What's in your Water?

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Selectboard Meeting of July 8, 2009.

Posted on 17 Apr 2011, 02:07 - Category: The Town Common
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Comments:

Posted on 17 Apr 2011, 2:15 by Peter Frei
Credit..
To the producer of the video; I don't know if you want me to give you credit for your piece with the video or if you want to stay anonymous..
Please let me know, thanks!
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Posted on 17 Apr 2011, 9:06 by Cancer Patient
Benzene Cocktail anyone???
Doesn't Selectman Chairman Wettlaufers good friend Anthony Grossi and his partner own that land with the tanks that has the hazardous leachate running into our water? And didn't Lynn Arnolds good friends at escape estates construct the septic system just before the causeway that washed into the lake? And is not the water at our elementary school contaminated because of leaking and abandoned underground tanks and failed septic system. Thank you Holland officials for jeopardizing the safety of our children so your pals can make profit.
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Posted on 21 Apr 2011, 22:03 by Angela L.
Help?!
Can anyone tell me how I find out if my well water is ok??? Besides purchasing another water test? I live directly across the street from that truck stop and I have a small child in my home. You literally have a picture of my well in that video... I feel like I should be worried.
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Posted on 21 Apr 2011, 24:29 by Peter Frei
Water test..
I had my water tested once by Lycott Environmental, Inc., 600 Charlton Street, in Southbridge, MA 01550. That was a long time ago and I don't know if they still do it. The phone number is, 508-765-0101.
If they don't do it any longer, I'm sure they can tell you where to go.
Hope this helps.
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Posted on 22 Apr 2011, 9:15 by READER
?
What was stored in those tanks in the video?
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Posted on 22 Apr 2011, 10:47 by Holland lake glows in the dark...
???? Space Man ????
Benzene, xzylene, tolulene...Mbte, Styrene, or any combination of chemicals classified as hazardous.
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Posted on 22 Apr 2011, 22:22 by curios family man
Not so bad
i did a walk threw with the owner all tanks are cleaned by a professional before parked.Don take all you the gossip you hear or read serious.Even looked in one it was very clean.Trust me i am a neighbor and was very curios.
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Posted on 22 Apr 2011, 23:02 by Peter Frei
You crack me up..
Family man, why not sign your comment with your name??
Afraid you are going to be the hero of certain individuals in town, or afraid to look like a fool if the whole issue turns into a environmental scandal??
You really crack me up...
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Posted on 23 Apr 2011, 9:24 by Jim....L....
Not taking sides
There is much more leaking into our lake then what comes off the Wettlaufer/Grossi project. I KNOW what goes into an enviro frac tank. I would ask to see the place that they do clean the tanks. There is not alot of oversight. Typically they are mopped and rinsed before being transported off the property. Not always feasable though. I would ask to see the cleaning records and policies for cleaning if you are worried about the cancer causing chemical residue left after each use. We cleaned ours when there was an hazardous waste vac truck on the job emptying the tank. Zorbent HazMat paerrand tuned suits were drumed and labeled for disposal. This was mostly done before the tank was taken back to the yard. Yard gleanings were rare but the same procedures were followed.
Our water quality is affected by septic systems. Running into the lake and town sand salt on the roads. MBTE and gas and oil from boats.
DILUTION is usually the solution to pollution. Not so with carcinogen VOC's stored in the frac tanks where a little bit goes a long way. A few parts per million are hazardous to human health.
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Posted on 16 May 2011, 19:27 by Peter Frei
Conservation Commission "concerned" about hazardous waste continainers..
Holland Conservation Commission
~
Minutes of Commission meeting held on April 26, 2011.
Present: Mary vandenBerg, Chairperson, Marcia Beal, Patricia Caron, Mary Lovett and Marianne Martone. Absent: Nathan Gumlaw and James Wettlaufer.
Chairperson called the meeting to order. The minutes of the March 22, 2011 meeting were read and accepted and will be distributed.
The scheduled Public Hearing of a Notice of Intent for Clarence Soper to repair a septic system at 15 Massaconnic Tr. was held. Present were Clarence Soper and his son Stephen and Mark Farrell of Green Hill Engineering. No abutters came. Mark Farrell reviewed the plot plan: excess material is to be removed and area is to be restored to original level; the existing 2000 gallon holding tank is to remain; additional hay bales and silt fences are to be placed along the downhill side of the installed system near Mashapaug Rd. Following the project the area will be hydro seeded. Since there is zero impact to the property all were in favor of the project and of closing the hearing at 7:40 p.m.
David Smith of Escape Estate Inc. presented Procedure Sheet No. 2004-878 to construct a single family house with septic and well at Lot 11, Butterworth Ext. Mary vandenBerg signed the Procedure Sheet, since there were no Conservation issues. However it being in a zoning district with a Special Conservancy area which was granted in 2004 to Andre Cormier, Sr. as the Nipmuck and Quaboag Preservation Trust. The documentation of the File for Exemption has yet to be presented to the Town. We requested of David Smith that a letter from Andre Cormier Sr. be presented to us in 2 weeks stating when we would receive a declaration that he has filed for this exemption regarding the 14 acres.
We spoke to David Kowalski, Chairman of the Board of Health, of our concern regarding 2 horses on the Walker property on Mashapaug Rd. and their effect on the lake. He believed that the requirements were 30,000 sq. ft. for the first horse, and an additional 15,000 sq. ft. for each additional horse. He would check further with the town attorney. We also spoke of our concerns regarding the red hazardous waste containers parked at the trailer park on Mashapaug Rd. He said he has been informed that these hazardous containers were empty but would check on that as well.
We received from Brian Boire, DEP File #184-0250 to rebuild a retaining wall at 6 Shore Dr. for Jim Lunig, a Request for Certificate of Compliance. Mary vandenBerg did a site visit and approved the request.
We received an Agenda for Wetlands Permitting Compliance Workshop which is scheduled for May 13, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to be held at the Senior Center in Holland

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m...
Respectfully submitted by
Patricia Caron, Secretary
Copies to Select Board, Town Clerk, Board of Health, Planning Board, Building Inspector, Highway Surveyor, ZBA, File and HCC Chairperson.
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Posted on 4 Jun 2011, 15:49 by Peter Frei
Fracking..
Oil and gas companies are high-pressure injecting unchecked quantities of a secret, toxic fluid directly into or drinking water. And the EPA is currently powerless to do anything about it.

High Pressure Hydraulic Fracturing (or Fracking) is a method of drilling
for natural gas by pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of water,
combined with hundreds of tons of chemicals including known toxics and carcinogens, deep underground. It's already responsible for poisoning the groundwater in states across the country.

The fluid is forced thousands of feet underground at extremely high
pressure, literally cracking the earth to release trapped gas.
Unfortunately, our water table is down there, too.

While the exact contents of the fluid is still a secret, scientific
examination reveals that it often contains diesel fuel, which includes
benzene, as well as methanol, formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid and many others.(1)

There's an infamous photo of a man lighting his tap water on fire. This was due to nearby Fracking.(2)

Fracking is currently underway in 36 states. The ramifications to our
water from expanded, unchecked Fracking will be extreme and are only beginning to be fully realized by the public - thanks in no small part to the continued resistance of industry to disclose the poisons it involves.

An important investigative series by the New York Times recently
concluded that "the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood."(3)

In addition to toxic, carcinogenic fluids which remain underground after
a well is Fracked, Fracking also produces substantial quantities of waste water which is literally radioactive. Acording to the Times, the water is "sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle."

What's more, above ground spills of toxic Fracking fluids are becoming increasingly common. A large spill this April in Pennsylvania dumped thousands of gallons into fields and streams, eerily, on the one year anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill.

Fracking wells are spreading at an alarming rate. But even more alarming, thanks to the work of Dick Cheney and his infamous energy policy, Frackers don't have to disclose the chemicals used in their fluid, and the process is totally exempt from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The oil and gas industry is the only industry in America that is allowed
by EPA to inject known hazardous materials -- unchecked -- directly into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies. That needs to change, and to change it, we need to pass the FRAC Act.

The EPA has been handcuffed from regulating Fracking to keep our water clean since 2005, in what has become known as "the Halliburton loophole." Halliburton, the company where Dick Cheney was CEO before becoming Vice President, patented Fracking in the 1940's and remains the third largest producer of Fracking fluids. And in trademark Bush administration style, Halliburton staff were actively involved in a 2004 EPA report on Fracking safety.

The "Haliburton loophole" remains a dangerous legacy of the Bush
Administration and if we're going to protect our water, we need to close it.

The FRAC Act, a bill that has been in the Senate since 2009, would close the Haliburton Loophole. As public concern over Fracking has grown, the bill has gained some momentum, but we still need more Senators actively working to pass it. Will you urge your Senator to support and work to pass the FRAC Act?

The nine current co-sponsors are Boxer (CA), Cardin (MD), Feinstein (CA), Gillibrand (NY), Lautenberg (NJ), Mikulski (MD), Sanders (VT), Schumer (NY), Whitehouse (RI)

Tell your Senator to Co-sponsor the FRAC Act to protect our water from
dangerous Fracking.
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Notes:

1. Hydraulic Fracturing 101.
http://www.earthworksaction.org/FracingDetails.cfm
2. Burning Tap Water and More: GASLAND Exposes the Natural Gas Industry.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/gasland-documentary-film-trailer-natural-gas-fracking.php
3. Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers," New York
Times, February 26, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/us/27gas.html?ref=drillingdown
Also See: Fracking America: We All Bear the High Cost of 'Cheap' Natural
Gas.
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/commentary/fracking-america-we-all-bear-the-high-cost-of-cheap-natural-gas-33868.html
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