WolfeNotes.com

From the Catskill mountain landscapes that inspired the creation of the character Rip Van Winkle and the iconic Hudson River School Asher Durand paintings Kindred Spirits and Kaaterskill Clove, follow the pics of a great day trip and hike adventure (I don’t do ice climbing!). For maps, history, and details, see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaterskill_Falls

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn’t say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.
~~~ Woody Guthrie

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DEP Ignored Scientists Warnings and Failed to Regulate Perchlorate in drinking water – Lisa Jackson to be asked why
Today, Lisa Jackson appears before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for confirmation as the Obama Administration’s nominee for EPA Administrator. Yesterday, two more national stories broke on her controversial record as NJ DEP Commissioner:
Jackson to Be Asked About Regulating Perchlorate in Drinking Water
http://www.propublica.org/article/jackson-to-be-asked-about-regulating-perchlorate-in-drinking-water-090113
Transparency Concerns Raised about EPA Nominee
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/4450/1/1?TopicID=1

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The US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on Lisa Jackson as US EPA Administrator next week.

Below are 10 questions Senators should ask about Jackson’s record in NJ, prepared by our Washington DC friends at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Full documentation to support the facts in the questions can be found as links to this press release – scroll down to read the questions. PEER is making the named DEP employee sources available to media for interviews):

TEN QUESTIONS THE SENATE SHOULD ASK LISA JACKSON — Committee Urged to Scrutinize Jackson’s Actions and Decisions in New Jersey
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1147

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Lisa Jackson’s DEP ignored scientists’ warnings to regulate a chemical that is poisoning drinking water supplies of millions of people
[Update: this smoking gun confirms that the problem is worse than I initially suggested. Back on November 2005, DEP pledged:
“The DEP anticipates proposing a regulation reflecting the recommendation prior to January 31, 2006″
http://www.newjersey.gov/dep/watersupply/perchlorate.htm
This shows that Jackson affirmatively abandoned Commissioner Campbell’s plan to regulate based on NJ Drinking Water Quality Institute recommendation.]
Earlier this year, the Bush EPA was correctly denounced for bowing to political pressure, rejecting scientists’ recommendations, and deciding not to regulate the chemical perchlorate, a persistent potential carcinogen found in drinking water supplies across the country, including right here in New Jersey. According to a Washington Post story that sparked public outcry:
EPA Unlikely to Limit Perchlorate in Tap Water
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 22, 2008
“The Environmental Protection Agency, under pressure from the White House and the Pentagon, is poised to rule as early as today that it will not set a drinking-water safety standard for perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and young children across the nation.
According to a near-final document obtained by The Washington Post, the EPA’s “preliminary regulatory determination” — which was extensively edited by White House officials — marks the final step in a six-year-old battle between career EPA scientists who advocate regulating the chemical and White House and Pentagon officials who oppose it. The document estimates that up to 16.6 million Americans are exposed to perchlorate at a level many scientists consider unsafe; independent researchers, using federal and state data, put the number at 20 million to 40 million
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/21/AR2008092102352.html
(continued)

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