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I would like to first state that I do not agree with the ACOE's plan to bulldoze a way forward within PA, ignoring the various agencies and interest groups in NJ and DE. Consensus, or at least a strong effort towards consensus, is a requisite step for major projects, and no major project should be allowed to proceed based on outdated data and studies. At the same time, I take issue with some of the grandstanding language and accusations being leveled at the ACOE by concerned environmental groups. For instance: "When the government is willing to break the law in a way that hurts our communities, citizens must rise up and defend the law, (and) defend the river that sustains us all,'' said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. "That is what we are doing today - defending our right to clean water, clean air, fish we can catch and feed our children, wetlands and floodplains that protect us from pollution and floods" Are we talking about the same river here? Has Ms. van Rossum ever seen the Delaware River in the Philadelphia/Camden area? Would she actually feed children fish caught from this river? Let us not exaggerate the "pristine" beauty of our natural resources. Furthermore, since we all depend so much on this river for our drinking water and recreational oyster activities, maybe there should be more citizen outrage that the city of Philadelphia, like many major citites in this nation, has an outdated combined sewer and stormwater system that routinely dumps our sewage into the river during storm events. Obviously there is much to do to restore the Delaware River to the pristine and beautiful state it deserves (and we deserve). Therefore, perhaps these concerned environmental groups should focus on constructive dialogue to advance those sorts of clean-up efforts, rather than making poor arguments to block economic initiatives to preserve a filthy status quo. Maybe then we can add something to the conversation instead of just muddying the waters.