HUGE VICTORY! EPA pulls registration for Dow's Enlist Duo herbicide, citing high toxicity levels 25NOV15

EARTHJUSTICE, the Earth's lawyers, wins another for us! From +Earthjustice .....

The EPA just pulled registration for Dow’s Enlist Duo herbicide!

In a huge victory that you helped win, the EPA just pulled registration for Dow’s highly toxic Enlist Duo—created for use on the next generation of genetically engineered crops. Enlist Duo is a highly toxic herbicide that blends glyphosate, a probable carcinogen that is wiping out the monarch butterfly, with 2,4-D, a poison used during the Vietnam War as an active ingredient in Agent Orange. It’s a pesticide that is simply too dangerous for humans and animals! Yet the Environmental Protection Agency approved this highly toxic herbicide cocktail for widespread use on genetically engineered corn and soybean crops. With your help, we challenged the EPA’s reckless decision…and today we won! Responding to litigation, the EPA announced it is revoking the registration of Enlist Duo, stating that the combination of these chemicals is likely significantly more harmful than it had initially believed. This is a huge victory that you helped win! Thank you! Every day, we’re up against powerful corporate interests that will stop at nothing to put profits ahead of people and the planet. But today we proved that by coming together, we can stand up to these powerful industries and win! More than 1 billion pounds of pesticides are being dumped onto U.S. crops every year—threatening your family’s health, drifting into the air, seeping into waterways, endangering farmworkers and threatening the survival of endangered species. But with you by our side, Earthjustice will continue fighting to reform our broken chemical system, targeting the most dangerous chemicals and advancing sustainable agriculture. As we head into a holiday centered around food and taking care of those we love, this victory is even more sweet! Thank you for standing with us as we take on the dirtiest industries of our time—and win! Happy holidays to you and yours,

Trip Van Noppen President READ MORE

Pennsylvania Instructed Its Employees To Ignore Residents Sickened By Drilling & Risky Gas Drilling Threatens Health, Water supplies 20JUN14

PENNSYLVANIA used to be a Commonwealth  ( :  a nation, state, or other political unit: as

a :  one founded on law and united by compact or tacit agreement of the people for the common good

b :  one in which supreme authority is vested in the people) but no more. Decades of control of the legislature by corporations and the rich who have bought the loyalty of the majority of the politicians in Harrisburg has destroyed the education system, workers rights and protections, the environment, the health care system and the Commonwealth's infrastructure to the point while people were once proud to be citizens of Pennsylvania now it seems they leave as soon as they can. It is a sad state of affairs when the governing of the Commonwealth has become an act of political hypocrisy as nothing seems to be accomplished in Harrisburg that is for the common good of the people of Pennsylvania. The current governor, tom corbett r tb, has willing practiced this hypocrisy during his political career, as Commonwealth Attorney investigating Penn State child molesters to passage of the discriminatory voter I.D. law (struck down by the courts) to waging war on a woman's right of choice
and now this report of a coverup through denial of knowledge of citizens illnesses due to fracking. But it must be pointed out, the citizens of what was the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania share the blame for this decay and degradation because they elected these fools or were so lazy and ignorant they didn't bother to vote. From +Think Progress  & +NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) .....

  Pennsylvania Instructed Its Employees To Ignore Residents Sickened By Drilling

By Andrew Breiner on June 20, 2014 at 12:18 pm

"Pennsylvania Instructed Its Employees To Ignore Residents Sickened By Drilling"

The Pennsylvania Department of Health instructed its employees never to talk to residents who complained of negative health effects from fracking, StateImpact Pennsylvania reported Thursday. Two retired employees of the department detailed restrictions on attending meetings, lists of topics they could not discuss, and a general departmental hostility to the idea of health problems linked to shale gas drilling. The state’s governor, Tom Corbett, declined to comment for StateImpact Pennsylvania’s story.
Pennsylvania has had more than 6,000 hydraulic fracturing wells drilled within the last six years, and zero state studies on their health impacts. In Pennsylvania, and near fracking operations across the country, people have won settlements from fossil fuel companies after being sickened. In many cases the drilling company imposes a gag order to prevent sickened people from spreading the word about what caused their illness and building the case that fracking has negative health effects.
In 2011 Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission recommended a registry to collect health data from people living near fracking operations. Three years later, it still doesn’t exist. Across the country in Colorado, legislators tried to commission a study on the health effects of living near drilling, but fossil fuel advocates ensured its demise. Doctors want more data on health effects of fracking, but the interests of the drillers usually win out.
A Texas case where a family was sickened by toxic emissions from gas and oil drilling operations shows why so many families accept a settlement even with a restrictive gag order. The Parrs filed suit against Aruba Petroleum in March 2011, saying they were “under constant, perpetual, and inescapable assault of Defendants’ releases, spills, emissions, and discharges of hazardous gases, chemicals, and industrial/hazardous wastes.” A jury awarded the Parrs $2.9 million, but even after a judge upheld the jury’s verdict this Thursday, Aruba is expected to appeal and drag the case out longer. If it stands, it will be one of the first-ever cases in the U.S. where a drilling company was successfully sued for sickening people.
When the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sent an inspector to look into the Parrs’ case and collect air samples, he was sickened as well. The Texas Attorney General’s office sued, and Aruba ended up settling for $108,000.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s hostility to examining the health effects of fracking is just the latest development in a series of policies and laws that make it easier to make money from fracking — at the expense of public health. For instance, a Pennsylvania law makes it illegal for doctors to tell their patients which fracking chemicals are poisoning them, to protect the secret blends they inject into the earth. Drillers like it because they assert it helps them compete against one another. But it also makes it very difficult for residents to build the case for the health effects of a particular chemical, or even the health effects of fracking generally.
As Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach (D) told Mother Jones in March of last year, “The importance of keeping it as a proprietary secret seems minimal when compared to letting the public know what chemicals they and their children are being exposed to.”

NRDC's staff blog

Pennsylvania ignoring fracking health reports

posted by Amy Mall, 6/20/14

Another deeply troubling story about the failure of our government leaders to protect Americans from ...

NYS Senate Must Enact Three-Year Moratorium on Fracking Now

posted by Kate Sinding, 6/17/14

The mad end-of-session rush in Albany is upon us, the time of year for frenetic horse-trading and multiple ...

New report: BLM using outdated rules and not inspecting priority wells

posted by Amy Mall, 6/13/14

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in May on BLM's oversight of oil and gas ...

What Kind of "Impact" Has Cabot Oil and Gas Had on Pennsylvania?

posted by Daniel Raichel, 6/9/14

Just about a week ago, Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation, the company associated with widespread methane ...

Leaky Oil and Gas Wells Threaten the Environment and Public Health and Safety

posted by Briana Mordick, 6/5/14

A new report from researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada highlights a serious problem for ...

Read more on Switchboard >>

Related NRDC Webpages:

RISKY GAS DRILLING THREATENS HEALTH, WATER SUPPLIES

The rapid expansion of natural gas drilling across the nation endangers human health and the environment.

Drilling of the Marcellus Shale has already begun in nearby Dimock Township, Pennsylvania, and so have the first reports of dangerous spills. In September 2009, three spills of hydraulic fracturing fluid totaling more than 8,000 gallons polluted local wetlands and a creek, causing a fish kill.
photo: © J Henry Fair Photography

The oil and gas industry is seeking to expand natural gas production across the nation, as new technology makes it easier to extract gas from previously inaccessible sites. Over the last decade, the industry has drilled thousands of new wells in the Rocky Mountain region and in the South. It is expanding operations in the eastern United States as well, setting its sights most recently on a 600-mile-long rock formation called the Marcellus Shale, which stretches from West Virginia to western New York.
Nearly all natural gas extraction today involves a technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which dangerous chemicals are mixed with large quantities of water and sand and injected into wells at extremely high pressure. Fracking is a suspect in polluted drinking water in Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, where residents have reported changes in water quality or quantity following fracturing operations.
NRDC opposes expanded fracking until effective safeguards are in place.
Natural gas producers have been running roughshod over communities across the country with their extraction and production activities for too long, resulting in contaminated water supplies, dangerous air pollution, destroyed streams, and devastated landscapes. Weak safeguards and inadequate oversight fail to protect our communities from harm by the rapid expansion of fossil fuel production using hydraulic fracturing or "fracking."
Americans shouldn't have to accept unsafe drinking water just because natural gas burns more cleanly than coal. Many companies don't play by the rules that do exist and the industry has used its political power to escape accountability for its actions, leaving the American people unprotected. And no industry can claim to be part of the solution if it supports exemptions from basic laws designed to ensure that we have clean water, clean air, and the ability to make our voices heard.
NRDC works to build a healthier energy future -- one that is centered on clean, safe, renewable sources of power, used efficiently. Energy efficiency and renewable energy must be our country's top energy priorities because they are the quickest, cleanest and cheapest solutions to global warming and other pollution problems.
We also support strong safeguards for production of all energy sources to minimize risks to our health. Since natural gas burns more cleanly than other fossil fuels, it can contribute to protecting public health when it is used to displace dirtier fuels like coal.
NRDC supports establishing a fully effective system of safeguards for hydraulic fracturing to protect our health and land and is committed to working with the federal government, states, communities and industry to put these safeguards into place right away.
These safeguards include:

1. Putting the most sensitive lands, including critical watersheds, completely off limits to fracking;
2. Not allowing leaky systems by setting clean air standards that ensure methane leaks are well under one percent of production to reduce global warming pollution, and requiring green completions and other techniques to reduce air pollution;
3. Mandating sound well drilling and construction standards by requiring the strongest well siting, casing and cementing and other drilling best practices;
4. Protecting the landscape, air, and water from pollution by closing Clean Air, Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water loopholes, reducing toxic waste, and holding toxic oil and gas waste to the same standards as other types of hazardous waste, funding robust inspection and enforcement programs, and disclosing fully all chemicals;
5. Using gas to replace dirtier fossil fuels like coal by prioritizing renewables and efficiency, implementing recently established mercury, sulfur and other clean air standards, and setting strong power plant carbon pollution standards; and
6. Allowing communities to protect themselves and their future by restricting fracking through comprehensive zoning and planning.

Related NRDC Webpages:

NRDC: The Role of Natural Gas in America’s Energy Mix

NRDC: Protecting Americans from the Risks of Fracking

NRDC: Drilling Down

OnEarth Magazine: New York Puts Brakes on Drilling in NYC Watershed, Clears Way for Upstate Wells by Next Spring

NRDC: Protecting New Yorkers’ Health and the Environment by Regulating Drilling in the Marcellus Shale

NRDC: Don't Drill Away the West

Switchboard: Incidents Where Hydraulic Fracturing is a Suspected Cause of Drinking Water Contamination

NRDC Document Bank: NRDC Comments on New York State's Draft Study on Natural Gas Hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale

Comments Submitted by NRDC on September 28, 2010 on the Hydraulic Fracturing Study to be Undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency

Comments Submitted by NRDC on January 11, 2012 on the New York State Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Fracking

Don't Get Fracked: Steps to Keep You and Your Family Safe from Drilling

Leaking Profits: The U.S. Oil and Gas Industry Can Reduce Pollution, Conserve Resources, and Make Money by Preventing Methane Waste

In Fracking's Wake: New Rules are Needed to Protect Our Health and Environment from Contaminated Wastewater

State Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure Rules and Enforcement: A Comparison

Hydraulic Fracturing Can Potentially Contaminate Drinking Water Sources

NRDC Document Bank: NRDC Comments on Revised Proposed Regulations for High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing in NYS

Related Websites:

latimes.com: Natural gas: Cheap, clean and risky

GLADE STINKS: Dirty Secrets Test Results 8JUN13

HERE is a bit of information about common household cleaners and their ingredients which may cause problems for you and your family when you use them in your home. It is followed by a petition campaign to get the maker of glade, SC Johnson, to list all the ingredients in their products so consumers can make an intelligent choice about the products they are buying. From SumOfUs.....

Cleaning product companies aren’t required to disclose the ingredients they use in their products, and what they’re keeping secret from you could be hazardous to your health. Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) commissioned an independent laboratory to test twenty popular cleaning products for hidden toxic chemicals from five top companies: Clorox, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, SC Johnson and Son, and Sunshine Makers (Simple Green). We found reproductive toxins, carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and allergens, and none of these chemicals were listed on the product label.


Consumers deserve to know what chemicals they are being exposed to, so that they can easily avoid products that may cause allergic reactions or serious long-term health impacts like cancer, birth defects, or pregnancy complications. WVE is calling on Congress to pass new federal legislation that requires cleaning product manufacturers to disclose all the ingredients they use in their products directly on the product label.

Dirty Secrets Testing Results

__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________
Product Name	Chemical Detected	Health Concern*
__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________
Clorox
__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________
Clorox Green Works Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner Original Scent	Limonene	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Green Works Natural Laundry Detergent Original Scent	Limonene	Allergies
	DL-Citronellol	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	_____________________
Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner with Bleach	Chloroform	Cancer
	Carbon tetrachloride	Cancer
	Limonene	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	_____________________
Original Pine-Sol	Toluene	Pregnancy complications
	Limonene	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Procter & Gamble
__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________
Tide Original Scent	1,4-dioxane	Cancer
	Limonene	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	_____________________
Tide Free & Gentle (fragrance free)	1,4-dioxane	Cancer
	Limonene	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Bounce with Febreze Fresh Scent Spring & Renewal	Limonene	Allergies
	DL-Citronellol	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Bounce Free & Sensitive (fragrance free)	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
	1,4-dioxane	Cancer
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Febreze Air Effects Spring & Renewal	Linalool	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
	Galaxolide	Hormone disruption
__________________________________	_______________________	____________________
Reckitt Benckiser
__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________
Lysol Disinfectant Spray Spring Waterfall	Limonene	Allergies
	DL-Citronellol	Allergies
	Eugenol	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Lysol Neutra Air Fabric Mist Crisp Linen	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Air Wick Scented Oil Lavender & Chamomile	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
	Eugenol	Allergies
	Coumarin	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	_____________________
Air Wick Fresh Waters Air Freshener	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
__________________________________	_______________________	____________________
SC Johnson & Son
__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________
Glade Plug In Scented Oil Hawaiian Breeze	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
	Eugenol	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Glade Tough Odor Solutions w/Oust Refreshing Citrus Air Sanitizer	Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)	Reproductive harm, hormone disruption, neurodevelopment problems
	Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate  (DEHP)	Reproductive harm, hormone disruption, neurodevelopment problems
	Diethyl phthalate (DEP)	Reproductive harm, hormone disruption
	Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP)	Reproductive harm, hormone disruption
	Galaxolide	Hormone disruption
	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Pledge Furniture Spray Dust & Allergen Outdoor Fresh	Limonene	Allergies
	DL-Citronellol	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Pledge Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner Fragrance Free Hypoallergenic	None	N/A
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Windex Original	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Sunshine Makers
__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner Non-Toxic Biodegradable	Toluene	Pregnancy complications
	Limonene	Allergies
__________________________________	______________________	____________________
Simple Green Naturals Multi-Surface Care Lemon Verbena	Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate  (DEHP)	Reproductive harm, hormone disruption, neurodevelopment problems
	1,4-dioxane	Cancer
	Limonene	Allergies
	Linalool	Allergies
__________________________________	_______________________	_____________________

*Health concerns listed are those which have been determined in the scientific literature through exposure to the chemical listed, by at least one route of exposure: inhalation, ingestion or skin absorption. In most cases, research has never been conducted to determine if exposure to the chemical through use of the cleaning product is associated with the health outcome.

Download this fact sheet

See the full report Dirty Secrets

Fact Sheets

• Hidden Hazards in the Nursery »
• Dirty Secrets Test Results »
• Household Cleaning Products: What Every Woman Should Know »
• Asthma and Respiratory Disorders »
• Reproductive Harm »
• What You Can Do: 7 Simple Steps to Reduce Your Exposure »
• Disinfectant Overkill Fact Sheet »
• Room-by-Room Chart for Reducing Exposure »
• What’s That Smell Fact Sheet »

Non-Toxic DIY Recipes »

Take Action »

http://www.womensvoices.org/science/fact-sheets/dirty-secrets/

GLADE STINKS

Glade stinks -- and it's not just the smell. SC Johnson, Glade's parent company, is refusing to disclose the chemicals in each of its products. Tell Glade to stop hiding chemicals in its products.

Something about the massive fragrance brand Glade stinks. Although Glade’s sprays, candles, and air fresheners are marketed as clean and refreshing, independent investigations have showed that Glade products contain secret, potentially toxic chemicals.

When health advocates Women’s Voices for the Earth commissioned an independent lab to test Glade for toxins, they found chemicals that have been linked to allergic reactions, birth defects, and increased risk of breast cancer. We know Glade uses synthetic musks that build up in the body over time, andultimately show up in blood and breast milk. Other companies, like Chlorox and the makers of Lysol have dropped these ingredients, but not Glade -- and we don't even know what else might be lurking in Glade fragrances.

In the United States, manufacturers aren’t required to label the ingredients of fragrances, so most don’t. That means consumers can’t avoid fragrances that contain unhealthy chemicals and allergens, like those found in many Glade products.

Tell the makers of Glade to stop keeping secrets and let consumers know what chemicals are in its fragrances.

S.C. Johnson, the massive chemical conglomerate that owns Glade, likes to brag that it’s committed to honesty and transparency. But it only discloses the contents of its fragrances in a single online master list with over 1,500 ingredients. That master list includes scary ingredients like petroleum -- but it doesn't say which chemicals appear in which products! Consumers have no way of knowing which products to avoid if they have allergies or small children, or if they simply want to shy away from toxins.

In the European Union, where disclosure rules are stricter, Glade products already have labels about their ingredients, so we know that the makers of Glade could easily be more transparent. But it’s chosen to keep customers in the U.S. in the dark.

Glade recently responded to consumer complaints about its lack of transparency, but it simply reiterated what its policies are. It didn't address the basic issue: when we buy Glade products, we don't know what we're getting. Glade dodged a handful of complaints, but if thousands of us speak out together, it will have to get serious. S.C. Johnson wants to be seen as a leader on transparency, and this is its chance to live up to that billing. By labeling potentially harmful ingredients in Glade products, it can help set a new standard in the fragrance industry.

Click here to demand that Glade disclose its fragrance ingredients.

Thanks,

Rob, Kaytee, and the rest of us

*********

More Information:

Women's Voices for the Earth, Dirty Secrets test results 

UPDATE ON DRYDEN, NY ; Victory in Fracking Ban Case 3MAI13

THIS is so cool! Congratulations to the people of Dryden, NY and thanks to all who took the time to send a message of support. The link to my earlier post on the amazing people of Dryden at the end of this post. From EarthJustice....

You remember Dryden, NY—the town that fought fracking? Well, they just keep on winning. Today, they did it again, in a big court victory against an oil and gas company that sued over the town’s fracking ban. You were an important part of this victory, sending a message of support to the people of Dryden while they awaited today’s decision. Two weeks ago, Dryden residents delivered your message—along with a map showing where each message came from—to their Town Board members. The Town Board members were incredibly grateful and have asked to keep your message, and 20,000 others, in an archive in the town library. Supervisors from the Town of Dryden receive your statement of solidarity. (Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition) “We love our town. We’re proud to be from a place that doesn’t back down from a tough fight. And we’re inspired by the outpouring of support we’ve received,” Dryden resident Deborah Cipolla-Dennis told reporters today. “Now it’s our turn to support communities across New York, and in Pennyslvania, Ohio, Colorado, and elsewhere that are standing up to the oil and gas industry.” We’ve got some tough battles ahead while communities across the country struggle to protect themselves from the consequences of the fracking-enabled oil and gas drilling boom. But today, take some time to celebrate your part in this victory. Thanks for standing with Dryden, Kathleen Sutcliffe Campaign Manager

©2013 Earthjustice | 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 | 415-217-2000 | action@earthjustice.org

ALERT TOOLS

PHOTO CREDIT:   Top: Supervisors from the Town of Dryden receive your statement of solidarity. (Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition)

VIEW ONLINE:   Having trouble viewing this email? View it in a browser. The Town That Fought Fracking (And Is Winning...) 21MAR13 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-town-that-fought-fracking-and-is.html

The Town That Fought Fracking (And Is Winning...) 21MAR13

FRACKING is being fought in many communities across the U.S. and too often the people loose because of the politicians who have been bought off by the big oil and gas companies. Here is a story of one community that is winning their fight against fracking, Dryden, New York, and the opportunity to send them a message of support as their case is argued in the New York State Supreme Court today, 21MAR13, from EarthJustice....

Action Completed!

Your solidarity letter has been received.
Thank you for speaking out in support of the Town of Dryden.

Discover the story behind the journey to successfully pass
Dryden's fracking ban in this special feature.
Please share with your friends and spread the word!

[ CLOSE THIS NOTIFICATION ]

The Story of Dryden:

The Town That Fought Fracking

(And Is Winning)

An upstate New York town is fighting to preserve its way of life in a lawsuit pitting a small town's rights against an out-of-state oil and gas company’s wishes.

More than a hundred towns in New York have enacted local bans or moratoriums on gas drilling, including the controversial process known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," in which drillers blast millions of gallons of chemically treated water into the ground to extract gas from hard-to-reach deposits deep in the earth.

Among those municipalities is the Town of Dryden—which is now being sued.

In September of 2011, the privately-held Anschutz Exploration Corporation, owned by Forbes-ranked Phillip Anshutz (net worth: $7.5 billion), sued the Town of Dryden (population: 14,500) in a bid to force the town to accept industrial gas drilling—including fracking—within town limits.

The company brought its lawsuit after the Dryden Town Board approved a change in its zoning ordinance, clarifying that oil and gas development activities, including fracking, were "prohibited uses" of land within the town. The Dryden Town Board's unanimous, bipartisan vote followed a petition drive and a series of public hearings, in which residents spoke out 3-to-1 in favor of the change.

This is how it all started. The Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC) was created in the spring of 2009 by Dryden residents concerned about the possible upcoming consequences that the hydraulic fracturing of gas wells drilled into the Marcellus Shale may bring not only to their own neighborhoods, but also to the state and region.

In 2010, DRAC members began collecting petition signatures from their fellow residents to ask the Town Board to develop an industrial noise ordinance and to make a firm statement against gas drilling. The journey to the successful passage of the ordinance involved the entire community, through information sessions, a listening project, collaborations with neighboring communities, and much more. DRAC members took their concerns and requests for protective action to the Dryden Town Board, using their citizens' privilege time at the beginning of each meeting. They attended each monthly meeting, reiterating their concerns and reporting on progress to the Dryden Town Board and Town Supervisor.

DRAC member Hilary Lambert recounts the story of how town residents worked together to ensure their concerns would be heard, and to, ultimately, bring about the historic vote:

In Celebration of Community: The festive scene in Montgomery Park during Dryden's 2012 Dairy Day, a community service project of the Dryden Grange. The annual gathering brings together local farmers, businesses, and organizations to celebrate the many contributions the dairy farmer makes to all of our lives.  (Austin Brecht)

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW

Norse Energy Corporation USA v. Town of Dryden is being appealed after a state Supreme Court ruled in favor of Dryden. Earthjustice is representing the Town of Dryden in the appeal. Oral arguments will be heard on March 21, 2013, in Albany by the State of New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Judicial Department.

[ More on this Case ]

VOICES OF DRYDEN

HILARY LAMBERT

A mother, grandmother and longtime science-based advocate for the environment, Dr. Hilary Lambert grew up in Dryden and remembers a childhood spent outdoors, in the woods and on the water. Today, Hilary is a member of DRAC and works to protect the ecological health of the Finger Lakes Region as executive director of a watershed protection organization.

SLIDE 15 OF 15

DRAC regularly holds and participates in various county-wide and out-of-county efforts to safeguard the region's water, air, and soil resources and, more generally, an environment in which people, animals, and plants can live and flourish.

Photos and captions are courtesy of Hilary Lambert.

SLIDE 1 OF 15

During the rough winter months in early 2011, members and supporters of the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC) fanned out across Dryden's snowy, icy roads to collect signatures of residents opposed to gas drilling and fracking.

Flyers and ads were placed in local newspapers. Advice from Back to Democracy, an all-volunteer organization that promotes citizen empowerment, and local election experts ensured that signatures were authentic and correctly documented.

SLIDE 2 OF 15

By spring of 2011, DRAC had collected 1,600 signatures, which they presented to the Dryden Town Board at a packed-house monthly Town Board meeting.

The message to the Board was clear: Please develop and vote in favor of a gas drilling and fracking zoning ordinance, and please do it quickly.

The pressure was on!

SLIDE 3 OF 15

By August 2011, the zoning ordinance that would prohibit oil and gas activities in the town had been developed and the work had been done to muster Town Board action.

Dryden Town Board member David Makar and Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner walk to the meeting at which they would take a vote.

SLIDE 4 OF 15

Again in a packed meeting, following necessary preliminaries and reading of the beautifully-worded ordinance language by Dryden Town Attorney Mahlon Perkins, and after all the work that had gone before, the vote was quick:

"Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!"
It was a unanimous historic vote.

At front from right: Steve Stelick, Joe Solomon, Mary Ann Sumner, David Makar and Jason Leifer, recorded by Town Clerk Bambi Avery.

SLIDE 5 OF 15

Dryden Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner is congratulated by DRAC members and other Dryden community residents who supported the fracking ban.

A brief recess was then called to allow for a few minutes of uproarious celebration.

SLIDE 6 OF 15

Following the meeting, many stood outside to talk about the vote.

Attorney David Slottje, who had advised DRAC on how to develop a zoning ban for consideration by the Dryden Town Board, departs with a big smile.

But even in the midst of this great victory, the Town was put on notice by letters and statements from pro-frackers that someone would probably sue Dryden for taking this action.

SLIDE 7 OF 15

A year before the historic vote, DRAC members were already attending, organizing and co-sponsoring numerous Dryden and Tompkins County fracking and gas drilling information events, to better educate themselves and others.

This presentation in 2010 by the Community Science Institute was one of those events. DRAC members are clustered on the left side of the room, learning along with others about potential impacts to the region's water resources.

SLIDE 8 OF 15

In late 2009 and early 2010, communities across Tompkins County and beyond were organizing to repel fracking from their borders.

Here, DRAC and ROUSE (Residents Opposing Unsafe Shale-Gas Extraction) members at the Brooktondale Community Center in the Town of Caroline, listen to fracking expert, engineer and Cornell University professor Dr. Tony Ingraffea.

SLIDE 9 OF 15

DRAC members attended meetings and learned about their neighbors' concerns and found ways to work cooperatively with them.

DRAC member Judith Pierpont (left) and Shaleshockleader Sarah Hess (right), take notes as attorney Helen Slottje (center) explains that, while New York towns may not regulate gas drilling and fracking, they may pass land-use laws that exclude these activities.

SLIDE 10 OF 15

Meanwhile, across Cayuga Lake in the Town of Ulysses, the CCU (Concerned Citizens of Ulysses)were mounting a massive town-wide petition drive to demand that their town pass a ban on gas drilling and fracking, based on guidelines developed by attorneys Helen and David Slottje of CEDC Inc..

In the photo, DRAC members listen to Helen and David (left) explain the process of developing a zoning ban for consideration by the Dryden Town Board.

SLIDE 11 OF 15

At the close of 2010, community groups DRAC, CCU, ROUSE, ENSAW (Enfield Neighbors for Safe Air and Water) and others met with Ulysses petition developers Michael Dineen and Jan Quarles of Back to Democracy, to learn how to mount major petition drives in their respective towns.

Attorney David Slottje (second from right) speaks to participants at a fundraising house party organized by DRAC on behalf of the Slottjes, whose pro bono work was helping towns across New York State develop gas drilling and fracking bans and moratoria.

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From the beginning, DRAC was all about informing and involving fellow Dryden residents, communicating our concerns and asking for action from our Town Board, and working with other groups in Tompkins County and beyond.

We began meeting regularly at Dryden Town Hall, and started a listserv for local residents and a blog for Dryden and the wider public. Our twice-monthly meetings were run in a non-hierarchical fashion, and we posted a brief report on the listserv after each meeting.

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Several DRAC members also took part in a Listening Project in 2010, to find out what folks in Dryden thought about fracking. More than a hundred interviews were conducted through the project.

In training sessions (left), they learned how to do door-to-door visits, which would help us in our petition drives.

See the results of the Listening Project results.

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DRAC continues to work to raise public awareness of issues related to gas drilling, including land leasing details and the methods and risks involved with fracking.

Left: DRAC members and friends plan their work for the coming year during a session led by 350.org co-founder Kelly Blynn in September of 2012.

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DRAC regularly holds and participates in various county-wide and out-of-county efforts to safeguard the region's water, air, and soil resources and, more generally, an environment in which people, animals, and plants can live and flourish.

Photos and captions are courtesy of Hilary Lambert.

SLIDE 1 OF 15

During the rough winter months in early 2011, members and supporters of the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC) fanned out across Dryden's snowy, icy roads to collect signatures of residents opposed to gas drilling and fracking.

Flyers and ads were placed in local newspapers. Advice from Back to Democracy, an all-volunteer organization that promotes citizen empowerment, and local election experts ensured that signatures were authentic and correctly documented.

Fracking requires a heavy industrial buildup, complete with giant well pads containing multiple wells, miles of trucks rumbling down gravel roads, and noisy equipment that runs all night. Fracking sites, which are significant sources of volatile organic compounds, also taint local air quality by increasing ozone levels.

And then there's the issue of water. Each fracking job requires millions of gallons of water laced with sand and toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid. Some of the chemicals in fracking fluids are known carcinogens and the health effects of many additives are not fully understood, in large part because industry officials have refused to disclose precisely what they are using.

"The people of Dryden want to preserve the special character of our town and make sure it continues to be a healthy community for generations to come," said Dryden Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner.

"The oil and gas industry may wish it were otherwise, but municipalities have the right to determine what types of development are appropriate within their borders. We are firmly committed to defending that right."

A New York State Supreme Court ruled in favor of Dryden in February of 2012. The case is now being heard by an appellate court—though with a change in plaintiff. Norse Energy, the U.S. subsidiary of a Norwegian oil and gas company, has replaced Anschutz Exploration in the litigation—Norse then filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings the following month.

Earthjustice is representing the Town of Dryden in the appeal, a case that will determine whether localities can keep heavy industry like oil and gas development off the land within their borders.

The case is being watched closely as towns in other states like Colorado and Ohio pass fracking bans of their own and are threatened with lawsuits by the oil and gas industry. A victory in New York could provide encouragement and hope to communities around the country.

"The people of Dryden stood up to defend their way of life against the oil and gas industry. And, against stiff odds, they won," said Deborah Goldberg, managing attorney of Earthjustice's Northeast regional office and an expert on the environmental impacts of industrial gas development.

"The [lower court] ruling makes clear that local officials have the right to decide what industrial activities are appropriate within their communities."

"The Town of Dryden has a very strong case," said Deborah. "Two courts have ruled that localities retain their longstanding power to regulate land use, including by prohibiting industrial activities such as gas development in their communities. We'll do everything we can to ensure this victory stands."

Dryden celebrates Dairy Day. The annual event brings a home day atmosphere together with a dairy theme that is entertaining, fun, educational and affordable to families.  (All photos by Austin Brecht)

The Dryden High School Sustainability Club showcases its work.

Even a brief rain shower doesn't diminish cheers from the crowd, as the Dairy Princesses' float joins the parade.

VOICES OF DRYDEN

AUSTIN BRECHT

These scenes from the 2012 Dairy Day were captured by Austin Brecht, then a senior at Dryden High School.

Age

19 years old

Years Lived in Dryden

19

Occupation

Undergraduate Student;
Mentor at Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture

Favorite Part of Being from Dryden

Knowing that I come from
a small, close-knit town

Favorite Dryden Memories

The annual Dairy Day Parade;
walking along the rails of Dryden Lake and fishing in the lake;
going to Dryden Lake Park

Small ponies seek shelter from the rain during Dairy Day festivities.  (Austin Brecht)

Children from Dryden's Southworth Library march in the Dairy Day parade.  (Austin Brecht)

Fall colors at Dryden Lake Park.  (Enoch Ross)

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The Dark Side of the Fracking Boom

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Fracking Runs Afoul of Hometown U.S.A.

The New York towns of Middlefield and Otsego, which together encompass the Village of Cooperstown, passed the first local fracking bans by limiting industrial activities within the town's borders.

VIDEO

Finding Their Way

Pennsylvania residents Jim and Jen Slotterback had only 11 days to save their favorite park from gas drilling—and they succeeded. Watch their story.

TAKE ACTION! The Town That Fought Fracking (And Is Winning…)

Dear Craig, Mary Ann Sumner is Town Supervisor for the Town of Dryden (population 14,500) in upstate New York. She loves Dryden, and she takes her job very seriously. That’s why she is in New York State Supreme Court today, fighting a lawsuit brought against her and Dryden by an oil and gas company trying to force citizens to accept fracking inside the town’s borders. Will you stand in solidarity with the people of Dryden on this historic day? In 2011, Supervisor Sumner and her colleagues on the Dryden Town Board voted to prohibit the use of land within the town for oil and gas development activities, including fracking. Six weeks later they were sued by an oil and gas company owned by a Forbes-ranked billionaire. When Dryden defeated the billionaire’s company in court, it made history, inspiring other towns across America to enact similar bans. But Dryden’s fight is not over—the US subsidiary of a foreign-owned oil company has now stepped in to challenge the town. Earthjustice attorney Deborah Goldberg is representing Dryden in this precedent-setting case. As this message is being sent, she is facing off against oil and gas industry lawyers in Albany, NY. The coming weeks will be tense ones in Dryden as the townspeople and their local elected officials await the court’s ruling. Will you sign on to this petition and send them a message of support? These messages will be read aloud at upcoming Town Board meetings, letting the leaders of Dryden know that thousands of people have their back in this fight. With great appreciation, Kathleen Sutcliffe Campaign Manager P.S. Your support sends an important signal to Town Board members that they’re doing the right thing by standing up to the oil and gas industry. Sign our solidarity petition today!