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Secaucus Reporter Sharing experiences, culture, and traditions
NINE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS SERVING HUDSON COUNTY • STORIES UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY AT WWW.HUDSONREPORTER.COM • A PUBLICATION OF THE HUDSON REPORTER
Secaucus bans ‘fracking’
VOLUME 24, NUMBER 52 • SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
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By Adriana Rambay Fernández Reporter Staff Writer
he mayor and Town Council banned fracking and fracking waste water in Secaucus at the June 26 council meeting in a resolution that states that the drilling process causes environmental hazards. Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is a drilling method that involves pumping sand and chemical-laden water at high pressures to obtain natural gas from shale rock formations. While fracking is unlikely in Secaucus, the resolution supports a larger movement, calling for a statewide and national ban. It came up the day after the State Senate passed a bi-partisan bill that would prohibit wastewater from hydraulic fracturing from being treated, dumped, or stored in the state. The bill now sits on Gov. Chris Christie’s desk for his consideration. While the method provides for a cleaner and cheaper source of electricity than coal, if performed incorrectly, the process of extraction has potential impacts on the environment such as the contamination of underground sources of drinking water. It also could result in air pollution resulting from the release of volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and greenhouse gases, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Secaucus families host students from Malaysia school
Local officials also call for statewide and national ban New Jersey does not have stores of natural gas like central Pennsylvania, but industrial waste sites in the state have reportedly accepted fracking wastewater.
Setting an example
Secaucus is the first municipality to ban fracking in Hudson County and one of a number of others, mostly in central and southern New Jersey such as Trenton and Red Bank, that have passed resolutions against fracking. The effort to ban fracking in Secaucus was initiated by Amanda Nesheiwat, a recent college graduate who serves as the chair of the town’s Environmental Committee and who also successfully pushed for a town-wide ban on Styrofoam. Nesheiwat spoke at a Trenton rally against fracking in New Jersey on June 14. Protests have also taken place in Albany and last week protestors shut down a new gas drilling rig in central Pennsylvania. “I realized how important it was for communities like Secaucus to lead by example,” said Nesheiwat during the council meeting. She had just returned from a conference on sustainable development in Brazil, where she served as a youth delegate for the United Nations. “This is
SERVICE ACTIVITY – On a recent visit to the United States students from a school in Malaysia prepared hygiene kits and wrote notes to soldiers as part of a service activity led by the Secaucus chapter of People to People International.
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By Adriana Rambay Fernández Reporter Staff Writer
hirty-five students from an international school in Malaysia arrived in Secaucus on July 7 to kick off an eight-day whirlwind visit to the United States. The town served as their home base as they went on a tour that spanned New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington DC, with visits to Times Square, a Broadway show, Niagara Falls, and Ellis Island. The days in Secaucus included a special reception, a peace walk, and service activities among others. Twenty-two of the students had the opportunity to stay with eight local families, which some considered one of the most memorable parts of the trip.
Multicultural experience
A love of lifeguarding
see FRACKING page 7
“P
“The home stay experience was my favorite part,” said 15-year-old Jonathan Chen from Malaysia. He stayed with Alice Mui and her son
see ASIA page 6
More than a job, youth return to posts year after year
By Adriana Rambay Fernández Reporter Staff Writer
SUMMERTIME HOURS BY THE POOL – Lifeguard Chiraq Patel watches over the slide area in the pool at the Secaucus Swim Center.
Jonathan. Jonathan from Malaysia hit it off with Jonathan from Secaucus. “Ms. Mui was just great,” said 16-year-old Iramul Haque from Bangladesh. “We were one of the lucky few who got the home stay experience.” Haque said it was his second time visiting the United States. He said that he found everyone to be “super friendly.” “We embraced them, they embraced us,” said local host Alice Mui. “We were just really happy to have them.” Mui hosted three students, Chen, Haque and Pornthipa Srijan Rita Rickard from Bangladesh. Her 23-year-old son Jonathan was excited about hosting the students. He was one of the founding members of the local chapter of People to People International, which is called Go International for Tomorrow (GIFT). The group has organized a number of cultural events throughout the year to raise awareness and support for local and international efforts.
eople don’t realize it can happen so fast,” said Dana Damato, 24, who is in her 10th summer working at the Secaucus Swim Center. She is a head lifeguard and also works full-time as the Aquatics Director at the Secaucus Recreation Center. Damato said she was involved in a rescue at the Recreation Center in which 12 seconds in the pool to help a young girl who was drowning felt like three or four minutes.
The lifeguards undergo two weeks of training to become certified in First Aid, AED, and CPR. “Five years ago, a boy almost died [at the Swim Center]. We resuscitated him,” said Damato. The boy was at a birthday party and was swimming fine, she said, until one of the lifeguards noticed he was face down. It was uncertain whether he had a seizure. He was taken away in an ambulance and ultimately survived. Beyond the whistle, sun block, sunglasses, and high perch, lifeguarding has become more than a summertime job for
see LIFEGUARD page 4
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Sports
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