Issues On The Environment Update!

Update: another must-read - U.S. Geological Survey reports ~ Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids Likely Harmed Threatened Kentucky Fish Species

Click to watch ~ Delaware Sea Level Rise Awareness Week: Introductory Video

Sierra Club News from Stephanie Herron ~

August was a busy month in the Delaware Chapter and September is already packed with important events! Check out our August newsletter for a recap and As always, email Stephanie.herron@sierraclub.org or call 302-468-4550 with any questions to get more involved, or propose a future event. For your convenience I've included some upcoming events below.  You can always find out more at our website or facebook page.  I hope to see you soon!

Tuesday, September 3, 7 p.m. —  Public Info Session on Newark Power Plant: In responses to demands from town residents, the City of Newark is holding a Community Information Session at the George Wilson Center in Newark, 303 New London Road, Newark, about the proposed 248 megawatt gas power plant/data center on the UD “Star Campus” (formerly Chrysler). Wednesday September 11, 7 p.m. —  Conservation Committee: Join us to discuss and help make decisions on pressing conservation issues at our regularly schedule 2nd Wednesday meeting at the Community Service Building (100 W. 10th St, Wilmington), room 9.  Park for free at our garage, 111 W. 11th St and we will validate. Sunday, September 15, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. — Newark Community Day: Help staff the Sierra Club Community Day table on the UD Green!  This is a fun way to meet new friends, learn more about local conservation efforts and engage new  people in your DE Chapter! (Sign up for 2 hour shifts or another period)

September 16, 9–11 a.m. — Blue Collar Task Force: Buck Library,  Buena Vista State Conference Center 661 S Dupont Hwy, New Castle, DE 19720.  At the first meeting of this group a couple weeks ago it was suggested that a good way to increase blue collar jobs in Delaware would be to loosen or eliminate the Coastal Zone Act. Monday, September 23, 6 p.m. — LEV Public Hearing: DNREC Division of Air Quality will be holding a public hearing on adopting the Low Emission Vehicles portion of California's LEV III Program, something the Sierra Club strongly supports as a way to reduce hazardous air pollution from vehicles.  DNREC Richards & Robbins Building Auditorium, 89 Kings Highway Dover, DE. Wednesday September 25, 6 p.m. — RGGI Public Hearing: Division of Air Quality will hold a public hearing on a proposed amendment to 7 DE Admin Code 1147 relating to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) at Kent County Administrative Complex, Room 220, 555 S. Bay Road, Dover. The amendment include a significant reduction in the total Co2 cap! We will need supporters out in full force to suppose the positive change to the program and oppose Tea Party cries to abolish RGGI all together.

We are excited to be partnering with some of our friends to bring you the first DE Sea Level Rise Awareness Week!  Join us to learn about the problem of SLR in Delaware and learn what you can do to help. Visit SOSDelaware.org for full info on these events that are co-sponsored by our chapter, and more!

SEPT 14:  Join up to 150 volunteers to plant trees at serene Blackbird Creek Wildlife Area in Townsend. These native trees will help restore the natural environment, improve soil fertility, and reduce water issues such as erosion and flooding.  Please bring your own shovel, gloves and a water bottle.
RSVP to hannah@delawarenaturesociety.org.

SEPT 18:  Curious about green roofs, rain gardens or tree trenches? Delaware is home to many state-of-the-art green infrastructure installations.  Attend this lecture, cosponsored by our chapter, at the Delaware Center for Horticulture to learn about a variety of green infrastructure techniques at work around New Castle County! Light refreshments & beverages will be served.

SEPT 19: Join us and DNS for our regularly scheduled environmental book club with  a sea level rise/flooding twist!  This month’s book “Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927” by John M. Barry.
SEPT 21: Join fellow volunteers as we begin restoration at the Marian R. Oakie Memorial Wildlife Preserve at Poplar Thicket in Millsboro. This 226-acre property, a mix of farmland, forest, and tidal marsh on the north shore of the Indian River was recently donated to the people of Delaware. Come see this new public preserve and lend a hand in planting 2,000 seedling trees, grasses and shrubs!

For the rest of the info on these events and your recap of our exciting August activities read our full newsletter!!

Plus, fracking and other news ~

(WSJ) Tom Fowler reports ~ Study Shines Light on Tremors and Fracking in South Texas' Eagle Ford Shale 

So much oil and water is being removed from South Texas' Eagle Ford Shale that the activity has probably led to a recent wave of small earthquakes, according to a study that appears in the online edition of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters
The Wall Street Journal reviewed the findings in advance of publication. The peer-reviewed study's authors suggest that taking oil and water out of the ground allows surrounding rock and sand to settle, triggering small tremors that are typically too weak to be noticed on the surface.
Environmental and community groups have expressed concerns about a link between earthquakes and hydraulic fracturing, a method of injecting water into dense shale formations in order to crack them open and tap into trapped oil.

The new study doesn't find much evidence that the man-made fracturing is causing earthquakes all by itself. The connection is more indirect, the study found: New wells are extracting nearly 600,000 barrels of oil a day and a considerable amount of water as well. Given the scale at which oil is now being removed, enough liquids are being disturbed that rocks are settling and faults slipping, causing the small earthquakes.

Oil production and groundwater wells caused much of the area to sink nearly 30 feet over many years. The Eagle Ford findings contrast with an earlier study of earthquakes in North Texas' Barnett Shale by the same authors. The earlier study cited wastewater injection wells as the likely cause of small seismic events. Other studies have previously linked injection wells and increased seismic activity, including a 2012 U.S. Geological Survey report and a study by Ohio state regulators. The current study is the first large study to link oil reservoir depletion with an increase in earthquakes.

(OutdoorLife) John Huaghey reports ~ Help Conservationists Fight to Sustain Fracking Ban in the Delaware River Watershed

The Delaware River is the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi, flowing freely for 390 miles from its Catskills and Poconos headwaters to the Atlantic Ocean in Delaware Bay, furnishing drinking water for 15 million people in four states.
               
The river's fragile 13,500-square-mile watershed also provides abundant public boating, hiking, camping, hunting and fishing opportunities, especially along its 120-mile upper stretch, which includes such fabled trout streams as the Beaverkill, Willowemoc and East Branch. It's also home to hard-hitting smallmouth bass and a historically significant shad run.
               
But it could all be gone with the stroke of a pen, according to Delaware Riverkeeper Network Director Maya van Rossum, who says support from "the hunting and fishing community" is vital in defending a "tenuous" three-year moratorium on shale oil drilling -- hydraulic fracking -- in the Delaware River watershed.
               
Drilling has been on hold in the watershed since May 2010 when the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) decided to develop its own drilling regulations. The commission was set to vote on regulations in November 2011, but that vote was canceled in the face of overwhelming opposition to any drilling.
               
"Because there are no regulations, there can't be any drilling -- the moratorium still holds," van Rossum said. "But it's tenuous and there is growing pressure to open (the watershed) to drilling."

 Pressure to frack, baby, frack   
But it could all be gone with the stroke of a pen, according to Delaware Riverkeeper Network Director Maya van Rossum, who says support from

(AP) ~ Four states’ attorneys general dispute fracking rules

Attorney General Tim Fox said Thursday that Montana is joining Ala­bama, Alaska and Oklahoma in pro­testing Bureau of Land Management plans to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal land.

Fox said he and the attorneys gener­al from those states sent a letter last week to U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell expressing “serious concerns” and “strong objection” to the proposed rules governing hydraulic fracturing.

Also known as fracking, the technique boosts production from oil and gas wells by pumping pressurized water into the wells to fracture open deposits. The attorneys general argue that BLM fracking rules will duplicate existing state programs and cannot be justified.  

(Cleveland.com) ~ Youngstown man admits dumping toxic fracking waste into Mahoning River

Michael Guesman, an employee of a Youngstown company that stored, treated and disposed of oil and gas drilling liquids, admitted this morning to dumping tens of thousands of gallons of fracking waste

Frackers slash billions in payments to landowners Report: Thousands are receiving far less money than they were promised by energy companies to use their properties. Some are being paid virtually nothing.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/Frackers_.html#YTbFyEfTU0BEg12Q.99

(philly .com) AP reports ~ Frackers slash billions in payments to landowners ~

Frackers slash billions in payments to landowners Report: Thousands are receiving far less money than they were promised by energy companies to use their properties. Some are being paid virtually nothing.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/Frackers_.html#YTbFyEfTU0BEg12Q.99

Frackers slash billions in payments to landowners Report: Thousands are receiving far less money than they were promised by energy companies to use their properties. Some are being paid virtually nothing.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/Frackers_.html#YTbFyEfTU0BEg12Q.99

“They said you’re going to be a millionaire in a couple of years, but none of that has happened,” Feusner said. “I guess we’re expected to just take whatever they want to give us.”

Don Feusner ran dairy cattle on his 370-acre slice of northern Pennsylvania until he could no longer turn a profit by farming. Then, at age 60, he sold all but a few Angus and aimed for
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/Frackers_.html#YTbFyEfTU0BEg12Q.99for a comfortable retirement on money from drilling his land for natural gas instead.

Tar Sands Blockade shared Stand With Julia - Stop TransCanada's Eminent Domain Abuse

Our friend Julia Trigg Crawford suffered a loss in the Texas Courts of Appeals trying to convince a three judge panel that TransCanada, a multinational corporation, shouldn't be able to steal land and destroy homes in East Texas.

She's determined to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, though. She reflected on her loss:

"Yes, you heard right, the Court of Appeals ruled against us this week, saying TransCanada can take our land through eminent domain because they qualify as a Common Carrier. An interesting assessment, since the Texas Railroad Commission, who rubber stamps these Common Carrier designations, sent a letter saying they do NOT have jurisdiction over Keystone in Texas since it is an interstate pipeline. Hmmmmm.

It took us about 30 seconds to decide to appeal this decision to the Texas Supreme Court, and the wheels are already in motion. As shown by the Denbury case, the Texas Supreme Court has demonstrated great courage and willingness to overturn lower courts' decisions to protect Texas citizens from eminent domain abuse by private corporations.

TransCanada, a foreign corporation, is using weak eminent domain laws to take property for their own private gain from hard-working Texans. Our founding fathers never intended eminent domain to be used for this purpose. As a landowner and an American I support energy independence, but I value individual and constitutional freedoms above all. So, our fight will continue...it about much more than just the Crawford Farm now.

In additional to our appeal, next steps will focus on asking our legislators and fellow citizens to hold public hearings on eminent domain, and expose the many risks these pipelines pose to those of us living along the route. Together we will ask our officials to change the laws that have left me and hundreds of other Texans no other recourse than to battle deep pocketed oil corporation giants in court. And where we find our legislators unresponsive to the wants and needs of the people they represent...well, we elect news ones.

We, the people, hold incredible power, something I think we've forgotten when we watch all the injustice swirling around us. Whether its here in Texas, or in your hometowns around the country, its time to mobilize and create change from the bottom up. Its time to stand up, speak out, and maybe act up.

Onward!"

Dawn of a new day at Red'Arc Farm

Also from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network: The Cary Institute reports ~ Eastern U.S. water supplies threatened by a legacy of acid rain

Millbrook, NY – Human activities are changing the water chemistry of many streams and rivers in the Eastern U.S., with consequences for water supplies and aquatic life, so reports a new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
In the first survey of its kind, researchers looked at long-term alkalinity trends in 97 streams and rivers from Florida to New Hampshire. Sites ranged from small headwater streams to some of the nation’s largest rivers. Over the past 25 to 60 years, two-thirds have become significantly more alkaline.

~*~