DAYS OF ACTION: TESTIFY in TRENTON Thursday Feb. 24th... then Concert/Dance to Protect Our Waters

What:  Come to Trenton, NJ to testify at Delaware River Basin Commission hearing about draft fracking regulations

           This is the only formal DRBC hearing within an hour of Philadelphia prior to March 16th deadline

           If DRBC finalizes these regulations, that ends the moratorium on shale gas drilling in our watershed. This toxic extraction process will have negative impacts on our health, ecosystem, climate, and economy.   

Carpool / Trainpool Coordinator:  Jerry Silberman, ajs805phila@verizon.net   /  cell (215) 219-5158 

When:  Thursday February 24th, two sessions:  sign up in person by 12:30 for 1:30 - 5 PM session; 

                                                    sign up in person starting at 5 PM for 6 - 9:30 session. 

Where:  Patriots Theater, War Memorial

             1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, NJ

             Capacity:  1,833

TRAIN INFORMATION: scroll down below the "why" section!

AFTER-PARTY INFORMATION:  scroll down below the "train" section!

Why:  Come to testify: these regulations are inadequate and must not be finalized.   

If you are not ready to testify or can't sign up in time, come as a show of support for clean air, water, earth and food.

Why else:

The pro-drilling lobby with their deep pockets are providing free buses and free lunches to Trenton. 

This could create the mis-impression (in the media and in the public mind) that most Delaware River watershed residents want drilling to happen fast and furious.  Pro-drilling forces are pushing for no delay, don't want to wait for any EPA study or Cumulative Impact Study, and want to frack away despite zero regulation of methane, a greenhouse gas which is 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide when measured in a twenty year time frame.  

We must not ignore the accumulating health impacts people in Western states, and western PA, are experiencing!  Over 1000 instances of water contamination from shale gas drilling have been reported across the country.

We need clean energy jobs and a sustainable, renewable energy-based economy, not dangerous toxic extraction.

The facts:  

With current practices and current exemptions shale gas drilling is not safe; it does irreparable harm to water and air while escalating global warming by spewing unregulated methane into the atmosphere through the extraction process. The EPA study about hydraulic fracturing risks to water and air will not be complete for two years, and carcinogens such as benzene are turning up in drinking water near shale gas drilling sites in many states.  No cumulative impacts study whatsoever has been done in the Delaware River watershed and such a study is an absolute minimum requirement prior to any rules being finalized and the lifting of the moratorium here.

Congress is investigating right now how and why Halliburton and 11 other drilling companies injected 32 million gallons of diesel fuel underground as part of shale gas drilling operations from 2005 to 2009.  The EPA just announced that methane emissions at shale gas drilling sites are 9,000 times greater than they previously thought.  People and animals have gotten sick from toxic exposure to shale gas drilling operations, through water and air. 

We believe:

"STUDY FIRST" is absolutely the least we can demand.  Join us and fight for clean water and air, clean land and food, your health and your grandchildren's well-being. 

TRANSPORT FROM PHILADELPHIA:

DRBC public comment sessions for Thurs. Feb.24th are from 12:30-5pm and 6-9:30pm. Arrive at least an hour ahead of time in order to sign up to speak. First come, first serve.  We have several cars leaving at 11 AM and 3:30 PM. To join in contact

Jerry Silberman, ajs805phila@verizon.net   /  cell (215) 219-515

By SEPTA: Take the Trenton train (NOT the West Trenton train) to the last stop. Round trip evening tickets are $17.50. The trip takes 55 minutes. There's a train leaving 30th Street station in Philly at 11:05am and 3:59pm.During the day trains run about every hour. At rush hour, every half hour. 

There's a return train at 6:00pm and 9:39pm

By Amtrak: Take train heading towards New York and get off in Trenton. One way trips are $25 or $36. Trip takes a  half hour. There's one leaving 30th street station at 11:17am. and 3:56pm. Trains run about every half hour or hour during the day. At night, they run about every hour. For the night return trip, there's an 8:58pm or 10pm.
The Amtrak and Trenton Transit staions (where SEPTA regional rail goes) are located next to each other in Trenton. It is a  5 minute walk to the Patriots Theater War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive. Walking Directions:  Head south on S.Clinton Avenue. Take first right toward Market Street. Turn right at Market. Take Market a ways until Factory St. Turn left onto Factory. Continue straight to Memorial Drive.

WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM TRENTON... or IF YOU CAN'T GO, HAVE SOME FUN ANYWAY:

(You can even enter your DRBC comments at this concert / dance party / fundraiser for POW):

Frack is Whack — A party to protect the Delaware River and the safety of Philly's drinking water

Thursday, Feb. 24, 7:30 PM till late

Danger! Danger! Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., on the #34 Green Line trolley. 

Suggested donation $5-30

Featuring: Lillie Ruth Bussie
Todd Henkin of The Great Unknown
Joshua Marcus
Jack Ohly of West Philly Orchestra
Beth Nixon, Morgan Andrews and more!

Join us for live music, a booty-shakin dance party, river-themed cocktails, dancers, video projections, artwork — and a chance to submit a public comment to the Delaware River Basin Commission before fracking in our watershed begins in earnest! Proceeds go to Protecting Our Waters. 

From Cecily Anderson and the POWers

-- 

Iris Marie Bloom
Director, Protecting Our Waters
www.protectingourwaters.com

Host, "Frack Radio: The Shale Gas Report"

Episode 5: Bradford County's Bastion of Hope (half hour) http://wfte.org/?p=734

Episode 4: "Mythbusting Ingraffea and Philadelphia Courage"  http://wfte.org/?p=716

Episode 3:  Protest in Pennsylvania  http://wfte.org/?p=548

Episode 2:  Marcellus Money & Clean Water in the Age of Corbett http://wfte.org/?p=532

Episode 1:  Fractured Democracy: Rules Rushed in Delaware River Basin

http://wfte.org/?p=487

Contact Iris:c (215) 840-6489
protectingourwaters@gmail.com

"The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives"
                             --Teton Sioux

"A stream is not just a collection of resources for us to exploit, but a community of which we are members."
        -- James G. Blaine,
        "Seeing the Whole River,"
        Waterkeeper (Volume 6 Number 1)