Seeking permanent protection for the Milford Aquifer now threatened

To the editor:

In our brief year history, Friends of the Milford Aquifer has been open, forthright and of clear purpose in our mission to permanently protect the Milford Aquifer/Springs. In recent months we have accelerated our efforts in a series of comprehensive steps:

1) We are continuing to prepare for the Bob Casey, Pat Toomey, and Matt Cartwright team conference call to discuss Federal/State program funding to protect the hydrologist delineated unconfined Aquifer Zone that is the only source for the Drinking Water of the greater Milford Area.

2) We applaud Milford Borough Council for approving Council vice president, Maria Farrell to represent the Council at this upcoming conference call.

3) We have formally asked the following entities to send a representative to be a part of this funding fact-finding inquiry - spearheaded by Friends of the Milford Aquifer: a) the Pike County Commissioners or agencies, b) the Milford Water Authority, c) Milford Twp. and d) Dingman Twp. We are awaiting an official response back.

4) We have petitioned all interested parties involved about the flaws of the Milford Twp. Shepstone Wellhead Ordinance. Especially concerning are the inappropriate development setbacks and the lack of official recognition of the Milford Water Authority’s Source Water Protection Plan - either in the Ordinance text or mapping. We are awaiting the Pike County Planning Commission, which is reviewing the Shepstone Ordinance, to produce appropriate and hopefully corrective comments.

5) We have contacted the EPA Regional 3 manager to see if the Milford Aquifer qualifies for the Sole Source Aquifer Federal Program. Recent Federal funding announced by Matt Cartwright on regional projects may offer an opportunity to see if we qualify. It never hurts to ask.

6) We continue to educate the voting public with detailed mapping, instructive graphs, expert scientific statements, historical facts, and photographic evidence to support the correctness of our mission.

7) We feel the 450 thousand sq. ft. warehouse proposal directly on the unconfined aquifer, 2,800 ft away from the Milford Springs, is the antithesis to our goals. It poses a direct threat to the health and safety of our community. But it is also a threat to the well water this aquifer provides to the people who live on this mountain.

8) We believe the argument of jobs and tax base is not a substantive enough argument, when you consider the risk involved. Clean water is not only essential to the function of a town’s economy, but it is a Human Right and PA Constitutional Right for every citizen of the Commonwealth.

As you can see, Friends of the Milford Aquifer is an action and solution-oriented group. We are trying to engineer a win/win situation for both the private property owners, whose options are severely limited by the aquifer’s presence with the interests of the communities only Drinking Water Source. This is a very complex problem that has had a cyclical nature of inappropriate proposals followed by community push back. We will work with any cooperating group in our efforts to fulfill our mission to protect the Milford Aquifer/Springs permanently. We have made great strides in accomplishing our goals but know there is still a rough road ahead. The Friends of the Milford Aquifer would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our success to this point. We are grateful and welcome any form of continued help as we press forward.

Respectfully,

Vito DiBiasi

Friends of the Milford Aquifer

Dingmans Ferry