Share: 

LETTER: Vote for cleaner Sussex in upcoming elections

August 31, 2018

The poor condition of Delaware’s waters has been known for decades. The facts are simple to understand, however difficult to accept. We cannot eat the fish and crabs from our waters. We get sick from swimming in our waters. Ninety percent of Delaware’s waterways are polluted; 100 miles of Delaware’s waters have fish advisories. Delaware is ranked second in the nation in incidence rate of cancer.

The drinking water of several communities including Ellendale, Blades and Millsboro has been contaminated and unusable. Poultry processor Allen Harim’s plans to spray wastewater in an area of Milton already compromised by polluting activities could have a devastating effect, magnitudes greater than any experienced to date.
Our elected officials and government agencies, specifically the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Sussex County Board of Adjustment have been far too amenable to the primary polluters. Fines are not collected and permits are granted without adequate study on impacts on our water and air.

The problems will only become more frequent, the consequences direr, and the negative attention given to our county more widespread if bold action is not taken immediately. We have a lot at stake. Our county is on the verge of being the next Flint, Mich., threatening our health, tourist industry and property values.
It is time for our elected and appointed officials to muster the courage to take appropriate action. We need our legislators to have the courage to collect fines from and deny permits to polluters. It requires courage to admit that we need to raise funds to save our beautiful state from further devastating effects of pollution.

As important, it will require talent to generate public support for the programs that are needed. Leaders should use their platform to inform us as to what is needed to remedy the polluted waters of Sussex County. Avoiding confrontation and debate is easy. It takes a courageous leader to guide us toward unpopular, but correct choices.

Courage is also required of us, the residents of Delaware, to take a stand and insist on clean air and water for all future generations. We tend to expect courage too readily from the powerful and then are too eager to wrap ourselves in cynicism when they let us down because they weren’t perfect.

We need to make sure our legislatures know what we expect. Call their offices, write them letters, attend hearings and speak up, write letters to the editor. In this election season, vote for courage, vote for talent, vote for character, and vote for a clean Sussex County.

Tom Brett
Millsboro

 

  • A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.

    To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter