Week 6: Public Health
Use these easy on-line systems to ban fracking, ban frack wastewater, ban water exports for fracking! Powerful information from the Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility was released this week in The Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking. The Fifth Edition of an authoritative report started in 2014 examining the impacts of fracking on the environment and public health, it provides a treasure trove of information relevant to the DRBC’s current consideration of a ban on fracking and its activities in the Delaware River Watershed.
Write DRBC NOW for a COMPLETE frack ban!
Welcome to Week 6 of “8 Weeks to a Ban” and “Watershed Wednesdays”! This week we examine fracking through the expert eyes of health professionals who have reported and analyzed over 1,200 peer reviewed research articles on the impacts of fracking. The conclusion of the report is clear: The “…findings to date from scientific, medical, and journalistic investigations combine to demonstrate that fracking poses significant threats to air, water, health, public safety, climate stability, seismic stability, community cohesion, and long-term economic vitality. Emerging data from a rapidly expanding body of evidence continue to reveal a plethora of recurring problems and harms that cannot be sufficiently averted through regulatory frameworks. There is no evidence that fracking can operate without threatening public health directly or without imperiling climate stability upon which public health depends.” (p.266)
Even if you commented already, you can file another comment, there is no limit to how many an individual can submit. We need to drive the message home that is so well supported by the Compendium - the only way to prevent the harms of fracking is to completely ban it. The DRBC draft regulations that would allow the dumping of wastewater in the Watershed and allow the export of water from the Basin to fuel fracking elsewhere must be scrapped so that fracking and its activities are completely banned. So please weigh in on this topic by submitting a comment NOW.
Just click on the comment platforms and find suggested comments on this topic that you can quickly submit and, if you wish, there is also supplemental information that provides more in-depth background from the Compendium to help you write your own into the template we provide and then submit right there.
Your comments must be considered by the DRBC and the Commissioners - the Governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware - who will eventually vote on the frack ban. Please seize the moment with us to prevent the Delaware River watershed from being fracked!
Comment using these links:
Watershed Wednesdays and Eight Weeks to a Ban.
Please go to BOTH these links to send your comment – it’s easy!
You may also comment directly to DRBC using their portal. Use these Talking Points. You can also view the DRBC's draft regulations here.
See the great Rolling Stone article about the Compendium.
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) issued draft natural gas regulations on Nov. 30. They proposed a ban on fracking but, illogically, also issued draft regulations that would allow the toxic wastewater produced by fracking to be stored, processed, and discharged in the Delaware River Watershed and allow water to be exported from the Basin for fracking elsewhere. It is critical that we make it clear that we want to BAN IT ALL – ban fracking throughout the Watershed, ban frack wastewater from being dumped here, and ban Delaware River Watershed water from being exported to fuel fracking elsewhere.
This moment has been years in the making, please take part in the written comment process so we can achieve a COMPLETE ban on fracking once and for all throughout the Delaware River Watershed.
