The best TRR ever

To the editor:

Just back from a month in Israel to find an accumulation of mail and local papers. So I’m tardy in commending The River Reporter (TRR) staff for what has to be the finest edition of a country weekly I’ve ever seen. I speak of your fat April 30 edition, which I’ve just spent a dazzled hour paging through, and feel I had to share my enthusiasm.

Let’s start with the best editorial on the recent “tea parties” lunacy I’ve seen anywhere. Sometimes from a distance, one’s fellow citizens seem like lunatics from another planet and this was certainly my impression when reports of these mindless “tax protests” reached me abroad. Your reasoned response, ideally supported by the three graphs on U.S. GDP growth and unemployment ,restore a sense of balance. Thank you.

Further on, there was one of the best Teen Amphibian sections you’ve yet published, with impressive art and texts from area schools. (I particularly admired the graphic by Kim Yewchuk from Sullivan West.)

Then, on to the excellent Sullivan County Pride section, with all its worthy honorees; then on again to another special section, Our Country Home, featuring a profile on the couple who renovated the abandoned Lackawaxen schoolhouse into their country home and office—plus a comprehensive rundown on recycle centers and farm markets throughout the area—and even a recipe for hummus (which I was already missing from my Middle-East dining adventures).

I deem this your best issue yet and hope it wins TRR many press awards. Congratulations, and thanks for a great welcome home.

Callicoon, NY

Where’s the beef?

To the editor:

A recent national news article reported that 19 beef cattle in Louisiana died of suspected poisoning from pollutants from a gas well owned by Chesapeake Energy (the same Chesapeake that is leasing right here in our area). The pasture fence was 150 feet from the well and the crew was injecting fluids at high pressure to break down the shale. Apparently the production fluid ran offsite and the cows ingested it.

Local residents reported that cattle were foaming at the mouth, bellowing, and their tongues were hanging and bleeding. They also said that there were yellowish-green fumes that smelled like a combination of antifreeze and petrochemicals. And this is not just an isolated case—I found similar stories reported in other states. Many ranchers report open drilling pits are threatening their livestock when cattle walk into an unfenced pit and water from it. Many die or abort their calves.

The contaminants sterilize the soil and move around with the rains. Even if animals are not killed in the pits, the sludge and chemicals can harm them later. Scavengers and predators can suffer indirect effects by consuming sludge-covered carcasses (could that apply to humans who eat meat contaminated with drilling waste?). These are chilling examples of what could happen here in the Delaware River Valley, where the main industries are tourism, recreation and agriculture. Is this a risk we want to take and the price we are willing to pay so that some landowners can cash out? Is this collateral damage acceptable? If this can happen to cows, what can happen to people? And can this be considered “torture” of innocent animals?

I’ve seen photos of these dead cows on news blogs and it is sickening. But there’s no need to worry because the gas industry tells everyone that hydraulic fracturing is “perfectly safe” and “never contaminates any water.” There’s no telling where all this contaminated beef is headed. Coming soon to a location near you.

So, are you still hungry for a “cheeseburger in paradise?”

Be part of the beauty

To the editor:

Praise the Lord! It’s spring again and He is once more blessing us with beauty, and we all so appreciate it. Also, He’s providing us with an example, encouraging each and every one of us to do our part in beautifying our surroundings.

Look around you with a fresh eye, and notice what needs a “spring touch.” Take pride in your part of the world; perhaps offer to help a neighbor who is unable to do what he or she needs to do.

Then there is the part that everyone can do. It’s simple: Do not litter. Keep a small plastic bag in your car and put it in with your garbage at home when it’s full. Why should Girls Scouts, church groups, parents, grandparents, children and others donate their time and, yes, even risk their lives along highways picking up litter? They are out there cleaning up cigarette packs and butts, all kinds of beverage containers (many beer), fast-food cups and a variety of other items that people throw out of their cars.

I would be interested to hear from someone who litters an explanation of why they do this and why it’s okay. We see signs along the roads urging volunteers to “adopt” a segment of the road. Why is this necessary?

We have been blessed with a beautiful country. Let’s each and every one of us do our part to continue to keep it that way.

Hortonville, NY

SASD stands by to help

To the editor:

Technology, science and inventions have progressed at an accelerated rate during the 100 years of the 20th century, more than any other century. The next 90 years promise to be even more exciting. One of the most significant areas of advance during this century will undoubtedly be in the realm of alternative energy.

In light of the discouraging vote by the Callicoon Town Board to reject state funding for a proposed alternative energy project, the Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development (SASD), an advocate for alternative energy for county, town and village governments, would like to share with readers information about one of the most rapidly advancing forms of alternative energy—photovoltaic (solar) energy.

Photovoltaic technology converts sunlight into electricity and is one of the cleanest and most easily harnessed energy sources available. As photovoltaic technology transforms solar power into electricity, it produces neither air pollution nor hazardous waste. It does not require liquid or gaseous fuel to be transported or combusted. It is free, highly-reliable and abundant, and the technology requires minimum maintenance. The initial start-up costs for acquisition and installation will result, in the medium-term (within five years), in a significant net savings for any individual homeowner, corporation or municipality. This is a critically important tool to foster green economic development that warrants the full attention of all our local governments and concerned citizens.

One of SASD’s missions is to offer the services of qualified professionals to assist any interested party in Sullivan County in making appropriate decisions about alternative energy. There are significant funds available through the state and federal agencies to implement photovoltaic and other alternative energy technologies to reduce dependence on traditional, rapidly depleted resources.

The board of SASD stands ready and willing to assist any individual, group or local government to fully research all appropriate options before making any long-term and potentially irreversible decisions.

Callicoon Center, NY

Congressman Carney: protect Appalachian streams and mountains

To the editor:

Every week in the coalfields of central and southern Appalachia, coal companies use the explosive equivalent of a Hiroshima bomb to get at coal that lies hundreds of feet underneath some of the world’s oldest and most beautiful mountains. More than 500 mountains comprising more than one million acres of hardwood forest have been destroyed by mountaintop removal.

The vast amount of toxic rubble created in these mountaintop removal operations is then dumped directly into adjacent river valleys. Nearly 2,000 miles of American headwater streams in the region have been buried and polluted by toxic mining waste, all to provide less than five percent of America’s electricity.

Mountaintop removal does not happen in Pennsylvania, but the dumping of the waste has a negative impact on our watersheds. Fortunately, ending the disgraceful practice of mountaintop removal will fall to the men and women who represent Pennsylvania in the halls of Congress.

Mountain advocates hope that the U.S. House of Representatives will look at the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) later this year, where Keystone state Democrats, such as Congressmen Carney, Holden, and Altmire, will play a pivotal roll when the bill comes before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Pennsylvania is a coal state, and coal will continue to be a part of our energy picture while we eventually transition away from fossil fuels. However, the future lies with clean energy, not with mountaintop removal-mined coal. We need to responsibly move away from mountaintop removal in the United States. The House of Representatives should immediately pass the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) with the full support of the Pennsylvania delegation. The Senate should do its part by passing the Appalachia Restoration Act with the full support of Senator Casey and Senator Specter.