60 Testify to Protect Ten Mile Creek

From our friends at Audubon Naturalist Society

Councilmember Update:

We now have three allies on the Council - Elrich, Andrews, and Berliner.  We are especially needing to reach out to Councilmembers Hans Reimer and Nancy Navarro; please email or call their offices to ask them to protect Ten Mile Creek.  Please stay tuned for action alerts in the next few weeks before the winter break.  We've only just begun to fight for clean water.

Your Letters to the Editor are needed now!  

I encourage you to write new LTEs or convert your testimony into a 200-word (or less) LTE to the Gazette via: opinions@gazette.net  (The Gazette has a 200-word limit for LTEs.)

Report on last week's Ten Mile Creek Hearing at the MontCo Council:

The Save Ten Mile Creek and Liveable Clarksburg Coalitions presented a strong, united and powerful array of testimonies at last week's two-night hearing at the Montgomery County Council in Rockville.  The vast majority -- about 60 out of close to 80 speakers -- favored protections for Ten Mile Creek and our region's emergency drinking water supply, Little Seneca Reservoir.  Councilmember Berliner commented at the hearing's conclusion that "This was among the highest-quality hearings I've ever seen."

Among the many highlights of the two nights of hearings (on 12/3 and 12/5):

* Royce Hanson, John Menke, and Scott Fosler  gave a 3-part sequence of testimonies on the importance of protecting our region's proximate emergency drinking water supply, Little Seneca Reservoir, through protecting Ten Mile Creek.  (Hanson, Menke and Fosler are former Council and planning board members)

Royce testified that "Some suggest that too much has already happened to stop now. Inertia is not planning. It is not illegal to get smarter. Speculative investments are not vested."

Scott's testimony stated:  "What we are requesting of the Council is really quite simple: Honor the county government’s responsibilities to protect the drinking water supply of our citizens, and don’t renege on our obligations to our regional neighbors."

* Ephraim King testified that the Planning Board used the wrong standard of review for their selection of which option to recommend for the Ten Mile Creek plan - they compared each option with whether it differed from the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan, rather than comparing it to whether and to what extent it would enable the County to support the applicable Water Quality Standards for Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir.

This is just a small sample of the excellent testimonies: thanks to all who testified; attended the hearings and performed other supporting tasks.  Read More Testimonies HERE or HERE


Diane M. Cameron

Save Ten Mile Creek Coalition Coordinator
Conservation Program Director
Audubon Naturalist Society
(301) 652-9188 x22

diane.cameron@anshome.org
dianecameron60@gmail.com