Date : Wed, 6 Aug 2014 10:21:38 -0400
For Immediate Release
July 30, 2014
Contact Jeff Tittel 609-558-9100
Fly Over to Stop Frack Waste
Belmar - "Today we are taken to the air to protect our water. We are having a plane with a banner fly over the jersey shore during the Governor's town meeting in Belmar to urge all New Jerseyians to call the governor to sign the Frack Waste Ban Bill. This legislation prohibits the treatment, discharge, disposal, or storage of toxic fracking waste in New Jersey. Our state is increasingly being targeted for disposal of this unsafe waste with 4 facilities taking the waste in the past. This waste is a threat to our public health and our waterways and we need to call on the Governor to sign this bill," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
Banner says: Don't Dump Frack Waste in NJ Waters Call Gov. Christie 609-292-6000
This bill passed overwhelming bipartisan in the Senate by 32-5 & Assembly by 62-16.
"During Hurricane Sandy we saw a number of problems at water treatment plants, resulting in raw sewage and other dangerous materials being discharged directly in our waterways. If we allow fracking waste to be brought into New Jersey that waste could also potentially reach our waterways in such a weather event. The Passaic Valley Plant alone spilled over 2 billion gallons of raw sewage into Newark bay. Other plants in Sayreville, Hoboken, and Union Beach also discharged sewage in the aftermath of the storm, resulting in between 400 to 500 million gallons being discharged everyday across the state. Adding fracking waste to this mix would add over 700 chemicals to the mix."
"New Jersey's wastewater treatment facilities are not designed to handle the toxins found in fracking wastewater and cannot remove all the chemicals and radioactive materials before discharging the waste into our waterways. This could potentially lead to the discharge of dangerously high levels of harmful pollutants into our rivers, groundwater, estuaries, and bays."
"Fracking waste is exempted from critical federal protections regulating the disposal of hazardous waste and hazardous materials. This free pass from important standards increases the risks to public health and the environment. There are also safety concerns with the transportation of the waste into the state. There could be accidental spills as fracking wastewater is being trucked to treatment plants with impacts to local communities, water bodies and groundwater."
"The fracking waste ban legislation is constitutional and has been written to ban fracking waste regardless of its origin. The Office of Legislative Services has reviewed the legislation and issued a memo stating it does not violate the Interstate Commerce Clause. Other legal opinions have confirmed the bills constitutionality as well."
"We need the Governor to sign this bill to protect our waterways and to stop the discharge of fracking waste in New Jersey. We already have too many toxic sites we do not need anymore. Two years ago the Governor vetoed the same bill. We hope he decides to stand with the people of New Jersey and not the big oil and gas companies. He hope he cares more for New Jersey waterways than national politics, We hope the Governor will stand with the legislature and people of New Jersey by not allowing fracking waste to be dumped on New Jersey," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
-- Nicole Dallara, Outreach Coordinator New Jersey Sierra Club 145 W. Hanover Street Trenton, NJ 08618 609-656-7612 https://www.facebook.com/NJSierraClub https://twitter.com/nicdalla3