Is Your Water Safe?

Unclear whether The Yes Men or another imaginative group of 


conspirators did this superb action, which is up on a webpage connected


to the NYC Department of Environmental Protection:

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Your Health and Our Water

A timeline for contamination

New York City's is among the best urban water supplies in the world, and will remain so through summer 2011. After that, hydraulic fracturing ("hydrofracking") beneath the New York City aquifer may begin causing contamination of our City's water supply.

If, beginning in September 2011, you suspect your drinking water to be contaminated with chemicals involved in the hydraulic fracturing process, there are simple, economical tests you may perform to lay your concerns to rest.

One such test involves bringing a lighted match or lighter into close proximity to the water of concern. Water contaminated as a result of the hydraulic fracturing process is prone to burst into flames.

More precisely, water with chemical additives, injected into deep cracks in the earth as part of the hydraulic fracturing extraction process, may enter aquifers overlaying the drill site and, along with natural gas, emerge from your faucet; upon contact with flame, this mixture can combust in spectacular fashion. (This phenomenon has been observed widely in areas subject to hydraulic fracturing extraction processes, and may soon begin appearing in areas served by the aquifer above and adjacent to the Marcellus Shale—including all five boroughs of New York City.)

If Governor Cuomo issues a ban on hydraulic fracturing before June 1, 2011, contamination of the City's water supply will not occur. If you wish to take action on this, please visit:

• Official DEP "Get Involved" page
• United for Action campaign page
• "Kill the Drill" campaign page

Please also consider helping us to spread the word about the dangers of hydraulic fracturing by posting notices near water spigots throughout the City, and please send a link to this page to any friends or loved ones you consider at risk of hydraulic fracturing contamination today or in the near future.

Disclaimer: Although hydraulic fracturing contamination is linked to symptoms such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, hair loss, itching, and kidney failure, these symptoms are also correlated with exposure to radiation, coal fumes, common chemicals, and even some natural causes. Presence of these symptoms is thus in no way proof positive of exposure to chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process.

Help Spread the Word

To alert more New York City residents to the dangers of contamination posed by hydraulic fracturing in the City's Marcellus Shale / Catskills aquifer, please help us post the following notices:

(full-resolution here) 

[Blueskygirl thinks to get the best result copying this graphic to create your own stickers, 

it is wise to go to the original site:

http://www.nyc-dep.org/spreadtheword.html  ]

Instructions:

1. Download and print, or otherwise obtain, notices. We recommend printing at 6'x10' or 3'x5' on sticky-backed paper, in color if possible.
2. Post notices on tile or metal surfaces near any water spigot in New York City. Do not post notices on paint or wood, as removing the notices could damage the surface.

If you would like to join the DEP's Auxiliary Volunteer Water Testing Battalion and perform special, highly visible baseline tests of New York City water spigots, please write to us for instructions.

Resources for action against hydrofracking may be found at

• Official DEP "Get Involved" page
• United for Action
• "Kill the Drill" campaign page

Please also forward these pages to at-risk friends or loved ones.