Meadowbrook Parkway Woodlands Clean-up

10a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, June 6 (Rain or Shine)

In the spirit of President Obama’s call for public
service, the Yes We Can! Long Island Energy and Environmental Committee will join with local civic organizations and elected officials in a clean up of selected areas in this woodland corridor.

This effort is part of a series of public efforts dating back to 2003. It will help preserve one of the last major open spaces on the South Shore of Nassau County and demonstrate community involvement to government entities developing management plans for the corridor.

Please join us at one of these three locations:

1. Mulners Pond Park on West Avenue, just south of Jerusalem Avenue in North Merrick.

2. Woodlands behind Brookside School. (Enter from Washington Avenue just west of Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick.)

3. Merrick Reservoir. (Enter from Stuyvesant Avenue, just west of Babylon Turnpike in Merrick. Please do not park on the short block entering the Preserve as it tends to disturb the local residents.

Guidelines for Participants

You must sign in before participating. Please wear long sleeve pants and shirts. If you have gloves, please bring them. Otherwise, bags and gloves will be provided. Wear your YWCLI buttons as we expect press coverage.

Always use common sense precautions at events like this. For example, bring sunscreen, insect repellent and water, if you think you will need it. Avoid going into the water or engaging in behavior that may endanger yourself or others. Also, all minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Thank you for volunteering for this important event. If you have any other questions, please call 809-6766 ext.702

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak at the Baldwin Democratic meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 regarding the liquefied natural gas (LNG) island that is proposed to be built off the shores of Long Beach.

To reiterate, Atlantic Sea Island Group initiated a project titled “Safe Harbor Energy”, which proposes to build an artificial island 13.5 miles off the shore of Long Beach. It is the first of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities that are being proposed in this region. If accepted, it will set the precedent for industrializing our oceans.

This island will require disturbing 110 acres of the ocean’s floor in water that is 60-70 feet deep. Hurricanes commonly occur in this region with waves reaching 55 feet in height. Marine life will be affected. It will be situated in the only natural reef on the New York/New Jersey coast, which serves as a migratory ecosystem for several endangered species of fish and sea mammals, all subject to destruction if these plans are approved. Commercial fishermen claim that such drastic, invasive construction of an island off the shore of Long Beach will have a devastating effect on their industry that is experiencing waning fishing opportunities.

Safe Harbor Energy intends to lay approximately 12.8 miles of pipeline four feet below the ocean’s floor from the terminal to meet an existing pipeline that extends from Morgan, New Jersey to Long Beach, Long Island. This existing pipeline is already being used at its capacity. Bringing in another pipeline to meet the existing one will not bring in more natural gas than it already can handle.

To irrevocably alter 110 acres of the ocean’s floor for an island and up to 12.8 miles of ocean floor for more pipelines requires the use of tremendous construction equipment invading our oceans. A construction project of this magnitude will alter marine life in this and its surrounding areas forever. This will be the first artificial island designed specifically for the import, storage, degasification and distribution of LNG in this country. A similar island was proposed off the coast of California, but the California Land Commission vetoed it because they found it extremely dangerous. Closer to home, the Broadwater project to situate a LNG barge 9 miles from the north shore of Long Island was rejected.

The purpose of this proposed island will be a depot for the importation of LNG from foreign countries. Environmentalists claim that natural gas is a fossil fuel that emits slightly less carbon dioxide than petroleum, but the process of converting it to liquid for transport would make LNG have a footprint that is nearly equivalent to coal. In contrast, the natural gas that is currently piped from New Jersey to Long Island is produced in the United States. The creation of this island depot will allow Safe Harbor Energy to import from the Middle East and Asia, including Indonesia, Russia and Iran. It is against our national interests to bring in foreign, dirty fossil fuels at a time when we are, or should be, seeking energy independence and alternative fuels.

These waters would be covered by large “security buffers” that would deny their use to the boaters, divers and fishermen who have enjoyed these areas for generations. New York is already a terrorist target. Why would be build a new target less than 14 miles off our shores and invite tankers from unfriendly nations to our ports? Why put this additional burden on our U.S. Coast Guard?

Atlantic Sea Island Group claims that importing LNG will bring the price down by making it competitive. LNG is priced according to world demand, which is three times the price of U.S. natural gas. The world LNG price levels that went up last summer with all the crude oil speculation have not dropped one penny even as the world petroleum markets plummet. New discoveries of natural gas in North America flood the regional pipelines that supply the entire nation, making LNG imports obsolete. Experts estimate that current North American reserves can supply more than twice the demand for natural gas over the next 60 years.

The environmental and aesthetic impact should not be downplayed. When we go to the beach and look out onto the horizon, our eyes will be drawn to it and we will see it. The Broadwater Project was rejected by the U.S. Department of Commerce because the project’s “adverse coastal impacts outweighed its national interest, in part because its location in an undeveloped region of the Sound would significantly impair its unique scenic and aesthetic character…” The ocean is our signature natural resource and our open space. It is our duty to protect and preserve it for future generations

The environmental impact study is underway. Before the study is complete, Long Islanders must be ready to voice strong opposition to this project.

If you are interested in writing against this project or speaking out against it, please contact my office at 571-6219 or ddenenberg@nassaucountyny.gov . You may also contact Claudia Borecky, President of the North Merrick Civic Association, who is coordinating and working with me on this issue at 972-6988 or wawbeek28@yahoo.com.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please call me at 571-6219 if you have any questions or concerns.

Very Truly Yours,
David Denenberg Legislator, 19th District

In an email they forwarded to their supporters, a MACA spokesman wrote:

“While a garden is a great idea, the thought of it being organic made[us] shudder.”

MACA went on to publish a letter it had sent to the First Lady asking her to consider using chemicals — or what they call “crop protection products” — in her garden.

Michelle Obama and has done America a great service by publicizing the importance of nutritious food for kids (she’s growing the garden in partnership with a local elementary school class) as well as locally grown produce as an important, environmentally sustainable food source.

I just signed a petition telling MACA’s board members to stop using Michelle Obama’s garden to spread propaganda about produce needing to be sprayed with chemicals. I hope you will, too.

Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/wh_garden/?r_by=3450-91259-kwXKEjx&rc=mailto