WARNING: The proposed state budget cuts can be hazardous to your health.

State budget cuts to jobs at the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) could endanger your health, important state industries and our environment.

One example of this triple threat from Gov. David Paterson’s budget proposal for DEC can be seen in its Marine Fisheries program. Staffing for monitoring, testing and enforcement to protect the state’s shellfisheries would drop to its lowest level in 22 years.

Saving a few hundred thousand dollars up front could cost the state’s economy millions. Shellfishing is a $22.8 million industry in New York, but DEC doesn’t have enough staff to protect you from being poisoned.
 
Very dangerous toxins and pollution can appear in scallops, clams and oysters. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned it may shut down shellfishing in a million acres of beds along 700 miles of New York shoreline.

The state cannot afford these cuts.
Tell the governor and legislative leaders to restore funding necessary to support appropriate levels of staffing at the DEC. Your health and your environment depend on it.

There is a better way. Log onto www.pef.org

Call the Governor 1-877-255-9417. Tell him to CUT THE WASTE, NOT THE WORKERS!

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This ad was created by the PEF PR department and appeared as a spot color ad on the week of March 2, 2009 of The Albany Legislative Gazette © Copyright 2009.