersey’s stormwater program at the municipal level; and
• a failure by the State to oversee the program and to protect against local abuses, and damaged application of the law to development projects.

The report contradicts the findings of Governor Christie's Red Tape Review Group regarding the state stormwater program.  In Appendix H the Red Tape Review Group said there was a duplication of responsibility and effort by the DEP and the municipalities in the implementation of the stormwater program and that perhaps the DEP should be pulled out of the review process. 

This new report demonstrates that DEP absolutely must not be taken out of the review and implementation process of new Jersey's stormwater regulations.  The law, as currently written, is only flawed because it isn’t being fully or properly implemented and enforced, both at the municipal and state level.

Responding to concerns about the stormwater program the Delaware Riverkeeper Network hired 4 consulting firms to review a series of projects in Hamilton twp -- they looked for completeness, accuracy and compliance with the stormwater law.

• Of the 12 projects we present in the review, projects complied with the law a pidly average of 42% of the time. 
• When it came to using the nonstructural strategies so important to the NJ regs, compliance averaged an even worse 13%.
• Likewise the report found troubling results in the state’s efforts to identify and respond to these dramatic shortcomings.

 The result of the failures of local municipalities and the DEP to ensure full and fair compliance with the state stormwater program is:

• increasing flooding for communities like Hamilton Twp and downstream communities like Trenton;
• increasing costs for communities in the form of emergency flood response, including police services and public works departments;
• polluting and eroding streams in a way that undermines infrastructure, infects drinking water, damages businesses and jobs, damages recreation and associated ecotourism, reduces property values, and threatens health and safety of communities.

If the NJ Stormwater regulations were implemented as they are written, with both the state and municipalities participating, NJ communities would save and make money. 

For example, vegetated buffers, an important strategy that results from implementation of the NJ stormwater regulations,

• Reduces the volume of runoff, filters pollution and prevents erosion. 
• At the same time buffers can increase the value of nearby homes by 6 to 15%. 
• "Pennypack Park in Philadelphia is credited with a 38% increase in the value of a nearby property." Forested buffers generate tax revenues for host communities – in fact, in the United States trees planted on private properties have generated over $1.5 billion in tax revenue.

 Protecting and restoring tree cover -- has saved some New Jersey communities billions of dollars in infrastructure that would otherwise be needed to manage stormwater runoff:

• Protecting existing tree cover was found to have prevented 65 million cubic feet of stormwater runoff in the Big Timber Creek watershed here in New Jersey saving communities $3.3 billion in stormwater infrastructure.
• In the Mill Creek watershed also in New Jersey, protecting existing tree cover prevented 6.7 million cubic feet of stormwater runoff saving the community $350 million in stormwater infrastructure.

Just  3 weeks ago the Delaware Riverkeeper Network issued another report – “River Values, the Value of a Clean and Healthy Delaware River” in which the organization documented that protecting our streams and rivers, with a particular focus on runoff issues, brings to our States and region irreplaceable jobs, economic revenue, tax benefits, and increased safety from illness, physical harm and from economic harm.

The Red Tape Review Group has it wrong – we need a strong stormwater program to protect the jobs and economies of New Jersey.  The way to get that in New Jersey is for the state to provide complimentary reviews and needed oversight so as to ensure full enforcement of the regulations we already have on the books. 

When we leave the program in the hands of municipalities alone, the results can be abysmal failure, as is illustrated by the problems documented in the Hamilton Township report. 

State participation in NJ’s stormwater program is not redundant, it is necessary!

Very Cool Article about Deepening and Delaware Riverkeeper Network

The linked article gives a spectacular picture of the deepening battle and what we are facing.
I have to say I think the cartoon is really cool too.
Dont' think there's much more to say but check it out.

http://citypaper.net/articles/2010/05/20/delaware-riverkeeper-maya-van-rossum

How much is a healthy Delaware River worth? More than anyone could ever conceive or pay!

When local, state and federal governments are being pressured to create jobs, jobs, jobs, the River and environment are often undervalued and their value as a job creator and economic engine vital for the region gets downplayed and forgotten as the special interests fight for their pet projects.  At the Delaware Riverkeeper Network we have written a report that demonstrates that protecting and restoring the Delaware River is fundamental to healthy jobs, economies and communities in our region and if sacrificed to achieve short term political or industrial ends will result in the undermining of the health, enjoyment and economic vitality of our region’s children, families and communities.

 So often we hear about the need to deepen the Delaware to support big oil or industry, or that the state and local regulations that protect our waterways are too great a burden and must be relaxed or eliminated, or that the River is needed to support power plants regardless of the number of fish they slaughter, or that we have to continue to allow industries and communities to dump sewage, toxins, and other pollution into the River.  What gets lost in all of these conversations is the reality that a clean, healthy and free flowing river is essential for the jobs of others, to protect us from illness, to prevent us from suffering unnecessary flood damages.  Big business, politicians and bureaucrats are so busy worrying about whether Dupont will sue them or the ports will oppose them in an election that they forget the River can benefit many more when we protect it for the benefit of all.

Our report titled River Values, includes case studies documenting individuals  and businesses that benefit economically from a clean and healthy Delaware River.  But it also shows the many ways a healthy Delaware River and tributary streams protect us, benefit us, nurture us, enrich us, care for us as individuals and communities.  

If you are fighting to protect the Delaware or any of its tributary streams or habitats from harm this report, River Values, is a must read.  It's going to be a great tool for many of us.

To learn how to get a copy contact the Delaware Riverkeeper Network -- 215 369 1188 or at drn@delawareriverkeeper.org

Some of the Important Facts in the Report:

ü  In 1986 the Upper Delaware attracted 232,000 whitewater paddlers who spent $13.3 million, adding $6.2 million to local economy and supporting 291 local jobs.

ü  In just one year the Upper Delaware and Delaware Water Gap brought to our local communities 367,400 whitewater paddlers, who spent over $20 million (20,229,000), contributed almost $10 million (9,895,000) to our local economies, and supported 447 jobs. 

ü  Trout fishing in the Upper Delaware River resulted in one year in $17.69 million in local business revenue.  This revenue supporting 348 jobs, providing $3.65 million in wages and $719,350 in local taxes.  This investment translates into an ongoing $29.98 million in local economic activities.

ü  River festivals generate as many as 75,000 visitors to small riverside towns, giving an important boost to local businesses.

ü  Over 2.1 million bushels of clam and oyster shells have been harvested in the Delaware Bay from 2005 thru 2009.  For the region, oyster harvest resulting from this federal investment is projected to generate up to and over $80 million of annual economic benefit, much of this in some of New Jersey’s poorest communities who could not tolerate the loss of associated jobs, revenue and benefit.

ü  The annual economic value of migratory bird and horseshoe crab phenomenon in the Bayshore area provides $25 million in benefits to the Delaware Bayshore area and $34 million regionally.  Because most of these expenditures occur in the “off-season,” they are particularly valuable to local economies.

ü  Protecting, restoring and valuing the ecosystems of the Delaware River is not just of economic import, but is also important to the health and safety of our region.

ü  The biomedical industry dependent on the horseshoe crabs found in the Delaware Bay is said to provide $150 million of value in addition to the life saving tests they provide for medical devices, intravenous drugs and to detect life threatening illness such as spinal meningitis.  The LAL needed for these tests is irreplaceable, found only in the blood of the horseshoe crab, cannot be created synthetically.

ü  In the United States trees planted on private properties have generated over $1.5 billion in tax revenue and can increase the value of nearby homes by 6 to 15%.

ü  Trees in just four of our local watersheds saved a combined $6 ½ billion in otherwise needed infrastructure. (Big Timber, Cobbs, Mill, & Frankford-Tacony)