Calling All Climate Mamas and Papas – we need your help, today! Grab the kids in your life, and sit down together after dinner tonight, and write a letter together to the US Coast Guard.
Currently, a proposed “policy letter” would allow hazardous fracking waste to be carried by barge on our rivers and lakes within the next few months!
As parents, we tell our children repeatedly, “clean up your mess!” Yet it seems that the oil and gas industry isn’t able to clean up their own mess when it comes to shale gas wastewater, or “frack wastewater.” This waste is not only highly toxic and contains “proprietary chemicals” some of which are known carcinogens, but according to the Coast Guard, the waste also contains radioactive materials. Billions of gallons of wastewater are produced by shale gas extraction; 1.3 billion gallons was produced in Pennsylvania alone in 2011. So why is our Coast Guard enabling an industry that can’t clean up it’s own mess?
Accidents and spills do happen, yet, the Coast Guard is claiming there are no significant cumulative or environmental impacts expected. But it seems that they haven’t even done an environmental analysis to come with these conclusions yet!
Our friends at the Delaware River Keeper Network have looked into this proposal and tell us it contains too many holes and unanswered questions. They have created a letter that you can simply sign and they will send a copy for you to the Coast Guard. Better yet, look closely at some of the important facts and questions that the Delaware River Keeper Network raises and write and send your own letter. Either way, we need your help and our rivers and waterways need your protection. The Coast Guard needs to hear from us.
In the rush to become “energy independent” we are ignoring too many red flags, and in our opinion, this is certainly one of those red flags.
Yours,
Climate Mama
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