Clean Water Canvass is Coming to Your Town!

Summer Campaign Aims to Protect New Jersey’s Critical Waters

For Immediate Release: June 18, 2018

Contact: Eric Benson, 973-744-3005, ebenson@cleanwater.org; Jenny Vickers Chyb, 732-829-2663 (cell), jvickers@cleanwater.org

Knock! Knock! Knock!

It’s Clean Water Action at your door!

Clean Water Action’s door-to-door grassroots organizing team is kicking off their clean water summer campaign to ensure all of New Jersey’s rivers, streams, oceans, wetlands and drinking water are protected.

The organization’s canvass team mobilizes 150,000 New Jersey and nearly 1 million nationwide – virtually all of whom are the result of knocking on doors, asking residents to write a handwritten letter to a public official and signing up for email action alerts.

“You might remember taping a letter or picture your child drew to your door so we could pick it up just before 9 pm,” said Eric Benson, Canvass Director for Clean Water Action in Montclair. “These letters, your membership dollars, and taking action via email help us win important landmark victories.”

Right now, what’s at stake are the protections for the drinking water sources for 4.3 million New Jerseyans. If the Trump Administration succeeds in dismantling the Clean Water Act and Clean Water Rule, the safeguards for almost half of the state’s stream miles could go away. Clean Water Act protections for wetlands throughout the Garden State could evaporate.

“We can’t afford that,” said Benson. “Wetlands not only provide habitat for countless species and power an outdoor recreation industry that creates jobs and brings in billions of dollars to the state, they also filter groundwater and protect communities from flooding by absorbing floodwaters. New Jersey’s local drinking water, economies, including food industries like Goya and breweries, also rely on these streams and wetlands. We can’t let Congress put these vital parts of our water infrastructure at risk.”

It all started when Clean Water Action’s founder, David Zwick, helped write and pass the original federal Clean Water Act of 1972 (hence our name Clean Water Action), subsequent Safe Drinking Water Act and Superfund toxic waste cleanup law. For many years, these laws were on the books but little political will to fund or implement them.

“Clean Water Action changed that dynamic when we started canvassing, coming directly to your door, making it easy for you to participate in the democratic process without leaving your home or having to hire a baby sitter,” said Lindsey Periard, Long Branch Canvass Director.

As a result of Clean Water Action’s canvass campaigns, New Jersey schools use fewer if any chemical pesticides, mercury is virtually absent from household batteries, and Governor Murphy is committed to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2050.

“Even when things seem hopeless, Clean Water Action is still winning victories,” said Periard. “All of this is possible through the support of the community. Together, we make a difference. So when someone from Clean Water Action comes to your door, please welcome them. We know how precious your time is; but it will only take a few minutes to join with your neighbors in protecting the water we drink, swim and fish for our kids and generations to come.”

Watch videos about Why We Canvass (click here to watch the video on Facebook) and Meet Two of New Jersey’s Canvassers (click here to watch the video on Facebook)

Clean Water Action will be door-to-door organizing between the hours of 4 and 9 pm in the following communities:

Central/Jersey Shore:

Monmouth County: Avon, Belmar, Ocean Grove, Oceanport, Monmouth Beach, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Jackson

Ocean County: Bay Head, Brick, Beechwood, Lavallette, Ocean Twp, Seaside Park, Toms River

North Jersey:

5th Congressional District: Clean Water Action has endorsed Josh Gottheimer for Congress. He will ensure that the EPA has the resources to remediate Superfund sites – areas which pose risks to human health and the environment. NJ has more Superfund sites than any other state, and Josh will work to clean up those sites. Our canvass will be in every town in Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren Counties.

7th Congressional District: Endorsement announcement coming soon! Our canvass will be in Essex County (Clinton, Flemington, High Bridge, Millburn, Raritan, Readington), Morris County (Chester, Long Hill, Mine Hill, Mount Arlington, Mount Olive, Pequannock, Roxbury, Washington, Wharton), Somerset County (Bedminster, Bernards, Bernardsville, Branchburg, Bridgewater, Green Brook, Hillsborough, Montgomery, North Plainfield, Raritan, Warren, Watchung), and (Berkeley Heights, Clark, Cranford, Gardwood, Kenilwoth, Mountainside, New Providence, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit, Union, Westfield).

11th Congressional District: Clean Water Action has endorsed Mikie Sherrill for Congress. She is committed to protecting the Clean Water Act, which keeps our drinking water and recreational areas free of harmful pollutants. Our canvass will be in Essex County (Bloomfield, Cedar Grove, Livingston, North Caldwell), Morris County (Chatham, Denville, East Hanover, Jefferson, Mendham, Montville, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Randolph, and Rockaway), Passaic County (Little Falls, North Haledon, Pompton Lakes, Wanaque, and Wayne) and Sussex County (Hopatcong, Ogdensburg and Sparta)

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Clean Water Action, founded in 1972, is a one million-member nationwide organization with more than 100,000 New Jersey members. We work to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. We fight for clean water; environmental justice, and environmentally safe jobs and businesses despite the hostile anti-environment climate in our nation’s capital. www.cleanwateraction.org/nj