Target: Mayor Bill de Blasio
Goal: Applaud in-progress bill to ban use of all fracking byproducts in New York City.
Efforts to stop the use of fracking waste in cities by activists, including a petition here on ForceChange, have met with success. A new bill is up for consideration by New York City Council to address the problem. This bill will amend current fracking laws to ban the sale, distribution and disposal of fracking byproducts of any sort within city limits.
Fracking is banned in New York state, but not at all in Pennsylvania. This has resulted in Pennsylvania fracking companies dumping their waste products, known as brine, in New York. This includes discharging the contaminated waste water into waste water facilities. Brine that wasn’t dumped was sold as a replacement for salt to remove ice from roads and as water to clean roads with. Scientists have discovered that contact with fracking byproducts puts people at risk of damage to their heart, brain, liver, and reproductive system.
Brine also has a negative impact on the environment, especially when dumped onto streets where animals can contact it. Then there is the risk of waste running off into the ground and contaminating ground water. The trickle-down effects are potentially catastrophic. To see this bill purporting to ban all use of fracking waste in New York City is wonderful news. Hopefully, it is a trend that will inspire others to follow. Until more is known about the full effects of brine on the environment, it should be handled as carefully as nuclear waste.
Congratulate the New York City Council for seriously considering this proposed bill.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mayor de Blasio,
I want to applaud your work and the city council’s work in responding to the outcry against fracking waste. It is great to see that New York City has heard of and taken warnings on the dangers of brine seriously. Although the bill to amend current laws has not yet passed, that the council is so seriously considering it is still great news. I can only hope that you and the council will see this bill through and take the next step in protecting people and the environment from the still little-understood dangers of fracking waste.
Thank you for not shutting this bill down. Thank you for taking the time to consider the serious benefits it can offer in the long-term, even at the loss of cheaper methods to removing ice from New York’s streets.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Scoboco
need fair amount of water now!