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WORKING TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY AND HOME The New York City Council is demanding a "BAN" on gas drilling in its Watershed - and we are working very hard to prevent the same dire effects of gas drilling - in the Upper Delaware Watershed [which includes the entire New York City Watershed]. Chesapeake and their foriegn partners have begun deployment within the Watershed Region. Overwhelming evidence and much science now exists that the type & scale of gas drilling proposed for this region - made possible by total federal deregulation - is a danger to the public health, causes contaminated drinking water, carcinogens in the farmland and food chain, torn-up roads, air pollution, plummeting home values, and noise polution. Damascus Citizens for Sustainability is now a 501 (C-3) not-for-profit.  IMPORTANT PRESS ...more press reports New York Times, "Of Hydraulic Fracturing and Drinking Water," Reuters, "Gas Drilling Critics Welcome Move by U.S. Regulator." ProPublica, "Natural Gas Politics." NPR, "Face-off Over 'Fracking': Water Battle Brews On Hill." ProPublica, "EPA Administrator Forecasts Shift on Bush-Era Drilling Loophole." TruthOut, "Clean" Energy and Poisoned Water." The River Reporter, "Wastewater Woes." Reuters, "Pennsylvania says gas drilling risks inevitable." CBS News, "Flammable Water In Colorado Home." NY Daily News, "While Searching for New Fuels, Leave New York's Drinking Water Alone." Post-Gazette, "Drilling stalled in Allegheny National Forest." Reuters, "US energy future hits snag in rural Pennsylvania." The River Reporter, "Dimock’s dilemma - Methane found in water wells." ProPublica, "Clean Natural Gas? Not in My Backyard." Newsweek, "Officials Worry About the Impact of Fracking." ABC News, "Sex for Oil & Gas, Reports Blast Interior Department." NY Daily News, "Natural Gas Rush Will Come at Expense of NYC's Water." NBC Nightly News, "Will Gas Drilling Spoil Our Water." New York Times, "Where Water Trumps Energy." The Citizen Telegram, "No to Gas Well Drilling in Watershed." BusinessWeek, "Does Natural-Gas Drilling Endanger Water Supplies?" Scientific American, "Drill for Natural Gas, Pollute Water." Washington Post, "Hunt for gas leads drillers to NYC watershed." New York Times, "Proposed Gas Drilling Upstate Raises Concerns About Water Supply." New York Times, "11th-Hour Ruling Blocks Utah Oil and Gas Leases." Christian Science Monitor, "Boom in gas drilling fuels contamination concerns in Colorado."  Each deep gas well uses millions of gallons of water, sand, 171 products, and 245 chemicals (some secret & toxic). Halliburton's gas well drilling process, "hydraulic-fracturing" - is now exempt from the "Safe Drinking Water Act," "The Clean Water Act," "The Clean Air Act," "The Right-to-Know-Act", and other importnt protections. The NRDC has released a comprehansive report about this issue . . . read more GAS DRILLING IS NOT A BENIGN ACTIVITY. Besides temporary disruptions there are many possible irreversible damages to water, land, wildlife, quality of life, human health, and property values. It took only five years for Fort Worth, Texas - sitting on the same geologic strata as here and dealing with the same gas companies - to be transformed from one of the most livable cities in the country into a beleaguered industrial zone. Residents have suffered from gas fumes, piercing noise pollution and tainted water wells. The gas companies have left behind unsightly and dangerous sites that the municipality can ill-afford to correct. Such problems can result in tax increases. For the last two years, companies such as Equitable Productions, Noble Energy, Cabot Oil and Gas, Chief Oil and Gas, Southwestern Energy, Exco/North Coast, and Chesapeake Appalachia have sent free-lance contractors to approach landowners in the Upper Delaware River Watershed Basin - the source of pure-water for 25 million people. These contractors have asked landowners to sign leases that will allow for gas well drilling on their land. After meetings with the PA Department of Environmental Protection (PA-DEP) and NY Department of Environmental Conservation (NY-DEC) - experts have calculated that over 10,000 wells will be drilled in the Upper Delaware River Watershed Basin. ONE well requires 3 to 5 million gallons of water in the initial drilling, and up to that much each time the well undergoes the hydraulic-fracturing process used to access the gas. This water is allowed to be taken from our streams, lakes, rivers, and aquifers. It is left polluted by the chemicals used in the drilling and fracturing. Some of this water leaches into the drinking water aquifers and surface waters. Some of this water is brought up and discarded, resulting in huge trucks damaging our roads or, as allowed by the PA-DEP & NY-DEC, put into the topsoil with the waste from the drilling. The PA-DEP & NY-DEC do not have sufficient staff to provide oversight on such drilling activity; and communities will be left to their own devices and budgets to deal with the problems that will inevitably arise. Compensation for this from the private companies is at most minimal. We know that farmers in our areas are hurting financially. But we also know that they love their land. There has been a great deal of misinformation distributed about gas well drilling. Please help us to protect your drinking water and land and properties. Read the facts; talk to your neighbors; donate. * [Part of this New York State County] PLEASE USE THIS E-MAIL TO CONTACT US:
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 WATER UNDER ATTACK A Film by Josh Fox Previews of the Movie ... Featuring Dr. Theo Colborn.  PRESIDENT'S GREEN TEAM Energy Department, EPA, White House President Obama's 20-minute Press Conference.  OUR BELOVED RIVER Celebration of Beauty & Pure Source A River Like No Other - in Danger Like Never Before.  BEFORE & AFTER DRILLING Upper Delaware River Watershed Digital Landscape - Impact of Gas Development.  GAS DRILLING IS UNSAFE Barbara Arrindell: "We Must Do Better" Comprehensive 20-minute Presentation. 
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DCS • Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Inc. • P.O. Box 147 • Milanville, PA 18443