Upcoming Events:
Sierra Club Water Sentinels
Base Line Water Quality Monitoring Program
Saturday, June 16th
Oneonta, NY
8:30am - 3pm Workshop
The best way to defend our waterways from misuse and pollution is to empower committed local activists with accurate information and train them in stream water quality monitoring techniques and grassroots advocacy.
The Water Sentinels program recruits and trains activists to take regular water samples. We form monitoring teams, educate them with written materials and workshops, provide them with quality assurance training, supply them with monitoring equipment and laboratory analysis resources, and teach them to compile inventories and evidence.
The workshop will be led by ALLARM staff, an environmental organization, based out of Dickinson College, has trained community members to monitor water quality for 25 years.
Workshop begins promptly at 8:30 AM and will conclude at 3:00 PM. The morning session will cover the basics of hydrofracking, site selection for water testing, and visual assessment. In the afternoon volunteers will be instructed in the use of the testing equipment and data collection and assigned equipment.
The Sierra Club will provide testing equipment and monitoring manuals. We are asking for a $20 contribution towards the $130 p.p. training and equipment costs . We can offer a small number of scholarships for those on limited budgets. If you can pay the full price, thank you, it helps us to train more volunteers!
To sign-up, if you live in Chenango county, contact Gail Tooker (gail.tooker@cortland.edu), or if you live in Otsego or Delaware county, contact Tim Mulroy (607) 828-8455, prior to Friday, June 1, 2012.
Recent Gas Drilling News:
Wednesday, January 11th marked the end of DEC's public comment period for the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement.
Atlantic Chapter members and supporters submitted over 4000 comments highlighting the many flaws with the dSGEIS!
See our official Atlantic Chapter Comments
&
National Sierra Club's Joint Comments (submitted with Catskill Mountainkeeper, NRDC, Earthjustice and others)
More technical and in-depth comments and attachments found here.
Read the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact statement on Horizontal Hydrofracking at:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/75370.html
Other Recent News:
Say "No!" to Garbage Incinerators as a Renewable Energy Source (Updated!)
Recently, we asked our members and friends to take action against a petition to include garbage incineration in New York's Renewable Portfolio Standard Program.
The idea is detrimental to NY's progress as we work towards our goal of reducing solid waste by 86% by 2030. It would also severely limit the support given to wind, solar, and recycling projects, the industries that are working to better NY's energy future.
Burning municipal solid waste is not only harmful to the environment, but also to human health as toxic emissions are release during the incineration.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) took comments through Friday, August 19th. Our efforts garnered 2000+ comments to the PSC telling them that garbage incineration is NOT a renewable form of energy, should NOT receive subsidies, and is NOT an option in NY's sustainable energy future. You can see the comments from the Atlantic Chapter and other groups here.
Thank you for all of those that took action!
Update: Thanks to the more than 2,500 letters of opposition, Covanta withdrew its petition. Read more here.