Take Action Now on Gas Drilling in the Delaware River Watershed!

DRBC Draft Natural Gas Regulations
Open for Comment through March 16, 2011

DRBC HEARINGS ARE THIS WEEK
Please be there and bring your neighbors!

Feb. 22 – Honesdale H.S., 459 Terrace St., Honesdale, Pa.
Feb. 22 – Liberty High School Aud., 125 Buckley St., Liberty, N.Y.
Feb. 24 – Patriots Theater, 1 Memorial Dr., Trenton, N.J.

• All are 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
• Two minutes allowed per person
• Arrive 1 1/2 hours ahead to sign up to speak and get a seat
• Bring signs to show our unity (no sticks)—visit DRN’s table for stickers

We need to come out and speak up at these Hearings to let the Commissioners know that the public interest in this issue and the proposed regulations is HUGE. It is very effective to show up in numbers and to speak on the record; when hundreds of people packed DRBC Hearings on gas issues in the past, it mattered. We wouldn’t have a gas drilling moratorium in place now if people hadn’t spoken up. PLEASE do what you can to come to one of the sessions.

Want to carpool to a hearing? Use this link http://drn.erideshare.com and password: water to access DRN’s private carpool site at eRideShare.com. You will need to become an eRideShare member (it’s free and easy) before adding or posting a ride.

For Talking Points for the Hearing and to submit a comment to DRBC on the Draft Rules NOW go to: http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/act-now/urgent-details.aspx?Id=66

Where the DRBC is with fracking right now.

A resident of Dimock, PA demonstrates what has happened to well water in the area. Credit: Re-ENERGIZE Buffalo

Natural gas companies are drilling throughout the Delaware River Watershed; the drilling process called "fracking" is contaminating our waterways, drinking water, ecosystems, and the communities near drilling sites with literally tons of highly toxic chemicals.

The Delaware River provides water to 5% of the United States--that’s 15 million people in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware--and there is currently no regulation of these gas companies' practices.

An in-depth study of the cumulative impacts of fracking needs to be conducted. However, in a set of draft rules the Delaware River Basin Commission has given these companies the greenlight to move ahead with drilling without regulation. Their rules do not address the impacts of fracking, set limits on gas development, or institute high enough standards to protect streams and communities. They rely heavily on flawed state regulations that are filled with exemptions and loopholes.

The mandate of the DRBC is to prevent degradation of the exceptional water quality of the Delaware River. The public has until March 16th to comment on the DRBC’s draft rules. However, there are only three events left for public hearings. We really need to show up in numbers to make it clear to the DRBC that we will not stand for environmental policies that do not protect us. See below for dates, times and locations.

You can also submit comments electronically.

Who says we can't control the weather?

Take five while I teach you about the new vocab I'm learning on set. Some is straightforward, some is pretty interesting, and the rest is just downright wacky.

The other day, we shot "day for night," which is fancy movie-speak for hanging black sheets over the windows so it looks dark out when it's really not. Then this morning, we filmed a scene that turned out to be "NG for sound," No Good because of a loud-mouthed lawnmower across the street (what can we do? We can't control the neighbor's chores!).

When we needed a static shot of Laduree's tree, the 1st Assistant Director told the Sound Technician that this would be "MOS." As with a lot of film set lingo, this term has its roots in 35mm film, which had a visual (or optical) representation (or signature) of sound waves printed along the frames. So, when they say a take is "Minus Optical Signature (or MOS)," that's just another way to tell Shawn the sound guy to turn his mics off and take it easy.

After that, the Director of Photography asked his Assistant Cameraman to "give some environment," and the AC immediately walked into the frame until the DP could focus the camera and establish the depth-of-field. Then later today, the Art Department was organizing Laduree's science classroom, doing their best to greek out the labels, or in normal english, cover everything up so they just look like plain ol' books.

Instead of a food table, we call it "crafty"; we shout "points!" if we need to carry sharp objects through a crowd; our "sides" are copies of that day's shooting script (not onion rings or mashed potatoes); and for goodness sake, when the camera guys ask you to hand them some "babies," please understand they just need some small tripods. It's a funky language but we understand it. Now walk it back, we're going to pick it up at one. Annnd...we're rolling.