Thank you so much for helping our wonderfully successful campaign that began eight years ago TODAY!

Greetings,

I am eternally grateful to note that our wonderfully successful campaign to safeguard New York from shale fracking threats, fossil fuel infrastructure woes, toxic pollution hazards and Harmful Algal Blooms began eight years ago to this very day. Wow, how time flies!

Thanks, Tom Wilber, for your terrific reporting that got everything rolling: Natural gas quest: State files show 270 drilling accidents in past 30 years

All I can say is that it is more obvious to me than ever that our work is not for the faint of heart. Many thanks to the legions of stalwart activists and elected officials who have fought so hard and well to protect communities all over New York. You are worthy of the highest praise.

I hope that everyone had a happy election day. Even though our nonpartisan campaign is not involved with electoral matters, those events swirl around us with powerful effects. That is why I am pleased to forward some very good news that activists brought to my attention.

I am thrilled to report that Terry Cuddy, one of New York's unsung shale fracking and water quality protection heroes, won reelection to the Auburn City Council.

Terry prevailed by a substantial margin even though the local paper would not endorse him in a "high-profile" contest because:

"...Cuddy put on his activist hat last year and became a ringleader of a citizens group called Save Owasco Now! That group has challenged the approach of the local experts and officials working on the problem. Cuddy insists that a Total Maximum Daily Load plan is required for the lake to successfully rebound, despite the conclusions of the people who have been directly studying the lake that a Nine Element Watershed Plan is the approach that best fits our watershed."

Whoa, can you believe that? Decrying an environmental group dedicated to protecting public drinking water? The "experts and officials" referenced in the piece include the State Department of Environmental Conservation and local authorities who failed to resolve Owasco Lake's pollution hazards since 1998.

See: Our view: McCormick, Camardo would help Auburn City Council the most

Terry got battered because he opposes a voluntary Nine Element Plan that has no hope of solving Owasco Lake's massive cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms which threaten the drinking water for 50,000 people. Terry was singled out for public criticism because he supports a Total Maximum Daily Load comprehensive watershed clean up that requires regulatory enforcement.

It takes an extraordinary person to defy the "powers-that-be." Fortunately, Terry got reelected because his constituents know he is highly effective and would never go along to get along. He is to be commended. The same goes for his City Council colleague, Jimmy Giannettino, Jr.

Congrats to Cynthia Brock who won reelection to the Ithaca Common Council by a vast margin. Cynthia is a valiant elected official who has been instrumental in many fracking and local environmental battles. She is such an unrelenting advocate in tough political fights, notably trying to prevent low-income housing projects from being built on toxic sites, that the powers-that-be once tried to stop her from writing on Common Council letterhead. The pen is truly mightier than the sword.

Finally, top accolades to the incomparable Rich DePaolo who was reelected to the Town of Ithaca Board. Rich helped launch our battle to clean up Cayuga Lake and has never faltered through thick and thin.

Rich is capable and good-hearted on a level that is hard to believe. He is the tall guy in the second pic in our most famous article in The NYT: Aid to Environment, Or Threat to Lake?; Cornell Pursues Pumping Plan, But Critics Fear Fouled Water

In closing, I am grateful for everyone's help because there can be no doubt that we are fighting for extremely high stakes. Our closely coordinated actions have been critical to stopping shale fracking in New York, thwarting nearly $5.0 billion in proposed fossil fuel infrastructure projects, requiring long-standing water pollution problems to be cleaned up in order to safeguard public drinking water and working to prevent environmental catastrophes from engulfing precious Cayuga Lake.

That is not chopped liver. Hold onto your hats. We are forging ahead to meet ever more daunting challenges.

I will be back in touch very shortly.

Thanks so much for your help.

Onward and upward,

Walter