Just Sayin’: Gas pipeline poses threat at Indian Point
NY SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER OFFICES - 780 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2016/10/26: New Yorkers rallied to demand action from Senator Charles Schumer to stop the construction of a high pressure, fracked-gas pipeline that poses a major threat to more than 20 million people. Two hundred and fifty people gathered outside Senator Schumers offices in Manhattan and heard from health professionals, indigenous leaders and residents of the Hudson Valley where the pipeline is being built. Fifteen people were arrested after refusing to leave unless Senator Schumer took action in an act of non-violent civil disobedience. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) Credit: LightRocket via Getty Images / Pacific Press
We must halt the Spectra Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline, which is intended to carry hydrofracked methane gas. It’s being constructed 105 feet from the aging Indian Point nuclear energy plant.
This pipeline runs through an area that contains two earthquake fault lines, and a pipeline explosion would pose a threat to 20 million people, including those in New York City. The danger is astronomical and unthinkable.
Two years ago, state officials banned fracking in New York. Now we must urge our senators and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to press President Barack Obama to direct the Federal Energy Commission to immediately halt the Spectra AIM pipeline.
Joseph M. Varon, West Hempstead
Editor’s note: The writer is a past president of the New York State Marine Education Association, a membership organization.
Hospitals mustn’t turn away heroin addicts
I’m a nurse practitioner who would like to create more awareness about heroin addicts, who are showing up in emergency rooms while in withdrawal and seeking detoxification.
There are only a couple of detox units in Nassau County and a small number in Suffolk County. Patients wait for days, maybe weeks, for a detox bed.
Meanwhile, heroin is being laced with fentanyl or other deadly substances. Patients are reporting that they go to the emergency rooms, are stabilized and then sent home. Many addicts have no real home, and they are released to the streets to continue using drugs at their own peril.
There doesn’t seem to be a standard protocol for heroin admissions, and there are not enough detox beds. I believe that heroin addicts should be admitted to the medical floors and detoxed there, pending a bed in a rehab unit.
Pat Dellatto, Wantagh
