·GREEN DELAWARE NEWS: 2001·

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April 24, 2001

Hello Mr. Muller,

I recently read in the News Journal of your arrest for alerting the public
of the danger of raw sewage seeping out of pipes along the Brandywine River
and the Christiana River. I am an avid freshwater fisherman and for the
past 3 years have fished the tidal part of the Brandywine River. When I
take my boat out I use the 8th street boat ramp ($35.00/year access fee)
and motor up to the Market Street bridge.

While motoring up along this area the past history is fascinating:  you can
still see some of the old boat launch areas on the side of the bank along
with other areas that give you the sense that this area was very active a
long time ago.

The first time that a friend and I went up the Brandywine we were fishing
along the way and my buddy snagged a condom on his lure. At first we
thought it was funny, thinking that someone threw it off one of the
bridges. Soon after that we started to see more of the same and other items
that get flushed down the commode and it was at this time, much to our
disgust, we realized that raw sewage was being dumped into the river.

I must tell you that the fishing is great along the river, especially in
the area of the Market Street bridge. We catch small mouth bass, large
mouth bass, all sorts of pan fish, stripers and I even believe that a tiger
muskie was caught in this area.  Naturally we do not eat the fish, we are
strictly catch & release.  Even if we did eat them there are plenty of
signs that warn the fisherman of the pollutants in water.

I support you and your group for the effort  you are making to help clean
up this area.  I have made copies of the flyer that you have on your web
site and this summer, when I become more active with fishing in this area,
I plan on handing out copies of the flyer at the 8th street boat ramp when
I am there. The attached picture is my buddy holding what we thought was
the catch of the day--a condom.

Kudos' to you and your organization.

Bill Salerno, Newark, DE
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What is the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife doing to protect the interests of fishermen faced with these conditions?

EPA imposes fines for sewage violations in the midwest, but so far hasn't acted in Delaware.  For example:

"Raw and inadequately treated sewage can cause serious health problems and harm the environment," said JoLynn Traub, regional Water Division director for EPA Region 5, announcing a $98,000 fine levied on the City of Crawfordsville, IN, for Clean Water Act violations at its sewage treatment plant.

ACTION:  Contact Gov. Minner and legislators.  Support House Bill 195 and oppose Mayor "Bad Faith" Baker's attempts to legislate SUPPORT for his raw sewage dumping.  For more information contact Green Delaware.