This July 4th the Saugerties Parade’s theme is “TEAM USA”. A team works together, raises their voices in unison for the good of the group and of the community.
And so we will be marching with the Saugerties Democratic Committee as we grow a team to protect our beautiful town and Hudson Valley from the dangers posed by the trains and barges carrying crude oil which is fracked from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota, then transported to the Port of Albany — destined for trains and barges down the Hudson River to refineries in Philadelphia and NJ. This oil is dangerous, volatile, explodes and has caused serious destruction when the trains derail, the barges crash and leak. Just yesterday there was a spill (thankfully small this time) at the Port of Albany. Just one year ago one of these trains derailed and exploded in the small town of Lac Magantic, just outside of Quebec — a town not so different from our own. Forty-seven were killed and the town center was flattened.
The first time a barge set out on the Hudson carrying the crude from the Port of Albany, it ran aground. Thankfully there was no spill that time. But a similar barge carrying Bakken crude oil crashed in the Mississippi resulting in a massive spill.
Transportation of this crude oil from North Dakota is an accident waiting to happen here!
Please Join us at the parade. Help carry our “home-made” trains, add your voice to the growing “team” organizing to stop these trains, protect our community and protect our environment.
For information, call Sue at 246-3449.
Sue Rosenberg
Saugerties