-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512


"New Milford Town Council Enacts Citizen-Led Fracking Waste Ban"
by Colin Cogle

Written Monday, July 10, 2017.
Originally published on the The Green Party of New Milford's blog.


ABSTRACT
Town becomes the twenty-first in Connecticut to ban the sale, use,
and import of fracking waste by-products.


"We're not going to let anything into the town!" Councilman Tom Esposito
(R) staunchly promised to a full house of concerned citizens during the
New Milford Town Council meeting on Monday, July 10, 2017.   Esposito's
impassioned support of a citizen-led initiative to ban fracking wastes
from the town was matched in full by his fellow councilors, as well as
the many commenters who spoke for nearly an hour during the public com-
ment section of the meeting, and the dozens more in the room backing
each speaker with thunderous applause.

In the weeks leading up to this regularly-scheduled meeting, a group of
townspeople known as The Committee to Ban Fracking Waste from New Mil-
ford used ordinance language that passed in nineteen other towns urging
the Town Council to ban the use of by-products of hydraulic fracturing
within town limits, and to require that contractors do the same.  After
the requisite 164 registered voters signed petitions in support, as per
the Town Charter, the Town Council was set to tackle the subject.

However, there would prove to be little debate, as the only contentious
points were minor details such as wording. Democratic councilors Frank
Wargo, Scott Chamberlain, and Mary Jane Lundgren — plus Mayor David
Gronbach — joined Republicans Tom Esposito, Paul Szymanski, and Katy
Francis in speaking out fervently in favor of the taxpayer-backed frack-
ing waste ban. Two hours into the discussion, bookended by many speech-
es and a quick consult from the town's attorney, John Tower, a biparti-
san and unanimous 7-0 vote (Councilman Walter Bayer and Councilwoman
Jessica Richardson were absent) [1] made New Milford the twenty-first
municipality in Connecticut to ban the use and import of fracking waste
products.  

While the ordinance has passed, the town's attorney still needs to re-
view the text and make whatever minor corrections deemed necessary for
it to apply to New Milford. The Town Council will ratify the final ord-
inance at their next meeting on August 14.

(Author's note: The final ordinance was approved at the Town Council's
 September 11, 2017 meeting [2], and the ordinance went into effect on
 October 1, 2017.)

The Green Party of New Milford would like to toast a glass of clean
drinking water to The Committee to Ban Fracking Waste in New Milford
for their tireless efforts in collecting signatures around town.  We'd
also like to thank The Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, and 350CT for
their support of this ordinance.

Green Party members and concerned citizens in other towns are welcome
to contact Jennifer Siskind at Food & Water Watch for ordinance infor-
mation and free materials.

LINKS:
Permalink: https://colincogle.name/frackoff

SOURCES:
[1] http://newmilford.org/filestorage/7526/7528/7807/8059/20170/07-10-2017_Minutes.pdf
[2] http://newmilford.org/filestorage/7526/7528/7807/8059/20170/09-11-2017_Minutes_-_Revised.pdf
 
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iHUEARYKAB0WIQQ7NZ6ap/Bjr/sGU4FSrfh98PoTfwUCYaKo1gAKCRBSrfh98PoT
f9GxAQDj9eSZ8MuuiipW81YT5VR4Tu0bEirMCbj92zIC3fXfDgD+JgmukStqQcVl
fOYkXVhpyKfRhv0+ctxRCvhK6u1j8gw=
=Cn5N
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----