Water Resources
Aquifer Protection
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Cape Cod Water Overlay Law http://www.capecodcommission.org/bylaws/wateroverlay.html
Clean Water Act
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The Teeth in the Clean Water Act * The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained. Which means a sewage or any water treatment plant that is not permitted to treat and dump shale gas waste fluid….is violating the EPA Federal Clean Water Act.
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* _Laws and Executive Orders_ (http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/)
Summary of the Clean Water Act
Quick Links
* _PDF of CWA, from U.S. Senate_ (http://epw.senate.gov/water.pdf)
(234 pp, 571K, _About PDF_ (http://www.epa.gov/epahome/pdf.html) )
* _CWA History_ (http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwahistory.html)
* The EPA Watershed Academy’s _Introduction to the Clean Water Act_
(http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/) .
* The official text of the CWA is available in _the United States
Code on FDSys_ (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/
collectionUScode.action?collectionCode=USCODE) , from the US Government Printing Office
33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq. (1972)
The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. “Clean Water Act” became the Act’s common name with amendments in 1977.
Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. We have also set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source
into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained. EPA’s _National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)_ (http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/) permit program controls discharges. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters.
World Water Crisis
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Circle of Blue Waterways. Reporting on the World Water Crisis
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Hydraulic Pressures. James E. Nickum , Foreign Affairs. Review Essay. Sep/Oct 2010
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Three new books about water agree that the world is facing serious water crises but have very different ideas about how to address them, especially when it comes to deciding what roles the public and private sectors have to play. Read
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The New Oil, Should private companies control our most precious natural resource? Jeneen Interlandi. Newsweek. Oct 8, 2010
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Countering An Approaching Water Crisis. National Science Foundation (2008, March 28). Countering An Approaching Water Crisis. ScienceDaily.
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Peter Black. ESF Waterdrops 2 min essays on the importance of water WRVO Oswego Podcasts
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What Does the Arab World Do When its Water Runs Out? | Common Dreams.
Local Water Sources and Testing
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Info on sole source aquifers including the Preble, Homer, Cortland sole source aquifer is at the EPA site:
http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/aquifer/
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Community Science Institute, Ithaca, NY Fact Sheet on Water & Gas Drilling Short Version
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Community Science Institute, Ithaca, NY Fact Sheet on Water and Gas Drilling Long Version
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Water Testing
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Methane Found in Three Wells in Monroe Twsp Aug. 2010
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Feds Warn Residents Near Wyoming Gas Drilling Sites Not To Drink Their Water Abraham Lustgarten, Pro-Publica, Sept. 1, 2010
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Tioga County to monitor Susquehanna waters for natural gas production pollution. By Debbie Swartz •dswartz@gannett.com • November 9, 2010,
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New Nonprofit Offering Help With Tests That May Link Contaminated Water to Hydraulic Fracking | Shauna Stephenson | Energy | NewWest.Net.
Developing Testing Technology
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Tiny protozoa may hold key to world water safety. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (2010, December 12). Tiny protozoa may hold key to world water safety. ScienceDaily. Commercial Application of SSB testing technology. Petrel
Natural Gas Extraction – How to Protect Your Private Water Supply
CD program available developed by Penn State Extension water specialists
The two-part course covers the basics of gas well drilling, illustrates how drilling can impact private wells, & offers strategies that homeowners can use to protect their water supply. Learn more» (PDF)
FLOW – Documentary on Water free viewing FOR LOVE OF WATER.”
Can anyone really own water? FLOW is a film that chronicles the global water crisis, looking at how everyday people are affected around the world by the privatization of water, and the growing network of grassroots activists that are coming together around this issue.
Chemical and isotopic tracers of the contribution of microbial gas in Devonian organic-rich shales and reservoir sandstones, northern Appalachian Basin
Stephen G. Osborn 2010 Science Direct Abstract.Water Supply and Drilling
DEP Briefing to the NYC Water Board on the Natural Gas Impact (Powerpoint)
Center for Media and Democracy Water Portal–Sources behind the news
SRBC: Drought And Gas Drilling: Susquehanna Stream Protection Program Working
Silty, salty Monongahela River at risk from pollutants. Pittsburgh Tribune. Aug, 2010
California Drought is No Problem for Kern County Oil Producers. Blue Circle. August 24, 2010 Farmers do without water while oil producers use what they want.
Clean Water NOT Dirty Drilling Clean Water NOT Dirty Drilling is a network of organizations working to protect the rights and health of landowners and communities and our most precious of environmental resources — clean drinking water — from the dangers of irresponsible, poorly regulated, and under-inspected gas drilling. Does your organization want to join the Clean Water NOT Dirty Drilling network? Email us at: info@cleanwaternotdirtydrilling.org
More snow, rain needed to boost Lake Ontario water levels next summer. Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 10:11 PM Debra J. Groom / The Post-Standard
Water Withdrawals for Development of Marcellus Shale Gas in Pennsylvania. Penn State Univ.
Protecting Water, Producing Gas Minimizing the Impact of Coalbed Methane and Other natural Gas production on Alberta’s Groundwater. Published April 30, 2007 By Mary Griffiths
Climate Change, Water, and Risk Current Water Demands Are Not Sustainable. NRDC Oct. 2010
Investigations by NY County Health Depts. of Well Contamination http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/attachments.pdf
4/2/10 Letter to DEC Commissioner Grannis Regarding Additional Natural Gas Hazards | Toxics Targeting.
Water Contamination:
Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing. abstract
EPA Chesapeake Bay TMDL Rules http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/
Pa. DEP Targets Texas Driller For Tainted Water. by The Associated Press Sept. 30, 2010
Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator says the state will sue a Houston-based drilling company unless it agrees to pay nearly $12 million to extend a public water line to at least 18 residents whose water wells have been contaminated with methane gas.
Environmental Secretary John Hanger accused Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. on Thursday of reneging on its promises to the residents of Dimock, a small town in Susquehanna County, where tainted wells have raised concerns nationwide about the environmental and health consequences of gas drilling.
Case Studies
THIS POWER POINT HAS SOME POWERFUL TESTIMONY. This Woman lives near Towanda PA and is struggling with all the issues of ruined/poisoned water for her home and kennel. She gave us permission to publish on the net. People like this are our neighbors, friends and relatives and it is simply not part of our American values to allow this type of collateral damage with this industry. Let’s think about the possibility of a witness protection program for these affected folks, so they will no longer be silenced by agreements with the gas companies in exchange for inadequate restitution.–David Walzcak, Sept. 2010