Dear Greenpoint,
I am very scared about the health of our neighbors and the threat to our water supply.
Remember when we worried about drinking water contamination during Hurricane Sandy? That was a natural disaster that we could not prevent. There is currently a great threat to our drinking water, but this time we have a choice in the matter.
Since before I can remember I enjoyed many beautiful weekends at my parents place in the Poconos. (We sadly don’t have a heart-shaped bathtub.)
Just last weekend we took an amazing hike along the Deleware, where the population of once almost extinct American Bald Eagles now thrive. Along a spectacular cliffside drive called Hawk’s Nest, we saw signs that say “No Fracking.”
I noticed the above sign in a window in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
What does upstate NY have to do with Brooklyn? Our water, the best water in the world, comes from that area, and the area surrounding our water supply, the Marcellus Shale is currently under threat of being fracked.
Fracking is an environmentally hazardous method of extracting natural gas from rock. Aside from the health risks that fracking poses to people living in drilling areas, the chemicals used in fracking (lead, uranium, ethylene glycol, radium, methanol, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde) may contaminate our water supply.
Just yesterday Governor Cuomo delayed his decision to allow fracking in NY. The fact that fracking is on the table is completely mind boggling given that “there have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination next to areas of gas drilling as well as cases of sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated water,” according to Dangers of Fracking.
Tonight (11/29) at 7pm, Environment NY is showing a special documentary at NY Society for Ethical Culture (2 W. 64th St., NYC) which urges Governor Cumo to say no to fracking.
In the meantime, personally email Governor Cuomo and tell him that no amount of oil or money is more valuable than our health and drinking water.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Galatioto
Greenpointers
PS. If you want to see an eye opening documentary about fracking which shows flammable drinking water, watch Gaslands. (It’s instant on Netflix.)
Glad you’re raising awareness about this. See also: The Sky is Pink, a short film by Gasland director Josh Fox that focuses specifically on the fracking battle in NY
. And for some good blogging on the matter, read: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ksinding/.