FRACKING: What's in Your Water?

Drilling wastes from the Marcellus Shale contain radioactive materials, including Radium and Radon. The NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation permits 5 upstate NY landfills to accept out-of-state Marcellus drilling wastes, even though none of the landfills has a license to handle Radioactive materials. 

One landfill is in Angelica, NY and another is in the city of Niagara Falls. Landfill water leachate is sent to water treatment plants that are not equipped to remove Radioactive materials, posing a threat to public health.

Ingestion of Radium in water can cause leukemia and bone cancer. Inhalation of Radon gas is the primary cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

Handling, monitoring, transportation and disposal of radioactive waste is much more costly to the gas drilling industry than dealing with waste that is not identified as radioactive.

Efforts by NY Senate Democrats to prohibit imports of hazardous Marcellus drilling wastes into New York have been blocked by Senate Republicans. 

Transportation and disposal in New York of radioactive drilling waste from Pennsylvania and other states should be prohibited to protect public health.

Read about the above and additional threats to our water in the excellent report by Peter Mantius entitled New York Imports Pennsylvania’s Radioactive Fracking Waste Despite Falsified Water Tests.

RALLY: Protect our Water, Air, Land and People

President Obama will visit Buffalo on Thursday, August 22 to speak at UB Alumni Arena. People opposed to unsafe fracking want the topic of shale gas drilling to be on the President's agenda and will hold a rally there.

Check the WNY Drilling Defense FB for updates, contacts & map HERE.
See also an informative PDF from the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter HERE.

Sponsors include WNY Drilling Defense and Sierra Club Niagara Group 
and Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter

WNY Drilling Defense wants to send the President a clear message that fracking is unsafe and that we don't want fracking in New York – or anywhere else. 

Rita Yelda will have protest signs available if you need them.

Sierra Club Niagara Group wants to tell the President that they want Renewable Energy - Not Fracking - and No Keystone Pipeline!

Bob Ciesielski will also have protest signs available. Also, printable signs can be found HERE

Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter says that the rally is a critical opportunity to tell the President that he needs to end his misguided support of dangerous, polluting fracking. Urge the President to Embrace Renewable Energy and say NO to Fracking!

"Take Back Main Street" - Village of Williamsville Events & Plans

The Village of Williamsville has plans in the works to make Main Street more pedestrian friendly and walkable. As part of this venture, the Village is urging pedestrians to “Take Back Main Street” and have some fun this weekend on what is normally a vehicle-congested road. 

On Saturday, August 17, a portion of Main Street will be closed to traffic for a three-hour "Village Block Party" (6pm-9pm) featuring music, food and fun. Ride your bicycles to the “bike bash,” which will be held outside the Irishman Restaurant. Listen to musicians performing on Main Street. Kids can bring chalk and draw on the road.

On Friday, August 16, a party will be held on Spring Street (6pm-9pm) to celebrate plans for the street and the Williamsville Water Mill. See the poster below for details.

 

For more information, read the report in The Buffalo News and visit PictureMainStreet.com.

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