Read The Secret Trade Memo Calling For More Fracking and Offshore Drilling
May 23, 2014
Read The Secret Trade Memo Calling For More Fracking and Offshore Drilling.
Medical Society of the State of New York passed a Resolution on Radon
April 13, 2014
The Medical Society of the State of New York passed a Resolution on Radon at their state-wide annual meeting yesterday, April 12, 2014 in Tarrytown, NY. It reads:
RESOLVED, That the Medical Society of the State of New York support policy that limits exposure to radon and its decay products which are known to cause primary lung cancer in non-smokers and to potentiate the likelihood of lung cancer in smokers; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Medical Society of the State of New York support legislation the protects the public health by ensuring that New York State is committed to reducing sources of excess radon emission, and monitoring radon gas exposure levels to confirm that these radon gas levels do not exceed the recommended levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the past MSSNY has endorsed resolutions calling for moratoriums on gas drilling in tight shale deposits. This year the concern shifted to the radioactive elements found the gas itself. While the concern over radon is much broader then a concern over gas drilling, the physicians clearly had the radioactivity associated with gas drilling in tight sale deposits in mind when they passed their resolution. Some of the statements leading to the resolution proper make mention of the radon “inextricably linked” with the methane from the tight shale deposits, especially in the northeast. Others pointed to the potential exposure through the delivery systems, the decay products, and the shorter transit times.
Some examples:
WHEREAS, there is no safe exposure level of radon for public health protection
WHEREAS, Radon, which originates naturally in bedrock and shale, is inextricably combined with other natural gases sequestered in these subterranean reserves, and is therefore extracted in combination with natural gas
WHEREAS, due to geographic proximity of New York State to the Marcellus Shale region, there is significantly shorter transit time through local regional pipeline networks transporting radon-laced natural gas to NYS natural gas consumers thus resulting in the delivery of natural gas containing much higher concentrations of radon
As the threat of actual gas drilling subsides in the State, the public heath threats associated with the growing gas drilling infrastructure are now on the organization’s radar. Stay tuned.
Chris
Chris W. Burger
110 Walters Road
Whitney Point, NY 13862
Waters of the U.S. | US EPA
March 25, 2014
Waters of the U.S. | US EPA.
From: David Masur, PennEnvironment Director <action@pennenvironment.org>
To: jlacreevy <jlacreevy@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Mar 25, 2014 12:34 pm
Subject: Biggest clean water news of the decade
Dear Jean,Brandywine Creek. The Wissahickon. Neshaminy. Nine Mile Run.What do all these streams have in common? Every single one of them is unprotected under the Clean Water Act.Today, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule to restore Clean Water Act protections to hundreds of Pennsylvania waterways and wetlands and the 8 million Pennsylvanians who get their drinking water from these sources.Thank the EPA for taking this historic step forward and ask them to see it through to the finish line.As big as this is, we haven’t won yet. In fact, the most important piece of the fight has just begun. The EPA is asking for public input on their plan in the next few months, and the nation’s biggest polluters are already lining up to stop it in its tracks.Polluters who have benefited from these loopholes for years are fighting back. Big Ag is saying this rulemaking is cause for “battle,”[1] and last time the EPA took a step half this big, ExxonMobil threatened “legal warfare.”[2]That’s why I’m contacting you now — to make sure we can send 30,000 messages from Pennsylvanians to the EPA so they hear loud and clear that we are serious about clean water.Nobody should be allowed to treat our waterways like their personal sewer.Will you ask the EPA to finish the job?For more than a decade, PennEnvironment has worked to close loopholes in the Clean Water Act that have left nearly half of Pennsylvania’s’ streams and many acres of wetlands at risk of unchecked pollution. These waterways are critical–they feed and filter our drinking water sources and are some of our favorite places to swim, boat and fish.Today’s announcement comes on the heels of hundreds of thousands of messages sent from people like you asking the Obama administration to act. Over the past three years, along with our sister organizations across the country, we’ve had more than 1 million conversations with everyday people about protecting our waterways, and we’ve built a coalition of more than 400 local elected officials, 300 small farmers, and 300 small business owners to stand with us and call on the EPA to act.Let’s finish the job.Tell the EPA: It’s gone on long enough. Restore Clean Water Act protections to the waterways we love and depend on.Thanks for all you do,David Masur
PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center Director P.S. A decade of work comes down to this. The EPA’s announcement today brings us closer than we’ve ever been to getting our waterways the protection they deserve. But it’s you who will help see it through to the end. Send your public comment in today to close Clean Water Act loopholes once and for all.
[1] “Leaked Draft of Water Jurisdiction Rule May Not Be Final EPA Position, Vilsack Says,” Amena H. Saiyid, Bloomberg BNA. 17 January 2014 |
GDACC 
