Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper - Register for Annual Shoreline Sweep

JOIN US FOR THE 14th ANNUAL SHORELINE SWEEP!

Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 10:00 AM -12:00 PM

Be part of WNY’s largest single-day shoreline cleanup!

This is your opportunity to join the effort to protect and revitalize our waterways by cleaning up shoreline trash, including single-use plastics that can harm fish and wildlife.

With over 60 sites to choose from, find one close to home or explore somewhere new! Join us afterwards at the volunteer appreciation party.

To Register for both a cleanup site and the party, click here.

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Shoreline Cleanup preparations at Ellicott Creek Park in 2018

Rally Outside Cuomo's UB Speech to Stop the Fracked Gas Pipeline

RALLY outside Governor Cuomo's 'State of the State' speech 

Monday January 9th, 2:00 UB North Campus!

Say NO to the Northern Access Pipeline!

In the days before his SOS speech, CALL GOVERNOR CUOMO.

Dial (518) 474-8390

Press 3 to talk with a representative

To see suggested messages, Click Here.

or 

Use your own…there are plenty of compelling reasons to say  

NO NOrthern Access 2016!

We need Gov. Cuomo and the DEC to Deny the DEC 401 Water Quality Permit for National Fuel’s proposed Northern Access 2016 Pipeline Project

WE NEED TO COMPLETE THE BAN ON FRACKING by 

SAYING NO TO FRACKED GAS INFRASTRUCTURE

CONTACT: Diana - Niagara Sierra Club niagarasierra@gmail.com 

Federal Jury Awards $4.2 Million to Families with Water Polluted by Gas Drilling

Two Dimock, Pa., families who declined a Marcellus Shale gas driller's offer in 2012 to settle their claims of water contamination were awarded $4.24 million Thursday by a federal jury.

The verdict in U.S. District Court in Scranton was a blow to Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., which had maintained that its drilling was not responsible for the elevated level of methane in the families' water wells.

The eight-member jury found that Cabot's drilling was negligent and created a nuisance for the families of Scott Ely and Monica Marta-Ely and Ray and Victoria Hubert. It awarded the Elys $2.75 million and the Huberts $1.49 million.

In 2009, more than 40 Dimock residents sued Cabot, claiming that the Houston gas producer's rush to drill the Marcellus Shale had polluted their wells.

All but the Elys and Huberts settled in 2012 after tests showed wells contained elevated levels of methane, but none of the chemicals associated with gas drilling.

Read more at Philly.com


Interview of the Attorneys for the Plaintiffs in the Water Pollution Case

Cabot Oil & Gas company was found by a federal jury to be responsible for contaminating two couples’ wells in Dimock, Pennsylvania.

Listen to Susan Arbetter interview Leslie Lewis and Elisabeth Radow, the co-counsels for the plaintiffs, about the case at the Capitol Pressroom online (advance the tape slider to 22:10 minutes to begin).

EPA Confirms that Fracking Poses a Risk to Drinking Water - TAKE ACTION

Thursday, June 4, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the EPA released a study that confirms that fracking poses a risk to drinking water sources.

Fracking is inherently dirty and dangerous. In a review of its records, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found that 234 private drinking water wells had been contaminated by drilling and fracking. In Colorado, more than 340 leaks or spills that contaminated groundwater have been reported. In New Mexico, state records document 743 such instances. These examples offer just a glimpse of the dangers posed by dirty fracking.  

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:

“The EPA's water quality study confirms what millions of Americans already know - that dirty oil and gas fracking contaminates drinking water.

“Unfortunately, the EPA chose to leave many critical questions unanswered. For example, the study did not look at this issue under the lens of public health and ignored numerous threats that fracking poses to drinking water. The EPA must conduct a comprehensive study that results in action to protect public health.

“Instead of blindly allowing destructive fracking to continue in our communities, we should extend statewide fracking bans, like the one in New York, and moratoriums, like the one in Maryland, that will keep dirty, climate-polluting fossil fuels like fracked gas in the ground and invest in truly clean, renewable sources of energy that don’t come with the threat of poisoned drinking water and climate disaster.”

Contact: Jonathon Berman, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org

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Tell the EPA to Protect Our 

Drinking Water From Fracking

The EPA released a long-awaited study about fracking impacts on drinking water. The oil and gas industry cheered the results because of its skewed methodology and the pro-industry spin that accompanied its release.

While the study did acknowledge what existing scientific data and countless personal experiences have already shown – that fracking does indeed contaminate groundwater resources – its headline and conclusion misleadingly assert that we shouldn't be worried about fracking impacting drinking water.

The study falls far short of the level of scrutiny and government oversight needed to protect the health and safety of the many millions of Americans living in watersheds impacted by fracking — nearly 10 million within one mile of a fracked well, according to the study.

TAKE ACTION: Click Here to tell EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy that the American people deserve better.

Image: Ray Kemble outside US EPA holding contaminated water from Dimock, PA.

FRACKING NEWS

Despite Fracking Ban, New Yorkers Saddled with 

Radioactive Fracking Waste

New report lifts the veil on how NYS has enabled Pennsylvania to dump more than 460,000 tons of fracking waste inside our borders.

Albany – A new report from Environmental Advocates of New York sheds light on the practice of potentially radioactive out-of-state fracking waste getting dumped in New York despite Governor Cuomo’s ongoing implementation of a ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

“Fracking wastes are notoriously toxic and radioactive,” said Liz Moran, water and natural resources associate, and report author. “Despite knowing the public health concerns, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) enables New York landfills to accept Pennsylvania’s fracking waste with little oversight. If fracking isn’t safe for New Yorkers, then waste from other states’ fracking operations isn’t safe for New Yorkers either.”

Key Concerns

To date, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reports that at least 460,000 tons of solid fracking waste and 23,000 barrels of liquid waste have been dumped in seven New York landfills. Comparatively, the DEC says the state does not accept this type of waste.

Additionally:

• In 2013, radiation detectors in Pennsylvania were triggered more than 1000 times by the same kind of fracking waste accepted by New York, signaling dangerous levels of radiation – while not a single radioactive detector was set off by New York landfills.
• Leachate (toxins from solid waste that leach into collection pools) from landfills ends up in New York’s wastewater treatment plants, none of which are capable of ridding water of radiation or other dangerous chemicals.
• The DEC has failed to implement standardized oversight, regulation or testing, and has fallen far short of the strong public health safeguards that guided the state Department of Health’s fracking review.

Read more at Environmental Advocates of New York

See also an earlier report, Fracking Waste: A Radioactive Legacy for New York? 

New - and Worrisome - Contaminants Emerge from 

Oil and Gas Wells

Researchers find alarming levels of ammonium and iodide in fracking wastewater released into Pennsylvania and West Virginia streams.

Two hazardous chemicals never before known as oil and gas industry pollutants – ammonium and iodide – are being released into Pennsylvania and West Virginia waterways from the booming energy operations of the Marcellus shale, a new study shows.

Treatment plants were never designed to handle these contaminants.

The toxic substances, which can have a devastating impact on fish, ecosystems, and potentially, human health, are extracted from geological formations along with natural gas and oil during both hydraulic fracturing and conventional drilling operations, said Duke University scientists in a study published today in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The chemicals then are making their way into streams and rivers, both accidentally and through deliberate release from treatment plants that were never designed to handle these contaminants, the researchers said.

Read more at DailyClimate.org

New Report: Oil and Gas Industry using Flawed Research to Promote Fracking

BUFFALO, NY – The oil and gas industry is using flawed research to give the impression of a scientific consensus that fracking is safe and beneficial, according to a new report released today by the Public Accountability Initiative (PAI).

The report, titled “Frackademia in Depth,” assesses over 130 studies that the industry has put forward to help make the scientific case for fracking, analyzing them for the strength of their industry ties and their relative academic quality (whether they were peer-reviewed).

PAI found that only 14% of the studies had been subject to peer review, while nearly 76% had some degree of connection to the oil and gas industry through funders, authors, and issuers.

PAI also found that the list included reports that had been discredited and retracted by the institutions that published them, including a 2012 report from the University of Texas that an independent panel convened by the school decried as “falling short of contemporary standards of scientific work” after PAI revealed undisclosed conflicts of interest and shoddy scholarship.

The extensive list of studies analyzed in the report was originally compiled by Energy in Depth, a nationwide industry outreach effort, and used to convince legislators in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to lease mineral rights under a county park for fracking. The list opens a telling window onto the body of fracking research that the oil and gas industry deems fit for public consumption.

“Though the industry says that the science is settled in favor fracking, their own best evidence does not support that claim,” said Robert Galbraith, a research analyst at PAI and co-author of the report.

Read the report at PublicAccountability.org

ExxonMobil slammed with $2.3 Million Fine for 

Fracking-related Water Pollution

The EPA found a roundabout way of holding natural gas drillers accountable for Clean Water Act violations.

The EPA just hit XTO Energy, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the nation’s largest natural gas company, with a cool $2.3 million fine for Clean Water Act violations related to its fracking activities in West Virginia.

This is big: you rarely hear about frackers being held federally accountable for polluting water supplies, thanks to Bush-era legislation commonly known as the “Halliburton Loophole.” Basically, it ensures that fracking is exempted from the portions of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act that would typically make it accountable to federal oversight; as such, the EPA is mostly prevented from regulating both the process and the chemicals it injects into the ground.

The EPA’s approach is a clever workaround of those restrictions. As CleanTechnica’s Tina Casey explains, the pollution targeted by the EPA wasn’t caused by fracking itself, but instead by other, ordinary violations committed by XTO: the company, it charges, dumped sand, dirt, rocks and other dirty fill materials into streams and wetlands without a permit, in violation of the Clean Water Act.

In total, the company damaged 5,300 linear feet of streams and 3.38 acres of wetland — making the $2.3 million fine comparatively large, particularly when you consider the extra $3 million it agreed to pay in restoration costs.

This isn’t the first time the EPA has pursued this roundabout policy of holding frackers accountable. Last year, it nailed fracking giant Chesapeake Energy for the same violation, resulting in a record $6.5 million settlement.

Read more at BuffaloNews.com

FRACKING NEWS

REPORT - Disclosing the Facts: Transparency and Risk in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations
Companies across the board are failing to report reductions of their impacts on communities and the environment from hydraulic fracturing.

The oil & gas production industry is consistently failing to report measurable reductions of its impacts on communities and the environment from hydraulic fracturing operations, according to a scorecard report released by As You Sow, Boston Common Asset Management, Green Century Capital Management, and the Investor Environmental Health Network.

The report, Disclosing the Facts: Transparency and Risk in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations, benchmarks 24 companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing against investor needs for disclosure of operational impacts and mitigation efforts.

While scores varied, no firm succeeded in disclosing information on even half of the selected 32 indicators related to management of toxic chemicals, water and waste, air emissions, community impacts, and governance. Even the highest scoring company, Encana Corporation (ECA) provided sufficient disclosure on just 14 of the 32 indicators. The lowest scoring companies were: BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) (2 of out 32 indicators); BP plc (BP) (2 out of 32 indicators); Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) (2 out of 32 indicators); Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) (2 out of 32 indicators); Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) (2 out of 32 indicators); and, in last place, QEP Resources, Inc. (QEP) (1 out of 32 indicators).

The report notes that measurement and disclosure of best management practices and impacts is the primary means by which investors can assess how companies are managing the impacts of their hydraulic fracturing operations on communities and the environment.

Institutional investors have been pressing oil and gas companies since 2009 for greater disclosure of their risk management practices. Investors have engaged over two dozen companies, filing nearly 40 shareholder proposals on these issues to date. The shareholder proposals have led to improved disclosures at many of the companies, but the scorecard report notes that much of this disclosure is narrative and qualitative in form, while quantifiable data are lacking. 

Read the full report here.


In Fracking Fight, a Worry About How Best to Measure Health Threats
In Pennsylvania, opponents of gas drilling say regulators are slow and unprepared in responding to air quality complaints.

There are more than 6,000 active gas wells in Pennsylvania. And every week, those drilling sites generate scores of complaints from the state’s residents, including many about terrible odors and contaminated water.

How the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection handles those complaints has worsened the already raw and angry divide between fearful residents and the state regulators charged with overseeing the burgeoning gas drilling industry.

 For instance, the agency’s own manual for dealing with complaints is explicit about what to do if someone reports concerns about a noxious odor, but is not at that very moment experiencing the smell: “DO NOT REGISTER THE COMPLAINT.”

When a resident does report a real-time alarm about the air quality in or around their home, the agency typically has two weeks to conduct an investigation. If no odor is detected when investigators arrive on the scene, the case is closed.

Read the full report here.

Finger Lakes Winemakers to Cuomo: Ban Fracking in New York
The dangers of fracking are becoming increasingly well-known as study after study shows how it contaminates water -- a critical resource for our industries.

Fracking would jeopardize the safety of the water we rely on for producing our wine -- the same water relied upon by the beer industry and other farm-based beverage industries.

States have confirmed water contamination resulting from fracking, and recent scientific studies by three major American universities -- from three different states that permit fracking -- substantiate those dangers to water supplies.

That simply doesn't mix with brewing beer, producing wine or other beverages.

Read the full article here.


Fracking Exports Will Leave U.S. Communities in the Dark

Last month, thirty Senate Democrats -- members of the "climate caucus" -- stayed Up All Night on the Senate floor to speak out about climate change. This was an important moment to highlight the most critical environmental issue of our time.

What was not mentioned however, was the massive threat to our planet posed by exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) extracted through the increasingly controversial process known as "fracking." Yet legislation authored by one of their own -- Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) and a House bill by Congressman Cory Gardner (R-CO), would tear down barriers to the export of LNG, potentially spurring a massive increase in fracking, exacerbating the problems the senators spoke out against.

Read more here.


Toward a better understanding and quantification of methane emissions from shale gas development

Significance: We identified a significant regional flux of methane over a large area of shale gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania in the Marcellus formation and further identified several pads with high methane emissions. These shale gas pads were identified as in the drilling process, a preproduction stage not previously associated with high methane emissions. This work emphasizes the need for top-down identification and component level and event driven measurements of methane leaks to properly inventory the combined methane emissions of natural gas extraction and combustion to better define the impacts of our nation’s increasing reliance on natural gas to meet our energy needs.

Read the publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Public Meeting: Amherst Town Board Proposes Fracking Ban

WHEN: Monday, April 28, 2014 at 7:00 pm
WHERE: Town of Amherst Municipal Bldg., 5583 Main St., Williamsville
MAP: Click Here

The Town Board of Amherst will propose a resolution that could lead to a local ban on fracking, disposal of fracking waste, and road spreading of brine in the town at their next meeting. We need you there to make sure that it passes! 

Amherst and area residents are encouraged to attend to show your support for an Amherst-wide ban on dangerous fracking and the toxic waste it creates. We need to PACK THE ROOM because your presence encourages the board to vote the right way on the resolution.

You may also prepare 3-minutes of testimony to read in favor of a ban on fracking/fracking waste in Amherst. Be sure to emphasize how these things could impact Amherst residents. Non-Amherst residents are also allowed to testify. Speaking is optional and those wishing to speak should arrive 15 minutes early to sign up.

The town board of Amherst, NY must pass a local ban to safeguard our natural resources and health from the contamination that fracking brings to communities. A ban on fracking & fracking waste disposal (including road spreading) in Amherst would protect residents from exposure to harmful chemicals, airborne carcinogens, and contaminated water. 

For more information or to get involved, contact Rita at ryelda@fwwatch.org
Join the Facebook event & invite friends: http://bit.ly/amherst01

Amherst Fracking Ban Coordinating Meeting

WHEN: March 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM

WHERE: Williamsville Public Library, 5571 Main St. Williamsville

The town board of Amherst, NY must pass a local ban to safeguard our natural resources and health from the contamination that fracking brings to communities. A ban on fracking & fracking waste disposal (including road spreading) in Amherst would protect residents from exposure to harmful chemicals, airborne carcinogens, and contaminated water.

But the only way to get the town board to pass a local ban is by making it happen ourselves -- which is possible and is something that over 150 municipalities across NY have done!

All Amherst and Amherst-area residents are encouraged to join this coordinating meeting so we can map out the campaign and brainstorm next steps.

For more information contact Rita at ryelda@fwwatch.org.
Join the Facebook event & invite friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/640467722685100/

Forum: The STATUS of LAKE ERIE - Reserve Seats Now

The Niagara Frontier Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club presents a

Conservation Conversation on the 

STATUS of LAKE ERIE

WHEN: Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 9:00 AM

WHERE: Frank Lloyd Wright's Fontana Boathouse, Buffalo, NY

The STATUS of LAKE ERIE is the topic of the forum to be held on the Buffalo waterfront at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fontana Boathouse with its magnificent view of Lake Erie. An expert panel of speakers will address a variety of Lake Erie issues including algae, dead zones, water quality and invasive species. There will also be a brief talk on the Boathouse’s history and a tour of the nearby Great Lakes Laboratory Field Station. Click here for more information.

Advance Registration is required due to limited seating.

RESERVE your seat for the STATUS of LAKE ERIE forum:

•  write a check for $5 per person made out to ADK

•  mail it to Cheryl Peluso, 3618 Howard Rd, Hamburg NY 14075

•  any questions, leave a message at 648-9027 or email cherylp17@verizon.net

Once the check is received your name will be added to the reserved seat list and Cheryl will email an acknowledgement of receipt.

When you arrive for the event, just give your name at the door and you will be admitted.

Click here to check out the flyer

[Click image to enlarge]
 
Landsat-5 satellite image of the western Lake Erie taken in October 2011, the worst algal bloom in decades. Excess nutrients, in particular phosphorus enrich Lake Erie, which results in frequent seasonal algal blooms. 
Image source: NASA Earth Observatory

Ban Fracking and Its Toxic Waste in Amherst

AMHERST FRACKING BAN COORDINATING MEETING
Tuesday, February 18, at 7:00pm
Spot Coffee, 5330 Main St., Williamsville [Map] 

We plan to urge the town board of Amherst, NY to pass a local fracking ban to safeguard our natural resources and health from the contamination that fracking brings to communities. A ban on fracking as well as on fracking waste disposal and road spreading would protect Amherst residents from exposure to harmful chemicals, airborne carcinogens, and contaminated water.

But the only way to get the town board to pass a local ban is by making it happen ourselves -- which is possible and is something that over 150 municipalities across NY have done! All Amherst and Amherst-area residents are encouraged to join this coordinating meeting so we can map out the campaign and brainstorm next steps. 

For more information contact Rita at ryelda@fwwatch.org.

Invite friends on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/564065520356825

Petition to Name New Bridge for the Late Pete Seeger

Gov. Cuomo: Name the new Tappan Zee bridge for Pete Seeger! By Bill Swersey New York, New York Sign Bill's Petition

Singer/Songwriter/Activist Pete Seeger, who died January 27, 2014 at the age of 94, was a champion of justice, civil rights and the environment. Naming the new Tappan Zee bridge across the Hudson River for this lifelong resident of New York State would be a fitting tribute to a man who did so much to help improve the mighty Hudson and the towns along its banks. Seeger pushed for a cleaner river in the 1960s — long before others took on the cause — and used music to push for an environment friendly river. He was the founder of the Hudson River sloop Clearwater which to this day sails up and down the river helping to encourage environmental activism and the waterway's rebirth. Over the years, Seeger's efforts have lead to a significantly cleaner river; today swimming is possible in many formerly polluted areas. The idea of naming the new bridge, which is expected to open in 2018, has been put forth by Greenburgh town supervisor Paul Feiner who hopes naming the bridge after Seeger will inspire travelers to keep the river clean. Feiner has promised to bring this proposal to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo and members of the NY State legislature. Let's show them that this idea has the support of the people!

Sign Bill's Petition

Protect Water & Health - Call Erie County Legislators

Risky procedures associated with shale gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and the disposal of its waste threaten drinking water purity and our health.

On December 12, 2013, the Erie County Legislature will vote on a proposed law to prohibit dangerous fracking, the disposal of its toxic and radioactive waste at county facilities and the spreading of fracking wastewater on roads.

Some legislators are still undecided about how they will vote. The proposed law might not be passed without additional pressure from concerned county residents.

Please call your legislator: Encourage them to co-sponsor the County ban on fracking and its waste (To find out the name of the legislator in your district and their office phone number, Click Here.)


Sample call script: “Hello my name is (full name) and I live in (town/city). I am calling to urge Legislator (last name) to co-sponsor the legislation to ban dangerous fracking and the toxic, radioactive waste it creates from entering Erie County.” 

If no one answers, you can leave a recorded message for your legislator.

Attend the vote if possible: Show your legislator that you care about clean drinking water and public health. The vote will occur on Thursday, December 12 at 2:00 pm in the County Legislature Chambers on the Fourth Floor of Old County Hall at 92 Franklin St., Buffalo (arrive early to allow time to pass through security). [MAP]

For additional information, visit WNY Drilling Defense.

Public Hearing: County Ban on Fracking & Its Waste

FINAL Public Hearing: Tuesday, December 3rd, 4:00 pm in County Legislature Chambers on the Fourth Floor of Old County Hall at 92 Franklin St., Buffalo.

Please attend to protect Erie County air, land, and water from fracking and its toxic waste.

LINK to Event Information is Here.

Wendell Berry - Visionary, Author, Farmer, Activist

Introduction and Video from Moyers & Company.

 Wendell Berry, a quiet and humble man, has become an outspoken advocate for revolution. He urges immediate action as he mourns how America has turned its back on the land and rejected Jeffersonian principles of respect for the environment and sustainable agriculture. In a rare television interview (video, below), this visionary, author, and farmer discusses a sensible, but no-compromise plan to save the Earth.

Bill Moyers profiles Berry, a man of the land and one of America’s most influential writers. Berry's prolific career includes more than forty books of poetry, novels, short stories and essays. The interview was taped in Kentucky during a conference celebrating Wendell Berry’s life and ideas and marking the 35th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book, The Unsettling of America.

Berry lives and works on the Kentucky farm where his family has tilled the soil for 200 years. He’s a man of action as well as words. In 2011, he joined a four-day sit-in at the Kentucky governor’s office to protest mountaintop mining, a brutally destructive method of extracting coal.

Moyers explores Berry’s views on civil disobedience as well as his strong opposition to agribusiness and massive industrial farms. They also discuss Berry’s support for sustainable farming and the local food movement.

“My belief is that the world and our life in it are conditional gifts,” Berry tells Moyers. “We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it. And to take good care of it we have to know it. And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.”

NY Public Health Expert Urges Fracking Ban

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Health experts ask Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban hydrofracking in the state of New York on Thursday. The main concern of the speakers in Albany was air contamination.

According to representatives from the Environment New York and Policy Center, fracking has the potential to release harmful gases and carcinogens capable of causing respiratory problems. Speakers say we can afford to wait until a safer process is developed to harvest New York's natural gases.

"I am convinced that industry in New York could develop ways where we wouldn't contaminate the air, we wouldn't contaminate the water and we would not cause major threats to human health. But until those methodologies and those technologies are in place, I strongly urge Governor Cuomo to not allow fracking in New York State," said David Carpenter, UAlbany School of Public Health Former Dean.

Another speaker said hydrofracking created 280 billion gallons of waste water last year alone. The group says in order to completely understand public health impacts, we need to measure the amount of pollution hydrofracking creates.

For more information on the new report from Environment New York, visit www.environmentnewyork.org.

Full report at YNN: Fracking pollution report released  

RIVERKEEPER Educates Anglers about Polluted Fish

Buffalo Niagara RIVERKEEPER^® and GROW 716 are piloting a mobile messaging campaign called “Catch Of the Day.” Anglers are encouraged to text COD to 877-877, which then directs them to online information about local fish consumption advisories and healthier ways to eat local fish. The campaign encourages picture sharing of their “catch” on the GROW 716 webpage to show the incredible success of Western New York anglers! "Catch Of the Day" photos are posted to our facebook page: facebook/BNRiverkeeper

We have received some great press coverage from local and national media!  

Article in the Buffalo News: "Buffalo [Niagara] Riverkeeper educates immigrant anglers about dangers of WNY fish"

Associated Press article "Campaign teaches NY immigrants about polluted fish"

Read the article in the Wall Street Journal

Informational materials and booklets can be obtained by contacting Ba Zan Lin at 852-7483 ext 26 or blin@bnriverkeeper.org. Online information is available at EatFishWNY.org.

Share your fish photos and tell your friends to text COD to 877-877!!

Environmental Protection and Economic Growth

We can reduce pollution, protect health, create jobs and grow our economy

If there's one issue that hasn't been talked about enough in this election, it's the environment.

Yet the difference between the parties is stark: Republicans want to cut the EPA and weaken vital environmental protections like the Clean Air and Clean Water Act, laws that ensure millions of Americans can safely breath our air and drink our water.

But the parties were not always so polarized on environmental issues. What's behind the push to weaken environmental protections? Watch the video to see. 

Video: Those interviewed include WNY native Jason Kowalski, Policy Director at 350.org in Washington DC; David Doniger from the Natural Resources Defense Council; Joe Mendelson, director of global warming policy at the National Wildlife Federation; and Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-7).

Shale Gas Drillers Fail to Comply with Regulations Protecting Health and Environment

The PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center released a report  entitled "Risky Business: An Analysis of Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling Violations in Pennsylvania 2008-2011" on February 8, 2012.

Using records obtained by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), the Center identified a total of 3,355 violations of environmental laws by 64 different Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011.  Of these violations, the Center identified 2,392 violations that likely posed a direct threat to our environment. These were not reporting or paperwork violations. 

Moreover, the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center believes these numbers offer a conservative view of environmental violations taking place across the Pennsylvania by Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies. These data only include violations discovered by PADEP’s enforcement staff. Yet based upon the number of wells drilled and limited PADEP enforcement staff, further violations that have gone undetected are likely.

The greatest numbers of environmental violations were related to improper erosion and sedimentation plans: 625 (26% of all violations likely to impact the environment). The second greatest number involved faulty pollution prevention techniques: 550 (23% of violations likely to impact the environment).

Between 2008 and 2011, on average, Pennsylvania saw more than two violations per day uncovered by PADEP, roughly 1.5 of which had the greatest potential to impact the environment.

PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center identified 963 violations (29% of all violations) that seemed less likely to directly endanger the environment or the safety of communities. Their report focuses on the violations that have the greatest potential for directly impacting Pennsylvania’s environment.

The report concludes that "Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies are either unable or unwilling to comply with basic environmental laws that have been put in place to protect the health and environment of Pennsylvanians."

PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center recommends in the report that "certain policy handles must be implemented in order to stop the rampant rate of environmental violations that drilling companies commit in Pennsylvania each year."

Visit the PENN Environment Web site to download the report and to see information about the author and sources of foundation support. 

Commentary ~ by David Kowalski 
It's interesting to compare the PENN Environment results with those in a new report by the University at Buffalo (UB) Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI). The latter report is entitled "Environmental Impacts during Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling: Causes, Impacts and Remedies" (released May 15, 2012 and revised June 6, 2012). Both reports analyzed PADEP data but they arrived at very different conclusions.

TALK: Shale-Gas Fracking and Environmental Injustice

Join Rita Yelda at 9:30am on Sunday, April 22 (Earth Day) in the Case Library at Westminster Presbyterian Church (724 Delaware Ave, Buffalo) for discussion of this locally- and nationally-significant issue.

Rita Yelda founded WNY Drilling Defense group in 2010, and she works for Food and Water Watch, a Washington DC-based advocacy organization. 

Yelda will discuss the environmental concerns about using hydrofracking, or 'fracking', to extract natural gas from shale. The missions of her local grassroots group include education, action, and advocating for legislation in opposition to fracking. Her group was instrumental in banning fracking and treatment of the toxic wastewater in Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

In 2011, Rita Yelda was awarded the Sierra Club's Blake Reeves Award for Environmental Leadership.

This talk and another one on April 29, 2012 comprise the Case Library Environmental Series.

Environmental Policy: Heading for a 'Silent Spring'?

Art Klein, member of the Niagara Group of the Sierra Club, wrote a very interesting article entitled "The Echoes of Rachel Carson – Our Dilemma" in the group's newsletter.

The story begins with Art's recollections of fifty years ago after reading "The Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson. It was the birth of the modern environmental movement. The tale moves through the creation of the EPA, the banning of DDT, the loopholes, and ultimately the undeserved character assassination of Rachel Carson. And then there were the echoes of legitimate insights by citizens about Love Canal, and now the controversial process of hydrofracking. Following each of these environmental and human insults, we see more orchestrated doubts cast on well-intentioned people and groups by business and industry.

Art Klein's story ends with challenges and questions for the Niagara Group, but these merit quoting here since they're ones that all people concerned about the environment and humanity must face:
"Our Sierra challenges are two-fold, and not light. First, we must ensure our own state does not threaten the future of our water by permitting hydrofracking in New York. Second, we must work to ensure our Great Lakes do not become contaminated. Our tasks are mighty and noble, and our resolve cannot be weak. It may not be stylish to urge greater Federal Regulation, but obviously bereft of reasonable and rational controls, we are headed for perilous times. If we fail, how can we justify our greedy exploitation of temporary fuel in exchange for poisoned water wells? What will happen to our fragile water system of the future? What will we tell our children and grandchildren? After fifty years of an inadequate effort to protect the environment and human health, will WE, in this generation, be the ones to create a Silent Spring?"
 
Art Klein's article is well-worth reading, and you can view it in its entirety on the Sierra Club Niagara Group's website.

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Editorial reflections:

 

"So extraordinary is Nature with her choicest treasures, spending plant beauty as she spends sunshine, pouring it forth into land and sea, garden and desert. And so the beauty of lilies falls on angels and men, bears and squirrels, wolves and sheep, birds and bees...."

-- John Muir, Founder of the Sierra Club